Members of the Newtown Senior Center shared personal stories from their past at the Writing Workshop Reading on April 17. The official public ceremony came after a six-week writing course led by Newtown resident Lisa Peterson.

Ms Peterson, a former Newtown Bee staff reporter and columnist, is currently a Western Connecticut State University graduate student in the MFA program for Creative and Professional Writing. She conducted the class at the Newtown Senior Center as part of her degree requirement for completing a teaching practicum.

At the reading, Ms Peterson addressed the crowd at the podium and thanked Newtown Senior Center Assistant Judy Thomas for this opportunity.

Ms Peterson explained that during the class, “Each student reflected on childhood and young adult memories. We started with a first draft, which they hand wrote, then I introduced some technology into the editing process.”

After several revisions, the students created a final version, which is what they prepared to read aloud.

Dolly White

The first writer to present their personal essay was Dolly White.

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, she lived in a variety of places, including Oak Ridge, Tenn., and Los Angeles, Calif., before coming to Newtown.

“She went to high school in Los Angeles and graduated from UCLA with a degree in political science and a teaching certificate,” Ms Peterson said of Ms White’s background. “Dolly has had many professions, including dancing instructor, real estate copywriter, purchasing agent, and teaching high school boys at juvenile hall in Santa Barbara, Calif. She was married and had two children and has six grandchildren.”

A self-proclaimed former “autograph hound,” Ms White’s story was titled “Celebrities Make Friends Too!”

She recounted her tales of meeting Elizabeth Taylor in the summer of 1944, when the 12-year-old actress was working at MGM in Culver City; getting to know John Wayne during a cruise to Hawaii with her parents, which led to her spending the next month with his family while he was making the movie Donovan’s Reef; and hitching a ride with Bing Crosby on a summer day in 1965 after a day of fishing.

During the latter tale, Ms White said, “Months later, I was on the putting green at the Bel-Air Country Club near Los Angeles where we were members. I had just won as the club champion in the women’s division. Bing was on the putting green. I didn’t think he would remember me, and then he came running over… He wanted to play golf with me because he heard I was the club champion and he only played with pros.”

The two putted around that day and even passed by Elvis Presley, who waved to her and Bing.

Heidi Röesch

The second and final writer of the afternoon was Heidi Röesch.

Born in Switzerland, she lived in Köln, Germany; Geneva, Switzerland; Barcelona, Spain; London; New York City; and San Francisco before arriving in Newtown.

“She earned a higher education diploma in Switzerland, including a first-place award in embroidery. As an athlete, she won three skiing races in the Swiss Alps and also awards for track and field events, like running and the javelin, back when it was a large wooden javelin. She was married, spent many years as a homemaker, and has four children and quite a few grandchildren,” Ms Peterson said during Ms Röesch’s introduction.

Ms Röesch’s story titled “A Girl With Ambitions!” was her writing debut.

She started off by describing her childhood growing up poor in Europe during the 1930s.

“There were few jobs available. My father got a chance to open a new hotel in Köln, Germany. Our family followed later,” Ms Röesch shared.

After renting a house, her parents saved and were able to buy their own home, only to have to leave it a short two years later when they would have to flee the country.

“In late October 1938, walking home from work on a very well-known shopping street, my father saw an open truck with SS soldiers carrying their famous bayonets. They went rushing into a leather goods store, slashing everything, arresting the shopkeepers, putting on handcuffs, and throwing them into the truck and driving off,” she said.

Upon returning to Switzerland, Ms Röesch’s family opened a bakery, and she worked greeting customers and pasting coupons into government flyers.

With dreams of being an architect, she wanted to further her education but was denied applying to a university because she was a girl. So, she worked for an architect, typing up invoices and housing plans — without getting paid — because architecture was her passion.

When she made it to New York City on her own in 1954, she finally got to see all the famous buildings in person and recalled it being “Heaven.”

Awards

“It was a real pleasure working with Dolly and Heidi,” Ms Peterson said at the end of the reading. “This [experience] is very personal to me, because my two grandmothers — one was born in Zürich, Switzerland, just like Heidi, and my other grandmother lived in California and loved celebrities just like Dolly.”

In honor of her grandmothers, Ms Peterson even wore her grandmother’s pearls from California and her grandmother’s edelweiss pin from Switzerland.

Ms White and Ms Röesch were given a special surprise when Ms Peterson awarded each of them with a formal certificate of achievement for successfully completing all the class requirements, working hard, and accomplishing perfect attendance. Both women also received complimentary yellow daffodils.