Escanaba based author Bill Jamerson will present a music and storytelling program about the Civilian Conservation Corps at Munising Public Library on Wednesday July 11 at 6:30pm. His presentation includes the reading of excerpts from his novel “BIG SHOULDERS” and singing original songs about the CCC which he performs with his guitar.
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a federal works program created by President Franklin Roosevelt during The Great Depression. It ran for ten years from 1933-1942 and 57 CCC camps in Michigan housed 112,000 young men between the ages of 17 and 23. They planted 360 million trees, fought forest fires, built state parks and county roads. The camps not only revitalized Michigan’s natural resources but also transformed the boys into men by teaching them discipline and work skills.
“BIG SHOULDERS” is an adult novel that follows a year in the life of a 17 year-old youth from Hamtramck who enlists in the CCC in 1937. The book is a coming-of-age story of an angry teenager who faces the rigors of hard work and learning to cope with a difficult sergeant. Jamerson’s folk songs include heartwarming ballads and foot stomping jigs.
There were over twenty five camps spread across the Upper Peninsula. At Camp Germfask, they built the Seney Wildlife Refuge, at Camp Cusino the enlistee’s imported moose from Isle Royale. From the Kewenaw to the Soo, the camps planted millions of tree seedlings grown at the nursery at Watersmeet. There were camps near Munising, Au Train, Chatham, Wetmore and Eben Junction.
The program is as entertaining as it is educational; as honest as it is fun. People are encouraged to bring any former CCC enrollees that may live in the area.
For more information about the program, visit Bill’s website at: www.billjamerson.com. or call the library at 387-2125.
The program will be held outside. Patrons are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets. In the event of rain it will be moved indoors.
Source: Press Release
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