SPRING RIVER GEM & MINERAL CLUB PRESENTS “HOW TO SPEAK OZARK IN SEVEN SIMPLE STEPS”

Submitted by Mary Kocz, Publicity Director

    “How to Speak Ozark in Seven Simple Steps” is a fun, lighthearted look at Ozark history through regional dialect.  Why did Grandma and Grandpa talk the way they did?  What parts of regional dialect have survived the twenty-first century and what has disappeared?  Where do those unusual words come from?

    Brooks Blevins, PhD will tell all at the Spring River Gem & Mineral Club meeting August 1, 10AM at Thunderbird Center, 62 N Lakeshore Rd in Cherokee Village, AR.

  Blevins explores early ethnic and cultural influences on the Ozarks through the lens of dialect and accent. It dismisses the old notion of Elizabethan dialect in the Ozarks and instead looks at words, phrases, and speech patterns that were once common in vernacular Ozark (and usually Appalachian) language, tracing their origins to European or colonial American roots. This power point presentation invites frequent audience participation and includes a built-in “Talking Ozark” quiz.  

              Blevins went through the eighth grade in Violet Hill, Izard County.  His family had called those hill ‘home’ for 200 years.  “As a child, I looked at outhouses and wondered of their place in the years before,” said Blevins..  “I just remember everything about the past intrigued me, of seeing old time relics on the farm growing up.  I was interested in the stories that I heard my grandparents and the old-timers tell.”

   That child grew to be Ozarks preeminent historian whose spoken and written words have defined academic study of the region.  Dr.Blevins is the Noel Boyd Professor of Ozark Studies at Missouri State University in Springfield.  He is the author of a dozen book, including the trilogy History of the Ozarkswhich is an overreaching view of regional history from prehistoric to contemporary times.  Blevins will offer his books for sale at the meeting.

  “How to Talk Ozark in Seven Simple Steps” is the last of th e 2025 “Only in Arkansas” mini series which concentrates solely in this beautiful and interesting state we live in and are happy to call “home.” 

concentrates on this beautiful and interesting state we live in and are happy to call “home.”

    The SEGMC September 5 meeting will feature a presentation of “The Indian Ghost Dance” by Kent Adler, Native American Historian,  from Lyons College, Batesville, who will explain what the Ghost Dance was and what it signified to the Indians.  SRGMC meetings are never virtual meetings, but always presented “in person” by experts in their fields. 

    Visitors are invited to attend the August 1 free meeting.  Since SRGMC has expenses, we encourage membership.  Dues are $15 for a single person, $25 for a family/couple.  Membership perks are the use of the extensive library and participation in silent auction for mineral and fossil specimens. 

      For further info call/text 870.847.3109.