This Saturday September 12, Trees & Hills will set up tables at two different events:

White River Junction, VT 9am-5pm
Center For Cartoon Studies Open House and Book Sale at the Glory Days Festival
The Glory Days Festival is a family-oriented, fun-filled, day-long celebration of railroading - past, present and future. During the event The Center for Cartoon Studies will open its classroom and gallery to all visitors, book-lovers and comics enthusiasts. Hundreds of new and used graphic novels will be on sale at discount prices. CCS students and alumni will be on hand to sell their own comic book creations. Special guest Steve Bissette will be signing the new Vermont Monster Guide and selling sketches. Buy BRAND new CCS products (Special CCS Ed Emberley T-shirts, New Schulz Library book bags, and special limited edition pencil packs!). Stop by and get a free comics grab bag!

Winchester, NH 10am-4pm
Winchester Pickle Festival
Winchester’s annual Pickle Festival is an old-fashioned town fair, fun for all. Downtown Winchester becomes the fairgrounds, with Main Street (Route 10) the parade route in the morning. Kids march along with the parade, which features local pickle-themed floats, plenty of pickle costumes and marching bands. Along the route are craftsmen (many demonstrating), food booths, and a lively competition among local cooks for the best jar of pickles. There are free pickles for everyone! Live music goes on all day, with everything from blues and country-western to a barbershop quartet and violin ensemble.

Visit either (or both!) of these events to say hi, pick up some local comics, and experience railroad- or pickle-themed fun!

EDIT (Fri. 9/11): As tomorrow’s weather outlook is getting grimmer by the hour, the unprotected-by-a-canopy T&H table will almost certainly not be set up at the Winchester Pickle Festival. This makes us sad.

The Center for Cartoon Studies Commencement Ceremony & Thesis Exhibition Opening

White River Junction, Vermont – The Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) Commencement Ceremony takes place on Saturday, May 16 at 11am at Northern Stage Theater (at the Briggs Opera House) in White River Junction, Vermont. This year’s Commencement speaker is Jeff Smith, critically acclaimed author of the spectacular graphic novel, BONE. TIME Magazine lauds BONE as “the best all-ages graphic novel yet published.” A special opening reception for the CCS Thesis Exhibition, featuring the graduating students’ original artwork, takes place immediately following the ceremony. Exhibition runs Monday-Saturday, 11am-4pm, through Saturday, June 27.

All events are free and open to the public. Please join us in celebrating our 3rd ever graduation ceremony!

For directions and/or questions: cartoonstudies.org, (802) 295-3319.

SEEDS, the fan favorite Trees & Hills comics anthology about food, has been reprinted!

This new edition of the 2008 anthology contains more than 50 pages of comics, a recipe book of cartoonists’ food favorites and a packet of organic seeds from a Vermont farm. It’s actually pretty much like the first edition - but that one sold out months ago!

The $5 book is available through the Trees & Hills Distro and at comic conventions in New York City, Boston and Maine this spring.

THE CENTER FOR CARTOON STUDIES PORTFOLIO DAY is SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2008 10am-1pm
Bring your sketchbook! Show your portfolio for an admissions review. Learn more about the program and classes. Meet faculty and students. Tour the campus. Who should attend? Prospective students, Applicants, College students, High School seniors and graduates. Family and friends welcome! R.S.V.P. - Space is limited! For more information and to register, visit: http://ccsportfoliodayfall08.eventbrite.com/.

Center For Cartoon Studies
Commencement Ceremony: Saturday, May 17, 11am
Thesis Exhibition: May 17 - June 21

The Center for Cartoon Studies Commencement Ceremony takes place on Saturday, May 17 at 11am at Northern Stage in White River Junction, Vermont. This year’s commencement speaker is Alison Bechdel, critically acclaimed author of graphic memoir, Fun Home.

Thesis Exhibition: Opening Reception is Saturday, May 17, immediately following the Commencement Ceremony. The exhibition will run Saturday, May 17 thru Saturday June 21; it will be open to the public Monday thru Saturday, 10am - 4pm. Graduating seniors will be exhibiting their thesis projects, including preview pages of completed and to-be-completed graphic novels, short stories, visual narratives, and mini comic series. The Center for Cartoon Studies Gallery is located at 94 South Main Street, in the Colodny building.

Cartooning Party at CCS
with Trees & Hills Comics Group

Saturday February 23rd, 1-5pm

Join the Trees & Hills comics group and students from the Center for Cartoon Studies for a social cartooning party at the White River Junction, Vt. school. Bring your art supplies and come ready to draw!

This event is co-hosted by the Trees and Hills Comics Group, a collective of cartoonists and other comic creators from New Hampshire, Vermont, and Western Massachusetts. CCS is a two-year college dedicated to the study of comics and visual narrative.

The event is open to the public, although we ask that you be over 18 years of age and RSVP. The school can be found at 94 South Main Street in WRJ, Vt. Please contact Roby Chapman at chapman@cartoonstudies.org or (802) 295-3319 to RSVP.

Light snakes and refreshments will be served at the party and we ask that you help out our hungry bellies by bringing something tasty to share too.

For more information on Trees & Hills, visit www.treesandhills.org

THE CENTER FOR CARTOON STUDIES PORTFOLIO DAY Saturday, November 17, 10am-1pm

Show your portfolio for an admissions review, Learn more about the program and courses, Meet faculty and students, and Tour the campus!

Who should attend? Prospective students, Applicants, High School seniors and graduates, College students.

Location: The Center for Cartoon Studies, 94 South Main St., White River Junction, VT (directions) Questions? (802) 295-3319.

R.S.V.P. Space is limited! Contact Robyn Chapman: chapman at cartoonstudies dot org.

Center for Cartoon Studies student Bryan Stone wrote in today to let us know that the school WILL BE hosting a 24-Hour Comic event this Saturday, Oct. 20 in White River Junction, Vt.

Start time is noon Saturday and the whole thing will finish by noon Sunday. I’m sitting this one out (still too tired from SPX), but I’m sure several other Trees & Hills regulars will be over there.

ZZZZZZZZZTTTT!

Colin! Emergency! NEW STARS selling out!

KKKXXKKK-ZZZZTTT!

Huge crowds… milling about… must talk to every customer…

KKKKKKKKKKTTTT!

CCS Alumni holding our right flank… Much mob interest in their work, too… “Dead Man’s Hand” nominated for Outstanding Debut Award…

Boston comics group also here in force… Must get to their table…

Dan going back to hotel room for reserve copies of anthology…

ZZZT!

“Field Guide” anthology also sold out! Marek sold out of ADULT MEDIUM T-shirts!

SEND REINFORCEMENTS BEFORE IT’S TOO LA———

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZK****

Newsarama has an interview with Center for Cartoon Studies co-founder James Sturm about Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow, his new comic with Rich Tommaso. You can read it right here.