NORTH PLATTE- (North Platte Public Library)- A free program, “Promise in a New Land: Migrating and Settling in Nebraska” by Cherrie Beam-Clarke, is being brought to the North Platte Public Library on Thursday, June 21st by the Friends of the Library group and the Nebraska Humanities Council. The Brown Bag Luncheon program begins at 12:00 PM and should last about one hour. Attendees may bring their lunches. Water and tea will be provided. Seating is limited so seat reservations can be made by calling the library at 535-8036 by Wednesday, June 20th.
Beam-Clarke, as Mariah Monahan, with Irish brogue and period costume, depicts a Nebraska settler between 1845 and 1870. Based on historical fact, this is a first-person Chautauqua-style presentation. Through a spellbinding rendition, viewers are transported in time to sail the ocean, ride the wagon trail, feel the loneliness and fight prairie fires. Laugh and cry with stories of successful crops, dancing, hard work, grasshoppers, losing loved ones and becoming an American. The sequel to this program “The Courage to Continue” will be at the library in August. This educational and entertaining program is appropriate for all ages. These programs are part of the library’s centennial year celebration.
Cherrie Beam-Clarke doesn’t lack for stories as she has spent nearly 25 years gathering and recording historic tales from Nebraska families. Cherrie boasts of being a “true Nebraskan,” as she has lived in both ends of the state and is a fourth generation farm girl. The pioneer stories are factual and reflect the diversity of the people and land from western to eastern Nebraska. Cherrie is an educational storyteller who speaks with an Irish brogue, dresses in period attire and delivers spell binding one-act plays that make audiences laugh and cry. Speaking for more than 25 years to all ages, her venues include elementary, especially 4th grade, through high school, libraries, museums, adult and youth church groups, senior centers, banquets and festivals. Cherrie traveled Nebraska as a storyteller on the wagon train commemorating the 150th birthday of the Oregon Trail. She is co-founder of John C. Fremont Days, one of Nebraska’s largest annual historical festivals, and founder of “A Day in the Past,” an annual day for 4th graders. She is recipient of a number of community and statewide awards for historical preservation.