SPRING TOUR 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
SUMMERVILLE, SC
I have been home a few days since returning from my three week trip to Florida, and already I am looking forward to my next trip. I leave Sunday for western Florida and southeastern Alabama.
As I reflect back on January 5-23--Wow! My adventures included visits to schools and libraries I have been to before (Islands Elementary, Mt Dora Public Library, Triangle Elementary, Leesburg Library). It included stops in towns I have not been to in decades (as Ben Franklin or Rich Davis): Jupiter, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale. And, of course, it included schools and libraries in towns I go to every year. The following is a complete list of the stops on my tour January 5-23:
Islands Elementary, Savannah
St. Andrews School, Savannah
Assumption Catholic School, Jacksonville
Melrose Florida Historical Association and Library
Bright Futures School, North Palm Beach
Lake Park Baptist School
Stirling Road Branch Library, Hollywood
Peters Elementary School, Plantation, FL
St Ambrose School, Deerfield Beach
Meadowbrook Elementary, Fort Lauderdale
The Sagemont School, Weston, FL
Boca Raton Charter School
St Anne's School, West Palm Beach
Brandon Academy
Dunedin Elementary
Notre Dame School, Spring Hill
Bishop Larkin Catholic School, Port Richey
Regency Park Library, Port Richey
Sawgrass Bay Elementary School, Clermont
Leesburg Public Library
Groveland Elementary
Mt Dora Public Library
Montverde Academy
St Paul's Catholic School, Leesburg
Cagan Crossings Community Library, Clermont
Triangle Elementary, Mt. Dora
These are tough economic times and I appreciate the educational institutions that make a place in tightened budgets for my program. I believe my visit to schools will be a high point of the school year and hopefully will have a lasting importance to many students.
I will look back now to my recent Florida trip and make a brief comment about each stop along the way.
Islands Elementary, Savannah The television station sent a film crew and reporter once again. The both programs maxed out, absolutely perfect, in my mind.
St. Andrews School, Savannah A special thrill interacting with older students, as well as the intermediate grades. Ben had lots of fun! Nice comments from the staff after the show. Ben left feeling super.
Assumption Catholic School, Jacksonville Very nice children and staff. A friendly, enthusiastic audience. Thank you!
Melrose Florida Historical Association and Library Ben was very warmly welcomed and his program well received. A lady and her daughter had been waiting a year for Ben to return to the area-what nice people!
Bright Futures School, North Palm Beach Very friendly students. Relaxed and informal setting.
Lake Park Baptist School Ben was treated like royalty. They had been anticipating my arrival and made Ben feel very appreciated.
Stirling Road Branch Library, Hollywood Intimate, lively group of mostly kids. Ben was warmly received and appreciated by the staff.
Peters Elementary School, Plantation Very nice comments from staff about my programs. I was quite pleased myself!
St Ambrose School, Deerfield Beach Wonderful school in a lovely setting. Beautiful day. Younger and older kids-something for everyone. Thank you!
Meadowbrook Elementary, Fort Lauderdale Warmly received by the staff. They did everything possible to be sure everything was just right. Kids enjoyed my show. I did too!
The Sagemont School, Weston We had quite a time, didn't we? Nice comments after the show. Ben received a complimentary present in the mail!
Boca Raton Charter School Ms. Nelson made Ben Franklin feel just great, before, during and after his show. What a nice person! I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Boca Raton Charter School.
St Anne's School, West Palm Beach Interacted with older elementary students. Wonderful school downtown close to the water. Staff and students very friendly. Less formal setting than most of my shows.
Brandon Academy A perfect program. Ben left riding on a white puffy cloud, feeling just great! 7th and 8th graders shone. Everyone responded to Ben and his program exactly as he would have wished. In fact, even better!
Dunedin Elementary Lively audience that really got into Ben's program. We had quite a time. Staff person provided excellent assistance. Thank you!
Notre Dame School, Spring Hill A great school. A great time. Wonderful. Ben's southern accent and charm won them over.
Bishop Larkin Catholic School, Port Richey Ben got a surprise when he asked the audience if they knew anything about Benjamin Franklin and a kindergartener with something else on his mind began to speak. Lots of fun. Thank you!
Regency Park Library, Port Richey Two seven year old boys stole the show. How smart they were! How much they came knowing, and how much they learned. My program seemed warmly appreciated by everyone.
Sawgrass Bay Elementary School, Clermont Ben shared this day with President Obama's historical inauguration. Kids were pretty excited and the show went well. Very nice staff, kids, and school.
