November 4, 2015 · 5:28 pm

WARREN ARTISTS’ MARKET RELEASES SECOND ANNUAL ANTHOLOGY

DSCF3983   The Warren Artists’ Market (WAM) founder, Thomas Park has announced the completion of Preserved Life: Memories, a 2nd annual anthology. The book features 52 writers, at least 13 from Warren County, including poems from the late, respected, hometown writer Edwina Rooker. Submissions came from as far away as India.

The Book Release reception is scheduled to blend with WAM’s traditional First Friday Poetry Night on November 6, held at Warren FoodWorks, 108 S. Main Street, Warrenton, from 7 until 9 p. m. Local writers have been invited to read from their work. The event is open mic. Others who are not in the anthology are welcome to read also.

The 253 page book will be available for $15 each. Refreshments will be served. There is no admission fee.

The Artists’ Collective hosts First Friday Poetry Nights, book readings/signings for local authors, mural workshops, writing groups, drumming, and after-school tutoring.

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October 14, 2015 · 7:16 pm

JERSEY BUZZ RADIO SHOW 920 AM

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Doug Palmieri, owner of the Old Bordentown Bookshop at 200 Farnsworth Avenue, will be a guest on the Jersey Buzz Radio Show this week. He’ll be talking about ghosts and hauntings and the upcoming Annual Ghost Walk in Bordentown, NJ on Sunday, the 25 Oct. from 6 – 9 pm.
He will have copies of the new book by Arlene S. Bice, Living with Ghosts ($15)that include true stories of Bordentown, Burlington City, and Mercer County, all NJ. This is her latest book that brings you many new stories never told before, plus an update on the haunting of her former home in Bordentown.
Resident writer, Susan Von Dongan, holds a guest spot in the book with a personal paranormal story of her own.
Info from Downtown Bordentown Association: Hear true ghostly tales of Bordentown City on this one-hour guided walking tour of the colonial town’s historic district. From the “woman in white” to the haunted Clara Barton schoolhouse, this after-dark tour is sure to provide great stories, chills and fun! Appropriate for all ages.
Stories and routes change each year. Tours happen rain or shine – so come dressed for the weather.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $6 for children under 8. Advance ticketing strongly suggested. Ticket sales begin Oct. 3. Call The Old Book Shop at 609-324-9909 for info and tickets.

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October 9, 2015 · 6:31 pm

SAVE THE DATE! FRIDAY, 23 OCT. 7 – 9 BOOK READING/SIGNING of THE AFTERNOON CROWD at the American House Tavern * A Warren Artists’ Market Event

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Warren Food Works 108 So. Main Str. Warrenton, NC252-257-1239.
In the worst of times, a barroom can be a dangerous place, in the best of times it can be fun, educational, and a good source of income. My few years tending bar at the American House Tavern, in the middle of horse country in the 70s, were the best of times. Some of the people I met became dear friends, some were dark horses, and some just had plain old good stories. I love a good story.
A tavern, with their daily regular customers and the newbies that walked in for the first time, is like a small neighborhood. You get to know some very well and others only their façade. But people reveal more than they realize when they are in public. Many stories didn’t get into the book. I’ll talk about a few of them.
Come out, bring your book to be signed, or you can purchase one for $10, or just come to hear the stories.

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October 6, 2015 · 11:45 pm

Random Act of Poetry Day

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Grandfather Harry Daniels, Rachel Ann Daniels Philkill, Mahlon Philkill
WHO I AM & WHERE I COME FROM
Arlene Sandra Bice
Pre-internet years-chasing down the paper trail;
census, taxes, death certificates, birth, marriage,
and divorce. Name changes for many reasons.

Finding parents info, for they’ve been gone,
rarely spoke of their parentage or heritage;
information long gone before me.

Their grandparents-an interesting layer of ancestry,
coming & going, who is who, enlistments, uniforms,
cavalry, War Between the States; desertion, why?

A few stories remain, questions stay unanswered;
family secrets hide in dark corners. digging, digging, digging,

Filling in details, personalities emerge, talents, failings,
lies told, for what reason, what were their lives like,
what was happening in their world to influence their
decisions.

Ah-h-h, history revealed, folded into daily life as it was.

I found a source of my genes, a mirror to hold up,
career, marriages, adventures, a survivor of life, self-made,
keeper of the keys.

It was in a public library, where the original Wills & Testaments
of Rachel Ann Daniels and her mother Sarah Ann Martin
were brought forth; holding the original documents in my hands,
touching the paper they held a hundred years ago.

Unembarrassed, I wept; tears streaming; my roots exposed at last.

This is who I am and where I come from.

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October 5, 2015 · 9:08 pm

Book reading/signing at the Vance Co. Genealogy Society, Henderson NC

Author Arlene Bice in Colonial garb.

Author Arlene Bice in Colonial garb.

Come out to hear the unprinted, inside story of The Afternoon Crowd at the American House Tavern program, written by Arlene S. Bice dressed in colonial garb. The program is hosted by the Vance County Genealogy Society during their monthly meeting on Monday, October 12, 2015 at 6:30 P.M. in the Farm Bureau room of the Perry Memorial Library in Henderson, NC.

This is a fun book as well as recording the history of the 70s, set in the middle of horse country. Bring in your book to be signed or purchase one there for $10. Please plan to attend this informative meeting. All VCGS meetings are open to the public.

