The Betsy-Tacy Society

11/02/2026

A NOTE FROM JEN

Happy new month!

We wrapped up our Saturday-public-tour season at the Betsy-Tacy Houses yesterday – though of course the Houses are open year-round for off-season tours (every day except Sunday), and Deep Valley is simply spectacular in the late fall and winter. Don't hesitate to request a tour if you'll be in the area!

𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬@𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐬𝐲-𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐲𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲.𝐨𝐫𝐠

November also brings our annual free-shipping offer: If you purchase more than $100 worth of items in our Shop, we'll cover the shipping! Such a deal! 💸

And we have several new Shop items to entice you. This month we've introduced a gorgeous full-color print of Betsy getting her long-awaited bath in Munich, and a newly formatted excerpt from Maud's unfinished memoir "Living with Writing."

Still to come (very soon, we hope!): a coloring book with Lois Lenski and Vera Neville illustrations from every book in the series AND a carryall tote featuring all 13 book covers! We'll announce those just as soon as they're available.

Outside our Shop (so, not eligible for the free shipping offer – but still quite exciting), we have two entirely new apparel items and one returning old favorite:

https://betsytacyapparel.itemorder.com/shop/category/661658/

Our super-comfy Deep Valley High School sweatshirt is back – AND we now offer two long-sleeved versions of our popular BELLA+CANVAS tee with the full-color "making herbariums" illustration by Vera Neville!

Coming soon (later this month): a zippered hoodie with a gorgeous Neville illustration of Betsy and Tacy, available in three colors.

And the audiobooks continue to roll out – two new titles this month!

https://shop.betsy-tacysociety.org/s/search?q=audio

Please use the link we offer with each title in our Shop. If you purchase an audiobook from Libro.fm using our link, the BTS gets a portion of the sale! Such a nice easy way to purchase a product AND support our organization.

Kat is busily applying mailing labels to the latest Deep Valley Sun as we speak, and our hope is that it will hit the mail by Friday.

Plus, we have THREE Zoom events next week (many thanks to Board member Shelley Harris, who creates our beautiful monthly event graphics) – and it's Give to the Max month! Our heads are spinning!

It's all good, and we have much to be truly madly deeply thankful for. Starting with all of you! 🧡🤎

I hope your week is off to a glorious start.

❌⭕️ Jennifer D-K
BTS Exec. Director

p.s. Please check your spam for the all-member email I sent yesterday. I'm pretty sure I know what the problem is (why so many of my Mailchimp emails now go directly to spam), but it's something I need help to fix. I'm working on it! Fingers crossed hard that we can get it resolved this month.

11/02/2026

Give to the Max, an opportunity to support Minnesota nonprofits, runs all through November. You can donate at any time – daily $500 Golden Tickets will be awarded during Early Giving, and prizes will be awarded every 15 minutes all day long on Give to the Max Day on November 19. We haven't won one yet, but hope springs eternal!

https://www.givemn.org/organization/Betsy-Tacy-Society

THANK YOU for your support 💚💚

11/02/2026

11/01/2026

A NOTE FROM JEN

Hi BTS members! Please check your spam – I just sent a note to all current adult members about our new Shop products and more November fun 🧡🤎

I fully intended to write a meaty Facebook post as well, but I'm fresh off the Danny Lavery Writers Lounge (MAGNIFICENT) and it has been a looooong day. Tomorrow, I promise.

Happy November! 🍂🍁

~ Jennifer D-K
BTS Exec. Director

10/31/2026

ANOTHER NOTE FROM JEN

I just sent the Zoom link for this Sunday's Writers Lounge with Danny Lavery. If you think you signed up but didn't get the link, please check your spam and then email me if needed.

And there's still plenty of time to sign up – for this one or for any session featuring one of our glittery guest stars:

https://shop.betsy-tacysociety.org/shop/events/12

I always love the Writers Lounge – it is SUCH a productive and fun two-hour block – but there is something especially special about the November events with our guest authors (and the one we did in April this year for Maud's birthday, featuring the magnificent Annette Whipple!). Authors Who Love Maud are such a marvelous group, and I have learned something valuable from every one of them.

Tomorrow's event will be fabulous!

See you soon,

Jen
preparing to fangirl a little
I'm only human 🩷

10/31/2026

A NOTE FROM JEN

Happy Halloween!

Tomorrow (i.e., November) we kick off so many cool things:

▪️SEVEN new products launching in our Shop
▪️FREE SHIPPING for orders over $100
▪️The "Deep Valley Sun" hits the mail – 𝐟𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬 issue
▪️SIX Zoom events and the final Sunday Night Lunch

(It's also Give to the Max month in Minnesota!)

So, before everyone gets distracted by all the shiny new things 😅, I thought I'd take this opportunity to spotlight some of my personal favorite items in our Shop:

▪️𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐬! The four high school books are my favorite BTs, I think, and it is so cool to see the gorgeous illustrations of the clothes they wore. I don't always love our characters drawn by anyone other than Lenski and Neville, but I like these a lot.

▪️𝐀𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬! Grandchildren representing Tacy's, Cab's, Carney's, and Winona's families were there, and it was a simply perfect evening from start to finish. So many wonderful stories shared! And you can experience it for yourself through the recording we made.

▪️𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐭! These candles feature the four scents Mrs. Poppy gave our girls for Christmas. They are made by a local Mankato artisan, and he does an exquisite job. They are beautiful and they smell divine. LOVE these!

