photos by RYAN SODERLIN / Salina Journal Stewart Elementary School first-grader Alexa DeWald watches as performer Ann Zimmerman explains how Kansas pioneers used blocks of dirt and grass to build sod houses. Zimmerman frequently performs at area schools. File photo Zimmerman

By DAVID CLOUSTON  Salina Journal

As colorful as a meadowlark’s plumage, the yellow blazer worn by folksinger Ann Zimmerman caught the eye of her young audience at Oakdale Elementary School as she stood before her portable keyboard and invited them on a journey of the imagination.

Soon, Zimmerman had the second-graders in Linda Burnett’s class imagining themselves as pioneers on a nearly treeless tallgrass prairie, where the only building supplies were blocks of sod hewn from the fertile earth. The pioneers used leather, not metal, for door hinges, she explained, and raised and canned their own provisions.

Oh, the hinges are of leather

and the windows have no glass.

And the roof boards let the howling blizzards in.

I can hear the hungry coyote

as he sneaks up through the grass,

’round my little old sod shanty on the plains.

Zimmerman sang, accompanied by her autoharp, as the children portrayed the hinges swinging to and fro with their hands.

Zimmerman is giving more than two dozen such concerts this month to elementary students in public schools throughout Salina in recognition of Kansas Day on Saturday, the fifth year she’s done so. Her appearances are part of the Arts Infusion program of the Salina Arts and Humanities Commission.

She sings traditional songs from the pioneer days and talks to youngsters about how the pioneers lived around the time Kansas achieved statehood in 1861.

“Some of the songs I’ve known since I was a little kid. Mom collected folk songs and sang them at schools, and when my brothers and I were in grade school, we joined her,” Zimmerman said. “I started out my adult life as an elementary teacher, so singing with kids comes real naturally.”

Salinans familiar with Zimmerman’s singing know her from her three albums, the latest of which, “Blue Wild Indigo,” was released in May. The 48-year-old-singer and Salina attorney also performs at coffeehouses and other venues throughout the Midwest.

Zimmerman is one of about 30 local artists who present programs based on their varying artistic disciplines. Some other Kansas history-based programs have included first-person portrayals of historic figures such as Amelia Earhart, said Sharon Benson, arts education coordinator for the arts and humanities commission.

Benson said Zimmerman’s program is popular with teachers because it ties in with elementary studies of Kansas history.

“Ann’s talent is in songwriting and acoustic folk music,” Benson said. “She complements (the curriculum) very well. And she does a really nice job.”

Zimmerman is scheduled to conduct elementary school songwriting workshops in Salina on Tuesday and Feb. 24, and in Ellsworth on March 10 and March 11.

“I work with the kids to write new lyrics to familiar melodies,” Zimmerman said.

Usually she devotes one to one-and-a-half hours to each workshop, meaning it may take her two or three 30-minute class sessions to finish the task. “It really is fun. We talk about what makes some lyrics better than others and how lyrics paint a picture in your mind of what’s going on.”

For older audiences, Zimmerman will sing at 8 p.m. Saturday at Small World Gallery, Lindsborg. Call (785) 227-4442 for reservations and more information.

She will sing Feb. 17 at the Cloud County Conservation District’s annual meeting in Concordia, then head to Texas. On Feb. 25 and 26, she’ll be the opening act for Robin and Linda Williams in Dallas and Fort Worth.

On the Net

• http://www.saljournal.com/www.annzimmerman.com

• http://www.saljournal.com/www.cdbaby.com

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