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September 17, 2015 · 9:58 am

AMERICAN HOUSE TAVERN PICTURES

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Bill-the owner, Roger the hoagie man, Mike-former owner, and The Candy Man Bill

Scenes from the American House Tavern-the subject for The Afternoon Crowd. Bill-the owner is a basic who threads in and out of the stories. Roger, the hoagie man-who made the best hoagies ever, ever, ever, will appear in another volume. Mike will appear in the next volume, too. Bill- the candy man has his bit of story in the book.

Every town and every house has its own stories to tell. Taverns are the best places for learning about human nature, how people think, and sometimes why they think the way they do. It was a job between careers and I loved it!

Signed copies of The Afternoon Crowd can be found at Randy Now’s ManCave at 134 Farnsworth Ave. or at the Old Bookshop at 200 Farnsworth Ave. in Bordentown, NJ. Or, you may order it from me if you want an inscription, or from Amazon.com. $10 wherever you buy it. Enjoy!

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September 7, 2015 · 5:17 pm

AN EXCEPTIONAL FIRST FRIDAY POETRY NIGHT

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The September First Friday continues to exceed my expectations! I thought that the holiday weekend would bring us a small group dedicated to our efforts of bringing poetry and oral expression to Warren County. Instead, the Warren Food Works (WFW) was packed with a diverse crowd from 18 to 80 mingling, enjoying each other while eating, drinking, and soaking up the words cast out into the atmosphere.

A wide range of poetic subjects seeping from the hearts of writers-Warren County writers, and Virginia writers, too, silenced the room with absorption. The always-welcome songs sung so beautifully by Shavon Russell Jones and afterwards, her sister, (forgive me I didn’t get her name.) A big surprise to everyone when volunteer from behind the bar, Cris Hunter ended the evening with the most beautiful rendition of Nature Boy. It brought some tears for the beauty of it. Their voices were like melted chocolate, velvety smooth and mesmerizing to everyone.

Miranda Medlin offered a stirring presentation, taking all into her realm. Devonte, a poet from our last year anthology Sitting with a Drunken Sorceress gave us his words and Travis Bullock continues to bring people in just to hear what he has to tell us.

So many others came to read, to share thoughts, feelings, and to merely listen. It was a very full night; a night to show Thomas Park what his dream has wrought; a night to make him proud for all his efforts.

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September 2, 2015 · 1:07 am

READY FOR YOU TO READ!

am house 70slynn, bernadette, me, kathyparty timeroger-dodger, bill

Shown in these pics are Lynn, Bernadette, Me, Kathy.  Mike Walsh & others. roger-dodger & Bill. Stories from my younger days about the people I met tending bar. Meet Alabama Bob, Rodger-dodger, Johnnie Reb, the French-Canadians, the Horsey Set and more. These are stories of one person’s visions from the other side of the bar. The Afternoon Crowd is based at the American House Tavern in the rural, historical, New Egypt, New Jersey.

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August 31, 2015 · 8:14 am

PIRATES ON THE LAKE

Moon full Linda bestMoon full boat ride 8 29 2016 water and cloudsIt was a magical, mystical night on Lake Gaston
the first full supermoon of the year promising to
revive enchantment, serendipitous messages of
nature, a culmination of the summer of 2015 before
the Virgo harvest of planting in the earth began in reality.

On this evening when the world gazed at the same
full supermoon at the same time; our moon would
follow the path of the late winter sun and the sun’s
path for six months; a supermoon indeed.

All water vehicles had gone home, hooting as they
passed, not knowing the sacredness of our laden boat
or the independent meditations and ceremonies
planned with great care and anticipation.

Wanting to free my soul of entanglements
ethereal currents ran through me as surely
as passing water crafts created currents to
rock our boat, a way to gain our attention.

Yet it was the moon teasing us by peeking
in and out of the mournfully colored clouds
that caught our thoughts and held them until
we pulled up anchor, quietly, and slowly made
our way home.

Arlene Sandra Bice (C) 8/31/2015
Photos by Lisa Hagan

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August 26, 2015 · 11:35 am

The Afternoon Crowd of the American House Tavern

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While tending bar is a lot of work, although good bartenders don’t appear to be working hard, if you like the study of people, it is grand. I love people; our differences, our sameness, and our stories. For as many as we are on this earth, we each have a personal story that is unique. We have reasons, whys, and wherefores that mold us into who we are today.

While Stanley Dancer was a great horseman with a good reputation as an individual, I had met him, but did not know him on a personal level. I did come to know many of the people who worked for him and for other horse trainers in the Plumsted Township area. They were teachers about their professions to me. Working with and around horses was a daily chore; no taking off sick days, or Christmas. The animals must be fed and tended to and these people chose a life style that did not afford them luxuries. I admired them greatly; came to love them for who they were, what they were willing to sacrifice to be where they were, and what jobs they did.

Please enjoy an excerpt from THE HORSEY SET

they came with bruised, calloused hands
coarser than sandpaper
to lift a shot of whiskey chased by a
cold mug of beer,
a reward
for hard work done out in the elements,
thanks not given
except
what they gave themselves;

not a lot of time
to linger; even on
Christmas Day
horses had regular schedules
to keep
and these
workers were there
to keep ‘em

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