December 12, 2013 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Greetings WPA Chestertonians and Friends!

Mark your calendars on Thursday December 12th for the next gathering of the Western PA Chesterton Society. Since today marks the last weekday of “Ordinary time” in the liturgical calendar, December 12th will find us squarely into Advent. This will be our traditional December meeting… which means conviviality, festivity and Chestertonian reflection on the Incarnation of our Lord… but definitely not your typical “Christmas Party”.

We will meet at the Community Center in the Village of Middle Lancaster at 7:45 PM for after-dinner refreshments and beverages along with readings, poetry, and possibly the reading of a brief drama. the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is off of Rt. 19 approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, just north of the Zion Lutheran Church and just south of East Lancaster Road. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.) Please plan to have had your dinner before coming to the meeting.

For any who wish to meet locally for dinner before the meeting, I have made a reservation at the Log Cabin Inn on Rt.19, which is less than a quarter of a mile from the Community Center. We will gather at the Log Cabin at 5:30pm. Our reservation is for 5:45pm. Please send me an email confirmation by Sunday Dec. 8 if you will join the group for dinner. 

The refreshments at the meeting will be a potluck of fruits, cheeses, desserts and festive beverages. We will each need to bring contributions to the refreshments and beverages. Paper products and coffee/teas will be provided. Please let me know by email no later than Dec. 8, what items you will plan to contribute. 

The December meeting agenda is as follows.

We will read and discuss a short piece by G.K.Chesterton titled “Christmas Books”. This was published as a chapter in Chesterton’s book Criticisms and Appreciations of the Works of Charles Dickens which is viewable on the internet here. (Please do not feel that a you need any extensive knowledge of Dickens to enjoy this selection. Chesterton reference to Dickens in “Christmas Books" is primarily to Dickens' very popular tale “A Christmas Carol”.) If you are able, please print a copy of “Christmas Books" to bring along. There will be a limited number of copies available at the meeting.

The poetry reading will consist of "Incarnationally themed" poems that we will each bring along to share. Poetry by Chesterton (or others that are associated with him) is encouraged.

If time permits, we will read a play called “The Christmas Gift" written by Frances Chesterton and published in the book How Far is it to Bethlehem: The Plays and Poetry of Frances Chesterton , edited by Nancy Carpentier Brown. This very “pro-life” little play was originally written to be performed by the young children befriended by Frances Chesterton in the Chesterton home at Beaconsfield. There will be parts to be read. Copies of the script will be provided, but if you have a copy of the book, please bring it along.

We will wrap up our festivities around 9:45 PM. 

In closing, has anyone you know ever wondered, "Just what do you do at the monthly meetings of the WPA Chesterton Society?” The obvious answer to the questions is “We have fun”, but if your friend or family member needs more proof of how reading and discussing G.K.Chesterton can be so much fun, then please bringing them along. 

 

Hope to see you on Thursday, December 12!

Vicki Darkey

wpachesterton@gmail.com

November 14, 2013 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Greetings Friends of G.K.Chesterton,

I hope that you will consider joining us on Thursday November 14, 2013 for our WPA Chesterton Society meeting.

 As usual, the meeting will be held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is off of Rt. 19 approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, and just north of the Zion Lutheran Church and just south of East Lancaster Road. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.) The doors will open at 7:00pm for pot luck refreshments, with the discussion beginning at 7:30. The meeting will wrap up around 9:30pm. 

 The two pieces for discussion this month are selections from the book In Defense of Sanity. 

The first is the essay titled "On Shakespeare", originally published as a piece in the Illustrated London News and then it was published in 1928 as part of the essay collection Generally Speaking. This book is viewable as a pdf. download which can be found here. The essay "On Shakespeare" is on page 238 of that edition.

Admittedly, our discussion of this essay will be only brushing the surface of Chesterton on Shakespeare. There is a wealth of resources for those looking to broaden or deepen their understanding on the subject. One example is the website www.christianshakespeare.com. (If you take a quick look at the list of contributors to this site you will recognize some well known Chestertonians in the group.) Another resource would be the book written by Dale Ahlquist entitled The Soul of Wit. It is available here, from the American Chesterton Society as well as in numerous places on the web. 

The second essay for our discussion is "Mary Queen of Scots". I have not been able to find this one anywhere outside of the In Defense of Sanity book. If you find it, please post the info on our Facebook group page or send it in an email to me, so others who need it can find it.

Please read the readings before the meeting, and consider bringing a contribution to the refreshment table.

Feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com if you have any questions about the readings or anything else.

Hope to see you on November 14th!

