A Big Read for a Little Town

The Grapes of Wrath is taking Ridgefield by dust storm this fall courtesy of a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Ridgefield Playhouse is one of 75 nonprofits nationwide—and just three in the state—to receive grants to participate in this year's Big Read, the NEA announced Thursday.

The program, in its fifth year, is doling out a total $1 million in grants in amounts between $2,500 and $20,000, seeking to bring reading back to the forefront of American culture.

That emphasis felt like a good fit for the town to Playhouse Grants Coordinator Jodi Stewart, who led the application effort.

"If it's being talked about at school, and it's being talked about at Starbucks, and it's being talked about on Main Street, if numerous book groups are reading the same book, it makes a town-wide conversation," Stewart said.

The Grapes of Wrath was selected from a list of eligible books by Ridgefield's applicants to be the center of this town-wide discussion for its potential to resonate with local readers, Assistant Library Director Mary Rindfleisch said.

She noted that the book touches on themes of the injustices of the U.S. economic system as well as the politics of agriculture and food production, which ties into a community interest in eating local.

"Between the economy and those kinds of issues, we thought that people in Ridgefield would find something to think about and talk about in this book," Rindfleisch said.

The application process began almost a year ago, Stewart said, and she found out that the town won a grant back in March. The town's arts organizations have been keeping it under wraps since, pending Thursday's official NEA announcement.

But now, Stewart encourages Ridgefielders to consider making Grapes of Wrath part of their summer reading to prepare for the John Steinbeck extravaganza descending on the town in September.

Local organizations are well into planning an array of events designed to celebrate the text and encourage reading.

A few goodies in the works include: a Grapes of Wrath film screening the Playhouse, book discussions at the library, a photo exhibition of contemporary migrant workers at The Aldrich whose docents will be required to read the book, school projects related to the book in the high school English department, a Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra performance of Aaron Copland's "Variations on a Shaker Melody" in a fall concert and a Grapes of Wrath discount at Books on the Common.

The Playhouse and Acoustic Celebration are also co-presenting a multimedia tribute to Woody Guthrie featuring musician and scholar Will Kaufman.

To keep current with Ridgefield's participation in The Big Read, check out the library's website and keep an eye peeled for a comprehensive brochure of events due out by the end of the summer.