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November 21, 2013 – Meeting Roundup

We are meeting at noon on Wednesday this week because of the Thanksgiving holiday. Although Tom Belfield would love to have you show up on Thursday, it would not be for Rotary, but for Thanksgiving.

Our speaker this week is Roger Engle, a native of Hedgesville and a retired science teacher at South Hagerstown High School. He began writing in the mid-2000s after retiring from his 30-year teaching career. His first work was a collection of childhood memories intended to be shared with his immediate family. When his daughter—a graphic designer and independent publisher—read several of his early stories, she believed he had captured a part of West Virginia history that would be of interest locally, if not beyond. She urged him to pursue a wider audience than just his family, and offered to help him turn his collection of stories into an independently published book. Since the book’s release in August of 2012, the local, regional, and national response has been unimaginable. What began as a very personal endeavor has turned into a very public affair, with book signings, speaking engagements, awards galas, and much anticipation of a sequel. Stories from a Small Town: Remembering My Childhood in Hedgesville, West Virginia follows the author on a mental journey throughout his hometown, and in doing so, rediscovered his childhood around every corner. With tenderness and grit, he reveals both the challenges and the opportunities of growing up in a working-class family during self-sufficient times. These stories take place between the years 1948 and 1964 and meander at a pace governed by the whimsy of a child.
After retiring, Roger has been active in Martinsburg and currently serves as president of the board of directors for Martinsburg/Berkeley County Parks and Recreation. He spends his leisure time gardening, traveling and eating lots of barbecue as a certified judge of the Kansas City Barbeque Society and of course, writing.

Shenandoah Women’s Center