October 10, 2013 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Greetings Friends of G.K.Chesterton,

Fall color is creeping into the trees here in beautiful Western PA and now more than ever, it is time for understanding, appreciating and promoting the delightful wit and wisdom of G.K. Chesterton. 

I hope that you will consider joining us on Thursday October 10, 2013 for our WPA Chesterton Society meeting. 

As usual, the meeting will be held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is off of Rt. 19 approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, and just north of the Zion Lutheran Church and just south of East Lancaster Road. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.) The doors will open at 7:00pm for pot luck refreshments, with the discussion beginning at 7:30. The meeting will wrap up around 9:30pm. 

There will be two pieces for discussion this month. 

The first will be an essay selection from the book In Defense of Sanity, titled "George MacDonald". This essay was originally written by Chesterton as an introduction to the book George MacDonald and His Wife, by Greville MacDonald. It then appeared in the book GKC as MC published in 1929. Chesterton is "spot on" in his insights into this great writer. Even if you've never read George MacDonald, Chesterton's essay is thought provoking, and, as usual, should generate some lively discussion.

The second reading will be G.K.Chesterton's great poem Lepanto, written to commemorate the Christian victory at the Battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571. I will have a limited number of copies of the poem on hand. I would encourage you to bring a copy, or even better, to expand your personal Chesterton collection with the purchase of a copy of the annotated edition that is available from the American Chesterton Society. Also, any time that you spend researching the history surrounding the battle will help you understand and appreciate the poem, and provide you with interesting tid-bits to contribute to our discussion... To that end, I would recommend the Lepanto research done by Christopher Check. A brief internet search will produce links to articles written by Mr. Check on the subject. You can even purchase a digital download of a talk he gave on Lepanto at the ACS conference in St. Louis in 2010 for the mere cost of $1.99. 

Please read the readings before the meeting, and consider bringing a contribution to the refreshment table.

Feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com if you have any questions about the readings or anything else.

Hope to see you on October 10th!

September 12, 2013 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Greetings Friends of G.K.Chesterton,
After a summer that seemed to melt with out really getting hot, I hope that you will consider joining us on Thursday September 12, 2013 for our WPA Chesterton Society meeting. 

Now more than ever, it is time for understanding, appreciating and promoting the delightful wit and wisdom of G.K. Chesterton here in beautiful Western PA.

As usual, the meeting will be held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is a right turn off of Rt. 19N, approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, just past the Zion Lutheran Church. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.) The doors will open at 7:00pm for pot luck refreshments, with the discussion beginning at 7:30. The meeting will wrap up around 9:30pm. 

The four essays for discussion from the Defense of Sanity book are as follows:

#21 Cheese (pg. 103)     

#35 On Vulgarity (pg.183)       

#48 On the Instability of the State (pg. 246)

#60 Two Stubborn Pieces of Iron (pg. 330)

Please read as much of the readings as you can before the meeting, and consider bringing a contribution to the refreshment table.

By the way, there will be a virtual American Chesterton Society meeting at 8PM on the evening of September 2, 2013. You can click here to find more info and to follow the link to join the meeting. These webcast meetings, led by Dale Ahlquist, last about a half hour and are often interesting and informative. I encourage you to watch it  live when you can participate by posting questions or comments, or watch the recorded session on your computer at your convenience anytime later.

Also, mark your calendars for the Annual Rochester Chesterton Conference. This one day event will be held in Rochester NY at St. John Fisher College on Saturday September 21, 2013. I will share more information with you as soon as I get it.

Feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com if you have any questions about the readings or anything else.

Hope to see you on September 12th!

August 8, 2013 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Greetings Chestertonians,

Our August 8th meeting will consist of Chestertonian poetry selections that each attendee will select and bring to share with the group. Here is a link to an internet page where some of Chesterton's poetry is available to read and to print. If you are so inclined, there are also books of poetry by Gilbert and poems penned by his wife Francis available for sale on the internet, both new and used. The Ignatius Press Collected Works Vol. 10 (a group of 3 books) is available for sale from the American Chesterton Society bookstore with a discount offered to ACS members.

As usual, the meeting will be held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is a right turn off of Rt. 19N, approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, just past the Zion Lutheran Church. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.) The doors will open at 7:00pm for pot luck refreshments, with the discussion beginning at 7:30. The meeting will wrap up around 9:30pm. 


