Visitors to Wisconsin Farm Technology Days, July 12-14 in Clark County, will enjoy a special event when author, storyteller and rural historian Jerry Apps presents "Remembering Our Rural Roots." Apps will talk about farm life before electricity and indoor plumbing, when cows were milked by hand, farm kids attended a one-room school, and people listened in on the party-line telephone. Apps brings it all back through his stories and readings.
"Chores started on the home farm when you were around four years old, depending on, as Pa would say, 'how much meat you have on your bones'…" Apps wrote in his book, "Every Farm Tells a Story."
A former UW-Extension agent and agriculture professor, Apps writes books and gives presentations on rural life and country living throughout the Upper Midwest. He is also a regular guest on Wisconsin Public Radio.
His latest book, "Every Farm Tells a Story," is a first-person account of a small Wisconsin farm during and just after World War II. This "living history" is a collection of true tales inspired by entries in Apps' mother's account books. His other books include: "Rural Wisdom," "Humor From the Country," "Symbols," and "When Chores Were Done." His recent novel, "The Travels of Increase Joseph," is a tale about pioneer life in Wisconsin. In addition, he has written "Ringlingville USA," which is the history of the Ringling Brothers Circus, and recorded an audio book, "The Back Porch and other Stories."
"Remembering Our Rural Roots" presentations will take place on Tuesday, July 12, at 1 p.m. and Wednesday, July 13, at 1 p.m. in the Family Living Tent.