Book club gets presidential with dinner

WARREN — Conversation, books and a potluck: What more could you ask for?

The Presidential Book Club of Fraser offered up these things at an off-site dinner at member Carole Wiseman’s home Oct. 7.

Typically, the executive branch enthusiasts gather at the Fraser Public Library. But, after five years, the club was ready for a change of pace.

Wiseman said she thought everyone enjoyed themselves at the dinner.

“Our club is pretty casual,” she said. “We get together and we talk for about an hour about the book.”

Wiseman said she enjoys hosting in general.

“I like entertaining anyway with fancy dishes and silverware,” Wiseman said.

“Being off-site, it was more personal,” said Kurt Schmidt, the club’s founder. “It was neat to see everybody in a different arrangement. Most people dressed up, so that was pretty cool. Usually we’re just in whatever we wore that day.”

The idea for the dinner itself was inspired by one of the club’s recent selections: “Dinner with the President,” by Alex Prud’homme.

“After we read biographies, in order, from Washington to Obama it really gave us an understanding of how the country has changed over time,” Schmidt said. “Now we’re reading books about what happened during those times. Most of them have some sort of presidential relation to them.”

The Tigers game, which Detroit won against the Guardians 3-0, wasn’t out of earshot during the club’s dinner. Member Karen Arndall showed off a 1932 Franklin Delano Roosevelt campaign pencil she found. Stacks of books about presidents throughout the years could be found throughout Wiseman’s house. And, of course, there was plenty of talk about the presidents.

“An Invitation to the White House,” by Hillary Rodham Clinton, along with Prud’homme’s book, were used as a loose template for the carefully curated spread. Neatly laid out white plates and silverware greeted the dinner guests. Menus were laid across the plates for an added touch. Members brought dishes comparable to those served at the White House. For example, the menu listed items the members brought like “Salmon Fillet Prisbe” named after Pat Prisbe, and “Pavlick Tiramisu with Dark Chocolate Wafer” named after Carol Pavlick.

“I tried to make the table setting as much like what was at the White House including the menus, the name cards, the napkins and the multiple plates,” Wiseman said.

The seven-member club’s focus is on books that have to do with the presidency. This can range from autobiographies by a president to historical books about the presidency. The latter describes “Teddy and Booker T. (Washington): How Two American Icons Blazed a Path for Racial Equality,” by Brian Kilmeade, the book up for discussion at the Oct. 7 meeting.

Wiseman said the book went over well. A few months back, the club had read Kilmeade’s book about Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglass. Both books gave the club more insight about Washington and Douglass.

“Both of these books brought them from childhood to their deaths and all the things the two of them did,” Wiseman said. “It was really interesting.”

“Everybody seemed to like it,” Schmidt said. “That was our second Brian Kilmeade book that we’ve discussed. This one got lots of praise.”

Schmidt said he wasn’t sure if this type of dinner would happen again. However, he did say he wanted to write to Prud’homme to tell the author how the dinner went.

“Just so he knows we did our little spoof,” he said.

Next up for the club is David McCullough’s “1776.”

“I love it because I love U.S. history,” Schmidt said. “I get to connect with other people who enjoy looking at where we came from and where we’re headed and how that all relates to each other.”

The club isn’t just restricted to Fraser residents. Those interested in joining can call the Fraser Public Library at (586) 293-2055.