Any questions, please feel free to email wpachesterton@gmail.com

July 11, 2013 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Greetings Chestertonians,

At the July 11th, the Chesterton essays on Dickens that we will discuss will be:

Nicholas Nickleby
Old Curiosity Shop
David Copperfield
Our Mutual Friend

These essays are to be found in the book Criticisms and Appreciations of the Works of Charles Dickens by G.K.Chesterton. It is linked in it's entirety here. If you feel that a review of Dickens' books would help you with understanding the Chesterton essays, there are an abundance of resources on the web, including synopsis and film adaptations of the stories that can be viewed online.  Just a few examples are here and here and here. Much more can be found using your search engine.

As usual, the meeting will be held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is a right turn off of Rt. 19N, approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, just past the Zion Lutheran Church. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.) The doors will open at 7:00pm for pot luck refreshments, with the discussion beginning at 7:30. The meeting will wrap up around 9:30pm. 

Please read as much of the readings as you can before the meeting.


Feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com if you have any questions about the readings or anything else. See you soon!

June 13, 2013 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Greetings Chestertonians,

At our May meeting it was agreed that a little variety in the reading line up would be a welcome change as we head into the summer months. With this in mind, it was agreed that we will read and discuss some Father Brown stories in June, followed by some of Chesterton's literary criticism of Charles Dickens for July. August will be a poetry meeting, with most likely a return to the In Defense of Sanity essays in the fall. 

For June 13th, the Father Brown titles we will discuss are all included in the book The Complete Father Brown  and are linked below.
The Secret Garden
The Perishing of the Pendragons
The Worst Crime in the World

For July 11th, the Chesterton essays on Dickens that we will discuss will be:

Nicholas Nickleby
Old Curiosity Shop
David Copperfield
Our Mutual Friend

These essays are to be found in the book Criticisms and Appreciations of the Works of Charles Dickens by G.K.Chesterton. It is linked in it's entirety here. If you feel that a review of Dickens' books would help you with understanding the Chesterton essays, there are an abundance of resources on the web, including synopsis and film adaptations of the stories that can be viewed online.  Just a few examples are here and here and here. Much more can be found using your search engine.

As usual, the meeting will be held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is a right turn off of Rt. 19N, approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, just past the Zion Lutheran Church. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.) The doors will open at 7:00pm for pot luck refreshments, with the discussion beginning at 7:30. The meeting will wrap up around 9:30pm. 

Please read as much of the readings as you can before the meeting.


Feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com if you have any questions about the readings or anything else.

May 9, 2013 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Greetings all,

Please pardon my dereliction of duties in not sending out the meeting information sooner. 

We will meet tonight as usual despite the Ascension Holy Day. A good number of you have indicate that you will not be attending the meeting, however a hearty bunch have indicated that they will be coming.

The three essays for discussion from the Defense of Sanity book are as follows:

#34 The Drift from Domesticity (pg. 173) 

#51 Reflections on a Rotten Apple (pg. 260) 

#66 What is Right with the World (pg. 365)

The latest issue of the StAR has arrived for those of you who subscribed, and it is a beauty!

As usual, the meeting will be held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is a right turn off of Rt. 19N, approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, just past the Zion Lutheran Church. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.) The doors will open at 7:00pm for pot luck refreshments, with the discussion beginning at 7:30. The meeting will wrap up around 9:30pm. 

Please read as much of the readings as you can before the meeting.


Feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com if you have any questions about the readings or anything else.

April 11, 2013 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Easter Greetings Fellow WPA Chestertonians!

I have returned from Rome where my son and I went on a Lenten Pilgrimage in the footsteps of Chesterton with the American Chesterton Society. The experience excelled all expectations. More about this later... 

Much thanks to Mr. Harry Colin for taking the helm at our March meeting.

Our next meeting will be on this coming Thursday April 11, 2013. In addition to hearing some of the Chestertonian high points of the pilgrimage, including the Chestertonian connections of the newly appointed Pope Francis, we will continue discussing the essays compiled in the book In Defense of Sanity, edited by Dale Ahlquist, published by Ignatius Press in 2011.

The readings for April will include: 

#24 The Furrows (pg.115)-Originally published in Alarms and Discursions, 1910 

#25 The Meaning of Dreams (pg. 118)-Originally published in Lunacy and Letter, 1958

#41 A Plea for Prohibition (pg. 210)-Originally published in Sidelights, 1932

#44 Magic and the Fantasy of Fiction (pg. 225)-Originally published in Sidelights, 1932       

#58 About Beliefs  (pg. 316) Originally published in As I was Saying, 1936

All of the readings are included in the book In Defense of Sanity. They may also available to view/print on the internet at this link:
http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/~mward/gkc/books/index.html

Although there are 5 essays in the list for this month, most of them are not more than 4-5 pages long. In fact, if reading from In Defense of Sanity there are about 24 pages to read.

