'Gather 'Round’ book to be featured at Book Fest

The latest book published by the Texas Folklore Society, “Gather ‘Round: Gatherings in Texas and the Southwest,” is a wonderful book that explores the different ways people meet. The book is divided into different sections: past gatherings, large gatherings, changed gatherings — such as how people met during the pandemic — and more.

The Oct. 3 Boeme Book Festival will feature this book on one of the panel discussions.

I spoke with the delightful 94- year- old Jean Granbury Schnitz, who lives in Boerne and has two story contributions in the book. Schnitz participated in the Texas Folklife Festival for 31 years, where she played her great-grandfather’s hammered dulcimer.

One of her story contributions is about her experiences at the Texas Folklife Festival. Her other story covers spontaneous gatherings and happenings , mainly through the small communities across Texas.

Two other contributors that will be with us for this program are storytellers Donna Christopher Ingham and Bernadette Nason. You might recognize their names from their participation in our annual Liars Contest. Nason’s story in the book relates an English woman’s perspective on different Thanksgiving celebrations through the years – during the pandemic, overseas in Dubai, and more.

This is such a great book with a treasure of stories from down-to-earth writers from across Texas. It will soon be cataloged and available for checkout at the library.

We hope you join us Oct. 3 to celebrate 10 years of the Boerne Book Festival. Thank you so much to our annual sponsors including Kay and Bryden Moon, the Boerne Public Library Foundation, The Friends of the Boerne Public Library, The City of Boerne, H-E-B, and Susan and Skipper Nelson.