Breakfast Club
Do you have a special interest in history, but no one to share it with? Come join the monthly gathering of the Breakfast Club. We love to talk history. Each month a speaker presents a program that is educational, entertaining, and memorable. Members are free. Admission for nonmembers is $5. Refreshments are served.
Breakfast Club
Always the second Wednesday of the month from 9 to 10 am.
June 12, 2013
Aprons, Flower Sacks & Other Folk Histories with Marilyn Salzl Brinkman
Growing up in central Minnesota on a farm with 14 brothers and sisters has afforded Marilyn Salzl Brinkman with many writing opportunities! In her book, Aprons, Flower Sacks & Other Folk Histories, she offers a collection of articles written for the St. Cloud Times. This book is Marilyn’s personal contribution to the folk history of central Minnesota. I am sure there will be a story or two that will ignite a memory that you have about central Minnesota in days gone by.
July 10, 2013
Silent No More with Erika Vora
Erika Vora is Professor Emeritus of Intellectual Conversation at St. Cloud State University. She has also authored The Will to Live: A German Family’s Flight From Soviet Rule. In her current book, Silent No More, she reveals the living history of 33 German survivors who were deported from Romania and Yugoslavia; expelled from their homes in Czechoslovakia, and had to flee from their homes in Poland and eastern Germany. Erika will share her motivation for writing this book and the stories of those fearless survivors who shared their story.
August 14, 2013
Out of the Blue with Scott Thoma
A true story about two sisters and their miraculous survival of one of the most powerful tornadoes in Minnesota history
On June 13, 1968, the first F5 tornado ever recorded in Minnesota struck the town of Tracy around 7 p.m. Nine people were killed and over 100 injured. Newlyweds, Linda (Haugen) Vaske and her husband Clifford Vaske had been finalizing adoption paperwork on two-year-old Nancy Vlahos when Clifford left for military training in Washington. On the night of the tornado, Linda, her 8-year-old sister Pam and Nancy were at the Vaskes' home south of town. Linda, holding tightly onto Nancy, and Pam were unable to reach the basement in time. All three were blown out of the house. Linda was unable to maintain her grasp on Nancy. Although the sisters suffered serious injuries, both survived. However, Nancy's lifeless body was found on a street a block away. The sisters will never forget that night and rarely a day goes by that they don't think about the little girl who was taken from them. Scott Thoma is uniquely qualified to write Out of the Blue, having lived in Tracy when the tornado hit. He also boasts a resume' that includes parallel award-winning careers as both a sports reporter and a sports editor at a Minnesota daily newspaper for nearly 30 years. He currently lives in Willmar, Minnesota. This is his first book.