Please read the readings before the meeting, as this will greatly enhance our discussion.  On the other hand, please don't stay away from the meeting on account of not finishing the readings.

As usual, the meeting will be held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is a right turn off of Rt. 19N, approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, just past the Zion Lutheran Church. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.) The doors will open at 7:00pm for pot luck refreshments, with the discussion beginning at 7:30. The meeting will wrap up around 9:30pm. 

Please feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com if you have any questions about the readings or anything else.

March 14, 2013 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Greetings Fellow WPA Chestertonians!

Our next meeting will be on Thursday March 14, 2013. We will continue discussing the essays compiled in the book In Defense of Sanity , edited by Dale Ahlquist, published by Ignatius Press.

In light of the fact that I will be in Rome on a Lenten Pilgrimage with the American Chesterton Society on March 14, veteran group member and long time Chestertonian Harry Colin has graciously agreed to lead the discussion.

In keeping with the Lenten timing of the meeting the readings for March will include: 

"The Book of Job" (originally published in 1929 as an essay titled "The Introduction to the Book of Job")
"On Original Sin" (originally published in 1930 as a chapter in his book Come to Think of It ) 

To fill out the line up, Chesterton's essay "The Pickwick Papers" will be also included... Dickens being the master study of human nature that he is. This was originally published in 1911 as Chapter 3 of his book Appreciations and Criticisms of the Works of Charles Dickens.

All of the readings are included in the book In Defense of Sanity. They are also available to view/print on the internet at this link:
http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/~mward/gkc/books/index.html

As usual, the meeting will be held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is a right turn off of Rt. 19N, approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, just past the Zion Lutheran Church. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.) The doors will open at 7:00pm for pot luck refreshments, with the discussion beginning at 7:30. The meeting will wrap up around 9:30pm. 

Please feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com if you have any questions about the readings or anything else.

February 14, 2013 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

February 14, 2013 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Greetings WPA Chestertonians!

At our February meeting of 2013 we will continue discussing the book 
In Defense of Sanity , edited by Dale Ahlquist, published by Ignatius Press. 

The book is available online from the American Chesterton Society (http://www.chesterton.org/store/#!/~/product/id=7298739) 
and also at Amazon 
(http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Sanity-Best-Essays-Chesterton/dp/1586174894). 
It is also possible (I would call first) to find it at your "local" Barnes & Noble, or at the Gospa bookstore in Evans City. 

The meeting will be held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is a right turn off of Rt. 19N, approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, just past the Zion Lutheran Church. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.) The doors will open at 7:00pm for pot luck refreshments, with the discussion beginning at 7:30. We will wrap up around 9:30pm. 

For the February meeting please read the following essays, selected with a Valentine's Day theme in mind. (The # refers to the Table of Contents in the Ignatius Press edition of the book  In Defense of Sanity ) 

               #5 Woman 

               #12 The Romantic in the Rain      

               #43 Marriage and the Modern Mind 

#47 On Man: The Heir of all Ages  

#49 The Romance of Childhood   

#50 The Surrender Upon Sex  

#52 Babies and Distributism    
Please feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com if you have any questions about the readings or anything else.

Hope to see you on Thursday the 14th!

January 2013 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

January 2013 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Happy New Year WPA Chestertonians!

At our first meeting of 2013 we will begin a discussion of the book 
In Defense of Sanity , edited by Dale Ahlquist, published by Ignatius Press. 

The book is available online from the American Chesterton Society (http://www.chesterton.org/store/#!/~/product/id=7298739) 
and also at Amazon 
(http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Sanity-Best-Essays-Chesterton/dp/1586174894). 
It is also possible (I would call first) to find it at your "local" Barnes & Noble, or at the Gospa bookstore in Evans City. 

The meeting will be held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is a right turn off of Rt. 19N, approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, just past the Zion Lutheran Church. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.) The doors will open at 7:00pm for pot luck refreshments, with the discussion beginning at 7:30. We will wrap up around 9:30pm. 

For the January meeting please read:

The Forward, Preface and Introduction to the book 

On Certain Modern Writers

The Twelve Men

The Architect of Spears

Don't


Please feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com if you have any questions about the readings or anything else.
Also, please remember to bring $30 if you want to participate in the bulk subscription to the StAR journal for 2013 and haven't turned in your money yet. (If we are unable to make the minimum # of people needed for the subscription, I will be returning the checks or money to those of you who've already signed up.)

Hope to see you Thursday!