Jesse Stuart Weekend
Greenbo Lake State Resort Park
September 29 & 30, 2023
For more information:
JSF at 606-326-1667 or jsf@jsfbooks.com
LODGE RESERVATION:
To make room reservations at the Jesse Stuart Lodge, call Greenbo Lake State Resort Park at 606-473-7324.
The Jesse Stuart Weekend is a good spirited homecoming for Stuart fans nationwide. Held the last weekend in September at Greenbo Lake State Resort Park, near the Stuart home in Greenup County, Kentucky, the JSW promotes Jesse Stuart’s human and literary legacy through the following activities:
• An automobile tour of sites in Greenup County that recall times and places of Stuart’s life that influenced his works
• A bus tour of W-Hollow, the land that inspired Stuart’s literary creations, including properties once owned by the Stuart family and Plum Grove Church cemetery, the final resting place of Jesse Stuart and many of his relatives
• A hike through a portion of the Jesse Stuart Nature Preserve
• Lectures, panel discussions, and entertainment that illustrate the Appalachian way of life.
BOOK EVALUATIONS: Throughout the Jesse Stuart Weekend, David Palmore will be available to evaluate your Stuart first editions and other hard-to-find Stuart books. This is a good time to begin or expand your Stuart Collection.
Friday, Sept. 29, 2023
9 a.m. to noon ~ Early-Bird Special
Join Associate Members Bud Vanzant and James Shoup for a Friday morning early-bird special! Visit Cane Creek School, the site of Jesse Stuart’s teaching assignment in The Thread That Runs So True.
Noon ~ Lunch
On your own at the Jesse Stuart Lodge.
1 p.m. ~ Shopping at JSF Bookstore
The JSF Bookstore, because of COVID, is closed to the public. However, JSW participants who have been vaxxed and boosted may shop at the JSF Bookstore, at 4440 13th Street in Ashland until 4 p.m. Get started on your holiday shopping!
1:30 p.m. ~ Jesse Stuart Nature Preserve — Bud’s Last Hike
Join Bud Vanzant for a trip to the Jesse Stuart Nature Preserve (JSNP). The preserve consists of 714 acres, which were originally part of Stuart’s farm. Bud will conduct a hike to Seaton Ridge, a part of JSNP inaccessible by car. There you’ll explore Stuart’s world and visit such sites as “Old Opp’s Cabin,” made famous in Stuart’s The Good Sprit of Laurel Ridge. Meet Bud in the Lobby at 1:30 pm. Wear shoes suitable for hiking.
5 p.m. ~ Dinner
On your own at the Jesse Stuart Lodge.
7 p.m. ~ Jesse Stuart: Scoolteacher to America
Schoolteacher to America presented by Lee Pennington, former Poet Laureate of Kentucky. The program will be followed by a Reception.
9:30 p.m. ~ Goodnight!
Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023
9 a.m. ~ W-Hollow Tour
JSF Board member David Palmore and JSF Associate Member Doug Harrell will guide an informative (and fun!) bus tour of the land that inspired Stuart’s literary creations. Meet David and Doug in the Lobby at 8:45 a.m. Bus seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis. JSW attendees have first priority for seating.
9 a.m. ~ Fern Valley Trail
For those not going on the bus tour, Mason Campbell, of the GLSRP staff, will lead an interpretive hike on this one-mile trail. Wear shoes suitable for hiking.
Noon ~ Lunch
On your own at the Jesse Stuart Lodge.
2 to 4:30 p.m. ~ Tour of Greenup
Join Associate Members Bud Vanzant and James Shoup for a tour of Jesse Stuart’s hometown. The Tour of Greenup will focus on Stuart’s relationship to his home city. Visit Greenup High School, his alma mater; the Columbia Hotel where Stuart boarded while serving as principal of the high school; Leslie’s Drug Store, where he sold books and was once blackjacked; his statue on the courthouse square; and the Greenup County Library, which contains a set of Stuart First Editions, donated by JSF board member Ron Cartee.
5 p.m. ~ Dinner
On your own at the Jesse Stuart Lodge.
7:30 p.m. ~ Play adapted from junior book
A play adapted from a Jesse Stuart junior book performed by local high school students under the direction of Anne Stephens, Fine Arts Agent, Greenup Cooperative Extension Office.
9:30 p.m. ~ Goodbye and see you next year at the Jesse Stuart Weekend 2024!