▪️ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 "𝐈'𝐦 𝐚 [𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞]" 𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐬! We introduced these for the Convention, and it was so fun to see people displaying their literary counterparts on their shapely bosoms. (I'm a Carney and a Julia, so I wear both.)

▪️𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬! I love literally any product featuring the stunning scans Kat made of all 13 book covers. We have them on stickers and postcards – and of course we offer the actual covers themselves. Hully gee, do my battered ex-library books now appear breathtakingly crisp and new on my bookshelf.

[Wait till you see our next new product featuring the covers. I am SO EXCITED to share it with you the second it's ready . . . v v soon!!]

▪️𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬! I love every one of them, but as Board member Shelley pointed out: Kat's coloring of the brass bowl illustration made her appreciate this beloved but admittedly crowded Neville illustration a million times more.

[We introduce a new colored print tomorrow, and it's my favorite yet. Stay tuned! 🥰]

Looking at this graphic I just slapped together fills me with mad joy. Love love love all these things. I hope you will love them too.

Be sure to check your email tomorrow – I'm sending a note to all our members, and lately my notes are going straight to spam. But I'm announcing all the new products to our members first, and I don't want you to miss it.

So exciting! But now I need to make sure I'm ready for some trick-or-treaters – my driveway is awash in maple leaves. Beautiful, for sure, but possibly treacherous.

Enjoy this last day of October!

❌⭕️ Jennifer D-K
BTS Exec. Director

10/31/2026

Happy Halloween! 🎃
Our last open hours of the season (for tours) are today! We’ll continue to do special weekday tours upon request (as we’re able) through the winter, but if you’re in the area and want to do a drop-in tour, this is your chance! Come by if only to see the fun Halloween decorations we have up! 👻 (Pictures in comments!)
(Also in the comments: the picture & story of a Betsy Ray trick-or-treater from last year! Let us know if you spot any this evening)
(ALSO in the comments, maybe: tell us if you can name the book this Vera Neville moon illustration is from, without looking! 🌝)

10/30/2026

Our recap of Monday's discussion of 𝑩𝒆𝒕𝒔𝒚 𝑾𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝑱𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒓 (part 2) is now on our website! Host Elle Rupert did a simply marvelous job of posing provocative questions and encouraging lively conversation.

We concluded the evening with a Taking Stock exercise that was simply a hoot – and, to Elle's surprise, prompted a little shade thrown at Miss Irma Biscay! Intrigued? Check out the recap:

https://betsy-tacysociety.org/we-discussed-betsy-was-a-junior-again/

Want to join the fun? There are TWO book discussions in November (and FOUR Writers Lounges):

▪️November 1: Writers Lounge – Daniel M. Lavery
▪️November 10: Writers Lounge – Claudia Mills
▪️November 14: Betsy’s Wedding discussion – International edition!
▪️November 15: Betsy and Joe discussion, part 1
▪️November 22: Writers Lounge – Lorna Landvik
▪️November 29: Writers Lounge – Elizabeth Flynn Meaney

Sign up for all events here: https://shop.betsy-tacysociety.org/shop/events/12

See you soon!

10/28/2026

This is nice: BusinessRate has named the Betsy-Tacy Society the top museum in Mankato for 2026!

Of course we promptly did a Web search to determine if this is legit, and we're not going to pay for the pricey plaque announcing our big win 😅 – but yes, the ranking is based on actual data (Google reviews, customer feedback, and other publicly available data), so. We'll take it!

10/28/2026

AND . . . ANOTHER NOTE FROM JEN

(there's so much going on – I may simply PEPPER you with notes this month!!)

Our monthly Writers Lounge is an event we launched several years ago to encourage aspiring writers who simply needed a little push – or some company for what is a famously lonely pursuit.

My memory is hazy – did we actually launch it during National Novel Writing Month? Maybe. But in any event, that November we invited some established writers who are also Betsy-Tacy fans to drop in and give us some words of writerly wisdom – which we have done ever since.

So many wonderfully wise and gifted writers have visited us since then! It's an embarrassment of riches. 💚✏️

And this November we are thrilled to welcome some old and new friends, starting with Danny Lavery this Sunday., November 1!

I've been a fan of Danny's from his first book "Texts from Jane Eyre," and I really really loved his most recent, "Meeting New People." As I wrote to him, "I FREAKING ADORED your latest book, which has since caused me all kinds of angst – was I supposed to find your main character difficult?? I LOVED her and would be her BF in a heartbeat!" His response: "I'm so pleased to hear that, I can't tell you! You are entirely free to find Barbara anything from delightful to villainous. She is a woman for all seasons!"

You can register for this event here:

https://tinyurl.com/bdehrhhb
. . and learn a little more about all our guest authors (and why NaNoWriMo is no more) here:

https://betsy-tacysociety.org/november-writers-lounges/

Danny will speak for about 15 minutes and then we'll do some Q&A – and after that, we'll have our usual two-hour writing block, which you are free to spend writing or doing anything else you want to do (participants have knitted, addressed holiday cards, and cleaned their spare rooms 😅).

I hope to see many of you soon!

❌⭕️ Jennifer D-K
BTS Exec. Director
ready to write up a storm this month!!!!

p.s. Don't forget to set your clocks back on Sunday! Enjoy that extra hour. 💚