Leesburg Public Library Ben's third visit to this library. An audience of mostly senior adults. Wonderful time!
Groveland Elementary Staff received Ben warmly and made sure everything was just right. Programs went perfectly. Fun! A very cold day for Lake County Florida. An low temperature this week one night was 27 degrees! With the stiff wind, it felt like North Dakota.
Mt Dora Public Library Ben's third visit to this library. Mostly seniors, though we had one special nine year old girl. She was a fan of Ben Franklin's. Nice comments after the show.
Montverde Academy Kids were more sophisticated than just about all I come in contact with. Ben had to elevate himself and his program. Staff and students were warm and friendly.
St Paul's Catholic School, Leesburg First class all the way! Audience was superb, young and older students alike. Staff great, students great, Ben had a lot of fun. Thank you!
Cagan Crossings Community Library, Clermont Ben's program was warmly received by a mixture of kids, parents and seniors. Large audience and many people said kind words to Ben afterwards. A great time!
Triangle Elementary, Mt. Dora It was wonderful having Triangle Elementary School as the final stop on my itinerary. I was here last year and kids looked forward to my return. Staff was very warm and supportive and complimentary of my shows last year. Well, I thought things went even better this year. I drove from Mt Dora, FL to Summerville, SC-a trip of six plus hours-feeling just fine.
February-March, 2009
SUMMERVILLE, SC This time of year things get pretty crazy for Ben Franklin. I'm doing a lot of travel around the south, waiting for the weather to warm up so I can head north. February and March are always interesting travel months for me because there is frequent bad weather through the states I travel to. For example, when I go to northern Alabama and central Tennessee next week I might well run into snow or tornadoes. Or, it might be sunshiny and 75 degrees.
I began the month of February by heading west to the Pensacola - Mobile area. Every year, almost to the day, I come to this part of the country. This year I spoke at four schools and a library where I had been to before: Longwood Elementary in Shalimar, Florida; Edwins Elementary, Fort Walton Beach, Florida; Spanish Fort Elementary, Alabama; Swift School, Bon Secour, Alabama; and Crestview Public Library, Florida. In addition, I performed at Maude Saunders Elementary, DeFuniak Springs, Florida; West DeFuniak Elementary, DeFuniak Springs, Florida; St Johns School, Pensacola; and North Baldwin Literacy in Bay Minette, Alabama. My thanks to everyone who made February 2-9, 2009 a special time for Ben Franklin in a lovely and unique part of the country!
February 10-12, 2009 I was in and around Montgomery, Alabama. Southlawn Elementary, Highland Gardens Elementary, Macon-East Montgomery Academy, and Pike Road Branch Library hosted Ben's show. Then, I drove to LaGrange, Georgia and finished my tour at Hollis Hand Elementary School.
During these difficult economic times, I notice some changes that effect my travel and business. Thank goodness gas prices have settled around $1.78 per gallon! I am not confident they will remain below $2.00 for long, but this is one bright spot in an otherwise dim outlook. Another bright spot for the traveler is that hotels are much cheaper and hotel personnel are much friendlier and more helpful. This, of course, is because fewer people are traveling and some hotels are well below half-occupied. This makes travel a lot more pleasant for me, and I figure I am saving 20-25 % on rooms. It is also kind of scary because I wonder what happened to all the missing travelers. I assume most of these folks are working people like me. To date I have managed to stay in business by reducing my fees. Bookings are a little ahead of last year, but there is no telling what's in store for the fall.
February 23-27, 2009 was a fun week fairly close to home. Most schools I had not visited before, but the places I traveled to were very familiar to me. I spoke at Porter-Gaud School, James Island Christian Academy (which I had been to before), and Goose Creek Primary School, all in the Charleston, SC area.
Then, I drove up the coast to Wilmington, North Carolina, where I spoke at Parsley Elementary. Then, I headed south to Southport Christian School, and then northwest to Pink Hill Elementary, Moss Hill Elementary, and Arendell Parrott Academy, all in or close to Kinston, North Carolina.
I finished the week at St. Mary School in Goldsboro.
Since I have enjoyed the Bradford pear blossoms the past two years during my trips to Kinston, I anticipated them again this year. Apparently, we have had a somewhat colder winter, because the blooms were only partially open. Snow is scheduled for the area the next couple of days, so the blooms may never open. Oh, I just checked the Weather Channel and it is snowing in Birmingham and Montgomery right now. Three to five inches are expected in Birmingham, and I am headed there tomorrow!
