News From Terre Haute, Indiana

Entertainment

August 30, 2012

Michigan author to present program on Civilian Conservation Corps at Ritz

ROCKVILLE — Michigan-based author Bill Jamerson will present a music and storytelling program about the Civilian Conservation Corps at 12:30 p.m. Sept. 20 at the Ritz Theatre in Rockville. The hour-long program, “Dollar a Day Boys,” is sponsored by the Rockville Public Library and is part of the Ivy Tech Community College, Parke County Learning Center Sack Lunch series.

Jamerson’s program will include stories, video, reading excerpts from his novel and performances of original songs on guitar. Jamerson has presented his program at CCC reunions, and at CCC built state and national parks around the country.

The Civilian Conservation Corps was a federal works program created by President Franklin Roosevelt in the heart of the Great Depression. During its nine-year run from 1933-1942 more than 3.5 million young men between the ages of 17 and 25 enlisted across the country. They were known as “Roosevelt’s Tree Army” because they planted more than 3 billion trees nationwide. The enrollees lived in work camps located far from towns and were paid a dollar a day. Twenty-five dollars a month was sent home directly to their families.

Jamerson’s novel, “Big Shoulders,” follows a year in the life of a 17-year-old youth from Detroit who enlists in the CCC in 1937. The enrollee joins 200 other young men at Camp Raco, a work camp in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula run by army officers. It is a coming-of-age story of an angry teenager who faces the rigors of hard work, learning to get along with a difficult sergeant and coping with a bully.

Some of the songs Jamerson performs include “Chowtime,” a fun look at the camp food, “City Slicker,” which tells of the mischief the young men get into in the woods. “Borrowed Mom” is the story of an orphan who finds a mother and “Tree Plantin’, Fire Fightin’ Blues” tells of the hardships of work. The folk songs range from heartwarming ballads to foot stomping jigs. The stories and songs are as educational as they are entertaining, as honest as they are fun.

In Indiana, the CCC planted millions of trees, fought forest fires, improved rivers and streams and built roads and bridges. They also built state parks, including Turkey Run, Indiana Dunes, Ouabache, Pokogon, Fort Harrison, McCormick Creek and Mounds. The CCC engaged in many soil conservation programs for Indiana farmers, such as repairing gullies, terracing hills and introducing strip farming practices.

The camps not only revitalized the state’s natural resources but also taught the young men job skills and discipline. In his talk, Jamerson will share many stories he has picked up from former CCC boys he has met over the years and will discuss some of their work projects in Indiana.

He will sign books after his talk. For more information about the program call the library at (765) 569-5544, the Parke County Learning Center at (765) 569-1065 or visit billjamerson.com.

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