Derrick Miller
The Duncan Banner
DUNCAN —
When it comes to turning over a new leaf, it can be as simple as turning a page.
The annual Chisholm Trail Book Festival will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 18, in the Simmons Center. More than 40 authors are scheduled to take part in the event to autograph and sell their books.
The books at the festival will range from children’s books to adult books to cookbooks and religious and spiritual books, and will cover both fiction and non-fiction book readers.
Glenna Pace, festival chairwoman, said, “(I’m) very excited. I had a lot of good response from schools and authors.”
This is the second year for the festival to be held in Duncan. Previously, it took place in Comanche as the Comanche Border Queen Book Festival.
Every year the book festival has taken place, so has an eighth-grade essay contest. The contest is open to eighth-graders and home school students between the ages of 13 to 15 years old.
The deadline for essay entries is Friday. The winner of the contest will be selected Monday. And the winner will be announced at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 18, as part of the book festival.
The students entering the contest had to write 500 to 700 words of a historical perspective of their community. The top three places will get monetary prizes.
The festival isn’t all about the authors and their books. A portion of the event is about helping others.
At the festival, new and used books will be collected to promote literacy in Stephens County. There are boxes set up at the Duncan Public Library to begin collecting books for the project.
While the majority of the books will go to the Stephens County Youth Shelter, Pace said books have been given to the Duncan Toy Shop, Duncan Senior Citizens Center, Women’s Haven, Smart Start and Gabriel’s House.
In addition to books, workshops and the essay contest, the event will also provide food for people attending the festival. The food is being provided by the Stephens County Home School families to raise money for their graduation activities.
“They’re trying to raise money for their graduation and senior trip,” Pace said.
Some of the activities of the festival include a mini book club, where people will get to listen to authors read from their books. They’ll also get to discuss the books and will get feedback from the authors.
In the children’s area, there will be several workshops, the authors will read to the children and The Duncan Public Library will lead Toddler Time.
Pace said many community organizations will have booths at the festival. Some of the booths include the Duncan Area Literacy Council and the Duncan Public Library.
She said the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center’s Western Spirit Celebration is also aiding the program by having a by-invitation only dinner for the authors.
“We’re getting help from all sorts of people,” Pace said. “We’re going to need a lot of volunteers. We have gotten a lot of support from the community.”
— Derrick Miller is a reporter for The Duncan Banner. He can be reached at 580-255-5354, Ext. 160, or via e-mail at derrick.miller@duncanbanner.com.