March 2-6, 2009 began snowy and ended quite nice! Monday, March 2 there was quite a bit of snow in Atlanta when I passed through about noon. It seems Columbus, a little to the southwest, got even more snow, maybe 5 or 6 inches. I was very relieved to find the Birmingham area open for business when I got there. This being Read Across America week, it would be probably my busiest week all year. I had tremendous fun speaking at the following Alabama schools and libraries this week:
Doris Stanley Memorial Library, Moody
Odenville Elementary
Minor Elementary
Columbiana Public Library
Hayden Primary School
Hayden Elementary
Bessie K. Russell Branch Library, Huntsville
Falkville Elementary
Johnson Elementary, Athens
Madison Public Library (2 shows)
Monte Sano Elementary
Randolph School, Huntsville
March 9-13, 2009
In checked into the Comfort Inn and Suites in Decatur for a glorious, relaxing weekend. Monday, March 9 I headed north on I-59 to Tennessee.
Signs of spring are now everywhere! Happily the snow is past and balmy weather prevails.
Tennessee schools and libraries included:
Westhills Elementary, Lewisburg
Oak Hill School, Nashville
Christ the King School, Nashville
Inglewood Branch Library, Nashville
Jasper Elementary
Jasper Middle School
March 24-27, 2009
This week was spent in and around Richmond, Virginia. Hotel prices are low; you can stay at decent hotels now for less than $100 per night. Gas prices, around $1.95 per gallon. The economy seems to be improving slightly, if you use the stock market as a gauge.
George Mason Elementary, Richmond
A.M. Davis Elementary, Richmond
Varina Public Library, Richmond
Lakeside Elementary, Richmond
Millwood School, Midlothian
Matoaca Elementary
Rockville Branch Library
Ettrick Elementary
Rural Point Elementary
Very nice people greeted me everywhere I went. The best greeting ever occurred at A.M. Davis Elementary when a lovely female staff member said: “Hello, handsome!” Boy, that puts a fellow in happy spirits.
A quick trip to northern Virginia March 30-April 2 found Ben at Fort Belvoir Elementary, Sinclair Elementary (Manassas), Kilby Elementary (Woodbridge), and Bowling Green Elementary. I finished the two week trip to Virginia at Atlee Library in Mechanicsville.
April 26-May 15, 2009
I embarked on my final trip of the year at 5:19 AM, Sunday April 26, 2009. My initial destination was Salisbury, Maryland. I would spend three weeks in Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania, with my final performances being on May 15 in the Washington, D.C. area.
The first week of my three week tour would be spent in Delmarva, one of my favorite geographic regions.
Maryland Eastern Shore schools where I performed April 27-May1:
Berlin Intermediate School
Greenwood Elementary, Princess Anne
Seaside Christian Academy, Ocean City
Woodson Elementary, Crisfield
Delaware schools and libraries where I performed April 27-May1:
Milton Public Library
Lighthouse Christian Academy, Dagsboro
Delmar Public Library
Newark Charter School
MOT Charter School, Middletown
St. Peter Cathedral School, Wilmington
I spent a glorious weekend at the Country Inn and Suites in Newark, Delaware then commenced my tour of Philadelphia, Lancaster and surrounding communities.
Pennsylvania locations where I performed May 4-8:
St Francis of Assisi Sch, Springfield
Our Lady of Grace Sch, Penndel
St Stanislaus Sch, Lansdale
Upper Perkiomen Valley Library, Red Hill
Highland Elem, Abington
Yardley-Makefield Library, Yardley
Resurrection Catholic Sch, Lancaster
Grandview Heights Christian Academy, Ephrata
Salisbury Elem, Gap
Dayspring Christian Academy, Lancaster
Fairview Elem, Elizabethtown
My final weekend away from home for the year was spent at the Holiday Inn Express in York, Pennsylvania. Very nice!
Maryland schools and libraries visited May 11-15:
Our Lady of Grace Sch, Parkton
St. Stephen Parochial Sch, Kingsville
Sandymount Elem, Finksburg
Carroll Lutheran Sch, Westminster
Jemicy Sch, Owings Mills
Chesapeake Terrace Elem, Baltimore
Lamb of God Sch, Halethorpe
Bowie Branch Library
Holy Trinity Episcopal Day Sch, Glenndale
Redeemer Christian Sch, Gaithersburg
2:15 PM on May 15, I pointed my van south, punched Go Home on the GPS and drove and drove and drove. It was 1:00 AM when I pulled into my driveway in Summerville, South Carolina.
Thank you Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida schools and libraries for allowing Ben Franklin to speak to your audiences 2008-2009 school year!
