"I still hold that it is the main earthly business of a human being to make his home...
as symbolic and significant to his own imagination as he can;
whether the home be in Notting Hill or Nicaragua, in Palestine or in Pittsburgh."-G.K.Chesterton, "The Artistic Side"

Tuesday, February 25, 2014


FRIDAY March 14, 2014 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Greetings WPA Chestertonians and Friends!

..."What is a week end?"... This question was artfully posed by Lady Violet in an early episode of the popular Brit TV drama "Downton Abby". The best answer I could give her (in my best American accent) would be, "It's the couple of days that follow Friday."  Here in the WPA Chesterton Society we are switching our meetings from the second Thursday to the second Friday of each month. It is our hope that the Friday time slot will result in a more relaxed evening, heading into the week end for the working folk amongst us, many of whom travel a distance to attend the meetings. 

Our March meeting marks the second Friday of Lent and the beginning of our new meeting schedule. Hopefully, these two things will have little to do with each other besides their common time slot in the week!  We will be continuing our discussion of G.K. Chesterton's book Eugenics and Other Evils: An Argument Against the Scientifically Organized Society

The schedule of chapters remaining for discussion follows:
March 14: Chapters 5-10
April 11: Chapters 12-17

Information about the book and where to find it are posted in the January entry of this blog page.

Reading the chapters before the meeting is strongly encouraged, but please don't stay away from the meeting just because you haven't gotten through them!  

May 9, June 13 and July 11, 2014

For our May and June meetings we will read selections (to be announced) from Chesterton’s biographical essay compilation Varied Types In July we are planning an undoubtedly rollicking discussion of the novel The Ball and the Cross.


July 31-August 2 

These are the dates for the American Chesterton Society's annual conference. This year's event will take place at Mundelein University, in the Chicago area. Below is an announcement that appeared on the ACS Facebook page earlier this week.

**ATTN LATE REGISTRANTS** In the past some attendees have elected to wait and register for the conference as we approach the date of the event. Due to capacity restrictions at Mundelein, seating is limited this year, so make sure to register as soon as possible. Registration for the 33rd Annual Chesterton Conference is on a first come, first served basis. There will be no walk-in registrations this year and we expect to be at full capacity within the next 30 days.

Full conference information is available on the ACS website, www.chesterton.org 

As usual...
Our meetings are 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 open at 7:00pm for pot luck refreshments, with the discussion beginning at 7:30. The meeting wraps up sometime around 9:30pm.

Please consider bringing something for the refreshment table, and as always, feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com if you have and questions or comments.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014


February 13, 2014 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Greetings WPA Chestertonians and Friends!

Our Thursday, February 13 meeting is just days away... 

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. 

We will continue reading and discussing Eugenics and Other Evils: An Argument Against the Scientifically Organized Society. At our last meeting we discussed the first two chapters and part of the third, along with a good amount of background and contextual information. This week we will begin with a recap and finish of the third chapter, and make our way through as much as we can of Chapters 4-7. Check the January post on this blog for information about where you can find the text. Reading as much as possible before the meeting is encouraged!

Change of Meeting Day, Starting with our March 14th meeting...

I am happy to report that in light of overwhelming support from our group members in favor of  meeting on Fridays, I was able to obtain official approval for the change from the Township Supervisors. This means that starting in March, we will be meeting on the second Friday of each month instead of the second Thursday. The meeting time and place will stay the same. 

The 33rd Annual Chesterton Conference ...
"The Democracy of the Dead"
University of Saint Mary of the Lake 
Mundelein, Illinois
July 31-August 2, 2014


Full conference information and registration is NOW available at the link below. Check out the great speaker line-up! Please note that registration and housing arrangements are limited and are expected to sell out. It is advised that if you would like to attend, you register and book your lodgings soon.


Winter Weather Reminder...

In the event that we need to cancel a meeting, I will post on the Facebook pages and here on our blog at wpachesterton.blogspot.com. I will also try to send a group email around if a cancellation occurs. 

As always, feel free to share any of this information, and email any questions you might have to me at wpachesterton@gmail.com

Hope to see you on Thursday!

Blessings,
Vicki Darkey