The Land Remembers--Book Discussion

On Wednesday, March 4, 2015, the RFArea REA sponsored a discussion of Ben Logan's memoir entitled The Land Remembers:  A Story of a Farm and Its People, an account of his boyhood in Crawford County in the southwestern part of Wisconsin on the Kickapoo River.  As part of the annual River Falls Reads event, the discussion included both members from our unit and from the community.

Ethel Johnson and DeAn Krey discuss growing up
on a Wisconsin farm.

Member DeAn Krey, just back from her Palm Springs vacation, was pleased to join the conversation about this book since it has been a particular favorite of hers since it was originally published in 1976.  As DeAn remarked, "This book describes my life," as she, too, grew up on a Wisconsin farm (in Turtle Lake) and shares a past very similar to author Logan's.

Bernie Brohaugh--another Wisconsin farm boy (from Esdaile)--led the discussion, which included photographs of his family's Pierce County farm.  (Unfortunately, we couldn't reproduce them here due to technical problems.)  Nancy Peters, Ethel Johnson, and others were all able to relate to Logan's childhood since they, too, grew up on farms.

Organized according to the seasons, the book records Logan's recollections of specific childhood moments from each of those seasons.  Logan  recounts the difficulties--and joys--of life on his family's hilltop farm.  Listening to the corn grow, fishing with his brothers on a rare warm summer afternoon, sliding down the hill on a snowy morning from his home to the one-room schoolhouse, reading in the light of a kerosene lamp next to the fire during a two-day snowstorm, and harvesting oats are recalled by Ben Logan with attention to detail and love.

Gays Mills, which figures prominently in The Land
Remembers, as it looked in 1908.

We haven't yet decided on the next book yet for the group, so suggestions are surely welcome.  Contact Ruth Wood at rwoodrf@gmail.com with a book you think would be a great read.