Blizzard of '49 is Sandoz Society topic

The keynote speaker will be William Kloefkorn, Nebraska State poet and professor emeritus of literature at Nebraska Wesleyan University. He will speak at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 14 on “The Poetry of People and Place.” The presentation will be open to the public without charge.

Another highlight will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday, when Dr. Don Green, former dean of the School of Liberal Arts at CSC, will speak on “Mari and Me” A Personal Odyssey of the Great Plains.”

Dr. Ron Hull of Lincoln, past president of the Mari Sandoz Heritage Society, will introduce Green. The pair worked together for many years seeking to make the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center at CSC become a reality. It occurred when the center opened in September 2002.

An array of scholarly activities are planned for Friday. Topics will include “Reading Winter Thunder,” “The Historic Winter Thunder,” “Understanding High Plains Botony,” “Teaching in the Sandhills” and “Lakota Preparations for Winter Survival and Blizzards.”

Mari Sandoz’s niece, Celia Sandoz Ostrander Barth of Rushville, will be present for the “Reading Winter Thunder” session. It was Celia’s experience during the Blizzard of ’49 that inspired the author to write “Winter Thunder.” Also on the panel will be two members of the Department of Language, Literature and Communication Arts at CSC, Dr.Matt Evertson and Deb Carpenter.

The panel moderator, Linda Ross of Buffalo, Wyo., will show pictures of the Blizzard of ’49 and give personal experiences of the storm.

Anyone with photos of the blizzard is invited to bring them to the conference or leave them at the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center prior to the event.

Panel members at the “Teaching in the Sandhills” session early Friday afternoon will include Moni Hourt, teacher at the Glen School west of Fort Robinson, and Dr. Clark Gardener, an education professor at CSC. Both received special honors last fall at the National Rural Education Association’s annual meeting in Indianapolis.

Reservations for the conference may be made by contacting the Mari Sandoz Heritage Society, P.O Box 219, Gordon, NE 69343. The cost for society members will be $10 to attend the conference sessions, $10 for the Friday luncheon and $15 for the Friday night banquet. For non-members the conference sessions are $20, the luncheon is $10 and the banquet is $20.

A tour of the Museum of the Fur Trade east of Chadron is planned for Saturday morning.