Goodrichers make a Rural Excursion to Elmwood, home of Bess Streeter Aldrich

Elmwood, Nebraska – From May 20-22, 2016, a group of eleven Goodrichers spent the weekend in and around Elmwood, Nebraska, serving the local community while learning about the life and work of best-selling author and longtime Elmwood resident Bess Streeter Aldrich (1881-1954). In preparation for the trip, everyone read Aldrich’s most famous novel, A Lantern in Her Hand, which is set in Cedartown, Nebraska, a fictional version of Elmwood.

Saturday morning, the students made a visit to the nearby Louisville Care Center where they played games with some of the facility’s residents. It was an illuminating experience as many of the residents had grown up in the area when Aldrich was still living there. Later that afternoon, the students went to Elmwood and took a tour of Aldrich’s home in order to learn about the author’s family, career and literary legacy. The tour was led by the Aldrich Foundation’s executive director Teresa Lorenson. Aldrich’s home has been beautifully maintained by the Bess Streeter Aldrich Foundation, and a couple of Goodrichers commented on how much they would love to live there.

After the tour the Goodrich group pitched in by doing some yard work on the Aldrich home, followed by a raucous good time over dinner at Round the Bend Steakhouse in South Bend, Nebraska.

Before returning home on Sunday, the group stopped by the Lee G. Simmons Conservation Park to learn about the wildlife of the Great Plains.

This was the fourth such “Rural Excursion” Goodrich has taken. Theset rips that are designed to experience the uniqueness, diversity, and sophistication of Nebraska culture. Past excursions were to these locations:

• Red Cloud, Nebraska, childhood home of Willa Cather.
• Bancroft, Nebraska, childhood home of John G. Neihardt.
• Central City, Nebraska, to learn about the life and work of Wright Morris, an award-winning writer and photographer.