Salina Reads, invites adults to read “The Last Cattle Drive” by Robert Day this fall and join the conversation and events around the city. Events kick off with a visit from Kansas author, Robert Day, September 17-18. A series of cowboy movies will be shown in partnership with the Salina Art Center Cinema. The Kansas Wesleyan University English Department will sponsor writing lectures with Day. The Smoky Hill Museum will provide the venue for a special Brookville Hotel chicken dinner with the author. All scheduled Salina Reads events are open to the public.
On September 17, Salina Reads opens with a panel discussion of “The Last Cattle Drive” from 3:00-4:00 p.m. at the Learning Center at 308 W. Elm. Panelists will include Lawrence author and literary mind Mary O’Connell, Leo Oliva who may be one of the world’s leading experts on the Santa Fe Trail, author, poet and publisher at Mammoth Publications Denise Low and author of “Free Thought on the American Frontier” Fred Whitehead. Afterwards from 5:00-6:30 p.m. the public is invited to join special guest Robert Day by registering for a Brookville Hotel chicken dinner, much like the one Day wrote about in the book. Registration and a small fee of $12 per person is required in advance at the Learning Center, 308 W. Elm, by 5:00 p.m. Monday, September 11. Space is limited.
Robert Day’s first day in Salina will end with a presentation and book signing after hours at the Salina Public Library’s Adult Services area from 7:00-8:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 17. Now in its 40th year of publication from the University Press of Kansas. The Last Cattle Drive follows Spangler Star Tukle a Kansas cattleman on a 1970’s cattle drive from Hays, Kansas to Kansas City, Missouri, to save money on freight. Day will personally discuss writing of the book and tell stories, as well as entertain questions from the public. Books will be for sale at the event.
The KWU English Department will host the author on Monday, September 18 for two lectures on writing in their Fitzpatrick Auditorium including “The Art of Writing Non-Fiction” at 9:00 a.m. and “The Art of Writing Fiction” at 1:00 p.m. at 100 E. Claflin Ave. In addition they will have a Literary Book Discussion, open to staff, faculty, students and the public on Thursday, September 28 from 7:00-8:00 p.m. in the KWU’s Student Activity Center Brown Mezzanine.
Additional book discussions will be held at the Salina Public Library with Librarian and Community Engagement Coordinator, Lori Berezovsky. Both will be held in the Technology Center Conference Room, Tuesday, September 19, 7:00-8:00 p.m. and Thursday, October 12, 7:00-8:00 p.m. Several copies of “The Last Cattle Drive” are available to check out. Complimentary take-home book discussion packets are available at the Information Service’s desk to support community book clubs and conversations.
Children and families may participate by reading one or both of the youth Salina Read’s titles including “Old Yeller” by Fred Gipson for ages 9+ and “Let’s Sing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy” by Jan Thomas, a picture-book for preschoolers. Caregivers and preschoolers are invited to a special Cowboy Storytime on Wednesday, September 20 or Thursday, September 21 at 10:15 a.m. to read the picture-book together and make a pool noodle pony craft.
In partnership with the Salina Art Center Cinema at 150 S. Santa Fe, a series of vintage cowboy movies have been selected for Saturday mornings in September and October. The movies are open to all ages. On Saturday, September 16th at 10:30 a.m. they will show the 1962 unrated version of the Kirk Douglas movie Lonely Are the Brave. Then on Saturday, September 23 at 10:30 a.m. the 1972 G rated John Wayne film, The Cowboys. The 1957 Walt Disney classic Old Yeller with Dorothy McGuire and Fess Parker in technicolor, rated G will show Saturday, October 28 at 10:30 a.m. The Cowboy Movie Roundup will close with the 1991 PG-13 Billy Crystal movie City Slickers on Saturday, October 7 at 10:30 a.m. Admission is free; concessions will be available for purchase.
Salina Reads, a community-wide read is now in its fifth year. The annual event is coordinated by the Salina Public Library. A committee of community members comes together each spring along with library staff, reading and discussing up to thirty books from all genres over the course of months to select one book for the Salinans to read and discuss each September-October. “This year we are especially fortunate to have a Kansas author available for events” says Lori Berezovsky, SPL coordinator of Salina Reads. For a complete listing of times, locations and graphics for Salina Reads 2017 please visit https://goo.gl/jCTYxV