STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
The poetry of the gals will be the centerpiece of a poetry reading from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Saturday, July 24, at the Reinheimer Ranch south of Ketchum.
“The Beauty of Brilliance,” as it’s titled, is a benefit for The Senior Connection.
The evening will feature several of the valley’s actors, including Claudia McCain, Page Klune, Yanna Lantz, Laine Hubbard, Courtney Loving and Jessi Mayne.
They will be reciting a variety of poems from Emily Dickinson’s to Edna St. Vincent Millay’s sonnets. There also will be some contemporary poems by such poets as Maya Angelou, Sharon Olds, Margaret Atwood, Louise Erdrich, Linda Pasten, Naomi Shihab Nye, Gwendolyn Brooks, Cathy Song and Amanda Gorman, the young woman who made a splash at the 2021 Inauguration of President Biden.
The evening was planned by JoEllen Collins who wanted to pay homage to the many poems she taught during a lifetime of reading and writing.
“I went to a show at Reinheimer Ranch that R.L. Rowsey did last summer and I went to Cathy Reinheimer and said, ‘I’d like to do an evening of reading poetry to help the Senior Connection. Now that the pandemic is slowing, everyone wants a lovely evening out and I think they will enjoy all these good actors.”
The actors won’t read hours of poetry but a few “really neat pieces,” said Collins.
A few date back to the 1800s when, Collins said, there wasn’t a lot of poetry by women—“they just didn’t get published.”
The contemporary pieces will address Moms and Grandmas, women at home and how that’s changed over a generation and women immigrants adjusting to life in this country and missing home.
“Some of the poems will address women’s issues, marriage, homemaking, childhood and the disparity between wealth and poverty,” Collins added.
Tickets are $15, available at www.FieldDazesunvalley.org There will be some seats available; attendees are welcome to bring their own, as well.
Parking is on site but attendees should wear appropriate footwear for walking across a field.