KrisAnn Sullivan
Frank House director, 308.865.8284 OR sullivankw@unk.edu
Valentine’s Day. It’s the bane of the existence of some, yet the most romantic time of year to others.
On Sat., Feb. 11, Sigma Tau Delta, the national English honor society at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, will present a “Bad Love Poetry Reading” as part of the 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the Frank House series.
Celeste Lempke, an English graduate student from Wallace, said, “This event is one of our favorites to host, since it shows our sense of humor, promotes literacy in an entertaining manner and offers the listening audience a different experience from typical Valentine’s Day practices.
“The Frank House is a great venue in which we can bring both the UNK campus and the Kearney community together to promote English and literacy.” The Frank House is located on the UNK West Campus, and the event is free and open to the public.
“As an organization that likes to promote literacy in fun, uncharacteristic ways, we decided to go against the traditions of Valentine’s Day and take on the literature of love from a different perspective,” Lempke said. Sigma Tau Delta’s “Bad Love Poetry Reading” was first held last year.
“For our second annual ‘Bad Love Poetry Reading,’ members of Sigma Tau Delta will be selecting love poetry of all types which depict the darker, seedier, and funnier side of love and Valentine’s Day practices,” she said. “The selections will range from classic love poems/sonnets, poems about love gone wrong, poems about bad examples of love, pop/rock songs with these themes and just plain badly-written poetry about love. Some of the pieces will be original creative works, while others will just be personal favorites.”
In addition to Lempke, student readers will include Alexander Emery of Grand Island and Aaron Rothenberger of Kearney.
“Sigma Tau Delta has been coordinating presentations with the Frank House since I was an undergraduate student participating in the organization,” Lempke said. “During the fall semester of 2006, we co-hosted a Dickens Tea, reading excerpts from Charles Dickens’ novel, ‘A Christmas Carol,‘ while volunteers were dressed up in period-style clothing. Since these programs promote historical education and literacy, both for adults and children, we co-hosted a Victorian children’s literature reading last year. For the event, we selected children’s stories/poems from the period, and explained the period’s concept of children and the literature it inspired.
KrisAnn Sullivan, director of the Frank House, noted: “Donations helped refurbish the master bed chamber area and will be put to good use as we begin the other planned improvement projects in the Frank House. Saturday at the Frank House educational program volunteers help make the public aware of the needs of the house, and the public responds. Donations are always appreciated in support of the Frank House.”
Upcoming Saturday at the Frank House events include: Feb. 18, “Intro to Genealogy”; Feb. 25, “Songs from the Recent Past”; March 3, “The Square (piano) for Kids”; March 10, “Loper Low Brass”; March 31, “19th Century Gardening for 21st Century Wildlife”; April 7, “Frank House Easter Egg Hunt”; April 14, “Titanic: 100 Year Anniversary Displays”; April 21, “Spring String Concert”; April 28 “Fencing Like the Franks”; and May 5, “Flutes at the Frank House.”
The Frank House is open 2-5 p.m. Monday – Friday and noon – 5 p.m. on Saturdays. Guided tours are available. The mansion will be
closed March 18-25 during spring break and May 26-28 for Memorial Day.
For more information on the Frank House, or any of the events, visit www.frankhouse.org.
