Community Involvement

Community Involvement

As part of our commitment to the memory of Theodore Roethke, we take great pride in being actively involved in our community. We have provided ongoing educational opportunities since 1998. Some are as follows:

  • Writing workshops
  • Literary picnics featuring area authors, art, musicians and restaurants
  • Student tours with student docents   
  • Presentations given to area groups
  • Meeting place for area groups
  • Grant writing collaborations with SVSU students
  • Roethke Review newsletters written and designed by SVSU students
  • House tours given to SVSU and Delta students so they may learn more about Roethke and read, write, and study poetry in his childhood home
  • Fundraising bake sales by Delta students
  • House tours given to elementary and high school students in public and parochial schools
  • Science projects by Weiss Elementary fourth graders who grew geranium seedlings, wrote poetry about their flowers, and donated them to the Roethke House
  • Rustbelt Roethke Professional Writers' Workshop readings
  • Saginaw Bay National Writing Project visits to write in Roethke House each summer
  • Father and son writing workshop
  • Mum and cider open houses for area educators
  • Open houses to present renovation plans
  • Yard cleanup by area students
  • Landscaping by master gardeners
  • Dinners attended by City of Saginaw mayor and council and Saginaw township commissioners at Roethke House
  • Oral history project between Saginaw students and Saginaw sages to prepare historic perspectives of Roethke's Saginaw, a context of poet's hometown
  • Grants supporting Roethke activities sponsored by Saginaw Community Foundation, Saginaw Community Enrichment Commission, Watson Foundation, Michigan Humanities Council, and National Endowment for the Arts
  • Heritage High German students decorated the house for a German Christmas
  • Valley Lutheran High Schools did a spring cleanup as a service project
  • Westdale Elementary 5th grade students took a tour of the house

Eventually, with the renovation of the Roethke homes (1805 and 1759 Gratiot), we hope to be able to expand our educational offerings in the following directions: 

  • Museum collections
  • Historical interpretations
  • Residencies for visiting writers to teach and work in area schools
  • Community cultural center to promote reading and writing
  • Classrooms for neighborhood homework clubs
  • Greenhouse pavilion for arts events
  • Mental health outreach informed by the arts
  • Handicap accessible
  • Environmental education

Friends of Theodore Roethke Foundation has collaborated with many groups in the Saginaw community in the past. Our foundation collaborated with the students of Dr. Kay Harley’s Advanced Writing Projects class at Saginaw Valley State University to produce a grant proposal. Students contributed over 100 volunteer hours researching and writing the proposal. In fact, collaboration with Saginaw Valley State University and Delta College students and faculty alike has gone on off- and on-campus since 2000.

  • 2000 – Groups of SVSU students begin touring the Roethke House as part of their general education English courses. SVSU faculty make presentations on the life and literary legacy of Roethke.
  • 2001 – Dr. Phyllis Hastings wrote Michigan Humanities Council grant for community writing involvement, and her English and community service classes have created lesson plans and brochures.
  • 2003 – Dr. Judith Kerman, a SVSU professor, facilitates the Rustbelt Roethke Professional Writers’ Workshop. Featured authors read their work at the Roethke House in 2003 and 2004. The group tours the house in 2005.
  • 2003 – Students in Dr. Kay Harley’s upper-division courses create the Roethke Review, a newsletter providing information on the Roethke House. Issues are also produced in 2004.
  • 2005 – A continuing education course led by SVSU professors Lynne Graft and Ruth Sawyers titled "Roethke: The Man and his Poetry" introduced 12-15 retirees to Roethke’s work. They have also toured the house with their Great Lakes Writers classes.

Literary Picnics

The Roethke House also holds literary picnics at the Roethke home. These picnics happen frequently throughout the year and feature area authors, musicians, and restaurant support.