The first Live Speaker presentation in the Pump House Museum and Learning Center at 2282 Ottawa Beach Road in Holland will be this thursday, July 6th. The doors to the Museum will open to the general public at 6:30, and the program will begin at 7:00. Free admission.

Author, writer and Ottawa Beach resident Elyssa Checov will speak on the topic  “Memoir Writing Workshop: Ottawa Beach Stories.” 

Participants in this interactive and collaborative program will learn some practical fundamentals of memoir writing and be provided with some tools and inspiration to put down their own stories and memories of Ottawa Beach. Elissa Checov is a retired Master of Library and Information Sciences.

Elyssa’s description of this workshop is as follows:

“Our family, for generations, has gathered on the front porch of The Cottage. Here we talk, laugh, listen, feel, think, read, loaf, eat, visit, clean, daydream, drink, watch, see, and be. We’ve discussed, debated, made decisions, celebrated, planned, escaped, and put out gladiolus. It’s a place of moments, minor and momentous occasions, memories, and stories. And memoirs.

Event Information and Registration

I was on The Porch when I decided to pursue a graduate degree for work in libraries – the place where stories live on. I was on The Porch, newly retired, when my friend suggested OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) classes where I discovered memoir writing for myself, “to get the juices flowing.” Not surprising, The Cottage is itself a character in many of the pieces I write. And writing is, to me, joyful and liberating so I want to share. Memoir writing is popular these days and here is an opportunity to join in.”

NOTE that on August 24th, Elyssa Checov will return to the Museum to present “Memoir Writing Workshop: review and follow up” This will be a time for reviewing drafts of memoirs written by people who attended Ms. Checov’s first presentation on writing one’s Ottawa Beach memoirs.

2023 Events

  • July 6 Elissa Checov 
  • July 13 Chriss Lyon
  • July 20 Tom Wilson
  • July 27 Valerie van Heest 
  • Aug 10 Dan Aument
  • Aug 24 Elissa Checov
  • Aug 31 Wayne Tan
  • Aug 17 Curtis Dykstra