Memorials, Monuments, and Memories:
From Flanders Fields to Main Street America
Memorials, Monuments, and Memories is a collection of personal essays and reflections spanning more than a decade of Memorial Days, Veterans Days, and moments of quiet civic remembrance. Drawing on childhood memories of small-town parades, a father’s honor guard, and the family cemetery plot, Walter Boomsma weaves together the personal and the universal — exploring what it truly means to honor the fallen, keep faith with the past, and celebrate our shared humanity. From the red poppies of Flanders Fields to a weathered “Baby” gravestone in rural Maine, these pages remind us that remembrance is not about loss — it is about love, legacy, and the living obligation we carry forward.
Small People – Big Brains:
Stories About Simplicity, Exploration, and Wonder
“Mr. Boomsma” shares some of his experiences with kids over the past decade as a volunteer and, most recently, substitute elementary school teacher. Many of these short stories will make you laugh. Some will make you cry. All will make you think.
“This is a light fast read until it isn’t, and then you stop and read a sentence or a thought a couple of times… you will enjoy these classic and classy observations on the art and science of
Jack Falvey, frequent contributor to the Wall Street Journal
learning… a light touch, an entertaining style and some solid content…”
Exploring Traditions:
Celebrating the Grange Way of Life
A series of essays exploring the relevance of the Grange, a 150-year-old organization, in modern society. Walter Boomsma examines the basis of the Grange Ritual and the value of tradition when it is understood and applied in a way that aligns us with nature and creates community.
“What an asset this will be to Grangers, new and old alike, to understand where we’ve been, what’s important about where we are now in relation to our history, and, inspire beyond the Grange how we can move those valuable principles into our wider communities. Rituals lose relevance if we don’t scrutinize for meaning and relevance. This book of essays does just that–drawing on old, strong principled roots to grow into the future! We can’t know where we’re going if we don’t know where we’ve been.”
Heather Retberg, Past Master of Halcyon Grange #345
Cows, Corn, and Calm:
Lessons from the Road, the Amish, and a Stubborn Ox
Coming in Summer 2026
What happens when a Maine writer with a lifelong love of bovines loads up his pickup truck, points it toward Amish Country, and signs up to learn how to drive a team of oxen? Road Trip 2024 — and a surprisingly rich education in simplicity, community, and the art of slowing down.
In Cows, Corn, and Calm, Walter Boomsma takes readers along on a journey through Holmes County, Ohio, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and a hands-on oxen workshop in Michigan that turns out to be less about driving and more about communicating. Along the way, he shares meals with Amish families, wanders through a 265-foot mural of Anabaptist history, discovers that peace belongs on every priority list, and learns that a 2,000-pound ox will not be hurried.
Witty, reflective, and grounded in genuine affection for the plain people and their way of life, this is a travel memoir for anyone who suspects the world could use a little more gelassenheit — and a lot less merging traffic.
Mr. Boomsma’s Substitute Teacher Workbook
This workbook was developed for use in “Mr. Boomsma’s Substitute Teacher Workshop” and, as such, may appear to be missing content if viewed without participating. However, there is plenty of standalone information, including a substitute teacher’s checklist, an overview of several teaching strategies, and resources for further study.
“The kids are going to test you. But the crazy thing is they want you to win.”
Mr. Boomsma, author and educator
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