Facilitator turns the page on 20 years with reading group

WARREN —This month, Chris Burk celebrated 20 years as the Warren Reading Group’s facilitator, providing a “warm and welcoming” atmosphere for readers to “dig deep” into books and share their insights and experiences.

Burk has led the group globe-trotting around the world, ushered them as they became professional sleuths and solved mysteries, and accompanied them to history’s most triumphant and tragic moments, all by turning the pages in the books.

After the exhilarating voyages, Burk would lead the readers through an examination of every part of the story including the characters, plot, pacing, subject and more.

“I am the tour guide on this journey. We go to India. We go to China. We’ve been everywhere with a purpose. We chew up the plot, or lack of, critique the author, and dissect the characters as naturally as breathing,” Burk said. “We are a serious group, and deep.”

According to members of the Warren Reading Group, Burk is knowledgeable of themes, characters, plot devices, writing styles and the craft of writing. She digs deeper into the author and story while adding group members’ insights from their personal experiences. Burk encourages members to come to the meeting even if they haven’t completed the book because they still have something to share.

The group describes Burk as an innovator for such things as inviting local authors to the meeting to discuss their books or having Civil War reenactors show up dressed in full regalia. Burke started Chrissie’s Night at the Movies where members went to the movie depictions of books they’d already read such as “The Help” and “Eat, Pray, Love.” She also decorated the meeting room in the theme of the book. When the group read “Deep Dive,” a book about World War II U-boats, she had fish netting and shells on the walls.

“Chris has a very warm and welcoming way of guiding the conversation for the group. She asks open-ended questions and encourages different viewpoints,” Becky Wyatt said. “It’s a safe space for people to talk and share their ideas and their feelings. She actively listens to people and makes sure they feel heard.”

The members of the Warren Reading Group are diverse in gender, age, race, cultural and professional backgrounds. They described Burk as “great” and “a well-prepared facilitator” who is “heads and shoulders” above the rest.

Eliza McWilliams said, “I really enjoy intellectual stimulation. The group brings a lot of that to the group. They bring a lot of wisdom and shared experiences. These women are all in their 70s or 80s, so they have read all kinds of books. We talk about how the author presents the book.”

McWilliams joined this reading group because she was retired and sought intellectual stimulation.

“The intellectual stimulation is really phenomenal in this group,” McWilliams said. “I am one of the younger ones and I am 76. These women know a lot of things about a lot of things.”

According to McWilliams, she is one of three Black people in the group.

“I share with them things that happen in the Black culture that they may not be aware of,” McWilliams said. “By the same token, many of them are of different ethnic groups. They are Jewish, Polish, and other groups, and they tell me different things that I have learned. They’ve traveled, they know about different regions of the world, and they bring that information to the table.”

For example, McWilliams’ aunt was one of the members of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the predominately Black division of the Women’s Army Corp charged with the responsibility of sorting and delivering millions of undelivered mail to Allied fighters. “No mail, low morale” was an accurate slogan because a letter, piece of mail or package meant so much to the soldiers on the front line and the families at home. The woman had six months to complete the job and did it in three months.

McWilliams said members of the group are close enough to know what’s going on with members of each other’s families.

“We’ve made lifelong friends. As life goes on, things change and it’s fun to have new members join us as well,” said Joan Theisen, who has been a member of the Warren Reading Group for 18 years.

Burk comes to the meetings with related articles about the authors and books with handwritten highlighted notes including Post-it notes throughout the pages of the book, Josh Foster, 42, said. He is among the youngest in the group and the only man.

“It was intimidating at first,” Foster said about joining an older all-women’s reading group. “I didn’t think they would want me there.”

However, Foster raved about how warm and welcoming the women have been.

“It’s great being in a room where you can learn so much and then still be asked to share your experience and your opinion,” Foster said.

“I just love that the focus is on the book,” Foster said. “But the way they (members of the group) pull in their life experiences is so fascinating to me.”

Some look to the group for a social outlet.

Beth Trim joined the group in 2011 but took a hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic and returned to the group in the spring of last year.

“My husband has Parkinson’s so I’m taking care of him at home. I thought I needed intellectual stimulation and to get out of the house,” Trim said. “Even though it’s one day a month it still gives me something to look forward to and socialize a little bit.”

Terrye Benjamin said she liked discussing some of the errors or fallacies in the books. She talked about a book they were reading about Charles Lindbergh.

“There were things happening in the book which did not seem to be what would happen at the time,” Benjamin said. “For instance, there were no such things as air traffic controllers back then. I enjoyed the story, and I enjoyed how we were able to discuss the shortcomings of the book.”

Warren Library Director Oksana Urban said, “Chris Burk loves what she does, and she takes the time and is very meticulous about organizing things and having information available to her readers in her group. She loves it, enjoys it and wishes to continue it.”

Burk has been reading and loving books since she was 3 years old.

“It’s my passion. It’s dharma,” she said.

The Warren Reading Group meets at 6:30 p.m. for one hour on the second Monday of the month at the Civic Center Library at 1 City Square in the Mark Twain Room. All are welcome.