Second Annual Authors Day Event Hosted by Assistance League® of Sacramento
"Can You Dig It: Unearthing California's Legends and Lore."
 

Sacramento, CA - Charlotte Stott, President, Assistance League® of Sacramento announced that it will hold the second annual Authors' Day Event on Saturday, March 31, 2012 at the Sacramento Marriott Hotel, 11211 Point East Drive, Rancho Cordova, CA, from 9 am to 4 pm. The theme is “Can You Dig It: Unearthing California's Legends and Lore." President Stott said that six authors will present interesting facts and information about their books and experiences above and beneath California.

Included in the full fee of $75 are morning refreshments, luncheon, authors' reception, opportunity prizes, jewelry and other art vendors, and a silent auction. Registration forms are available on-line at www.Sacramento.Assistance League.org, and by calling (916) 485-2307, or at Assistance League of Sacramento's thrift shop at 2538 Yorktown Avenue, Suite C (near the corner of Watt & El Camino).

President Stott said that the six featured authors and their books are:

Burrill, Richard - Ishi's Untold Story in His First World. A 1968 University of California (Santa Barbara) graduate holds a Masters Degree from California State University at Sacramento, and is a noted anthropologist. Richard Burrill who has devoted his professional life to research on Ishi resulting in a massive compilation of information about Ishi, the Stone Age male survivor of the Yahi Tribe of Northern California. Burrill established the annual Ishi Gathering in 2002 -- now sponsored and hosted by Butte County. Semi-retired, he previously was a high school and college educator. He owns the publishing house, Ahthro. In 1988, he published "River of Sorrows: Life History of the Maidu-Niseanan Indians." The Maidu Indians lived in the Sacramento area, and Burrill lives in Chico, CA. Contact: www.ishifacts.com, E-mail: richardburrill2011@gmail.com, or (530) 809-2451.

Carol Firenze - The Passionate Olive, 101 Things To Do With Olive Oil (8th printing). Carol Firenze will demonstrate the amazing uses of olive oil and the history of the growing business of the olive oil phenomena in California. Firenze recently returned from one month in Umbria and Tuscany hosting two Olive Harvest Adventure groups, where ten women from St. Louis on the first tour and three couples on the second tour experienced an authentic Italian week of food, wine, art, music, fun, and olive oil! She lives in Los Gatos. Contact: www.thepassionateolive,com, www.facebook.com/passionateolive, Skype: thepassionateolive, iPhone/iPad app: GoEVOO or E-Mail: carol@thepassionateolive.com.

Scott Lankford - Tahoe Beneath the Surface was the bronze medal winner of the Foreword Magazine's 2010 "Nature Book of the Year." Scott Lankford is a well-known environmentalist and he is a full-time tenured Professor of English at Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, CA. Lankford actively pursues Western American Environmental History, History of Mountaineering, South East Asian History, and Gay & Lesbian Literature. He has a PhD from Stanford University and lives in Daly City, CA. Contact: www.minsurfing.typepad.com/tahoe, www.facebook.tahoebeneaththesurface,
E-mail: scottatfoothill@yahoo.com.

McAvoy Layne (Luncheon Speaker Appearing as Mark Twain) - Hooked on Twain. For the last 28 years, McAvoy Layne has embodied the Spirit of Mark Twain or the Ghost of Mark Twain. Layne's rendition of Twain's literature is as authentic as his white suit and big cigar. Actor and Twain impersonator, Hal Holbrook, was one of his mentors. Layne donates his time to literacy organizations, libraries, and schools. He just completed a sell-out tour performing as Mark Twain in the Pacific Northwest. He has presented at numerous events -- most notably for the Sacramento Public Library Foundation's One Book promotion of Mark Twain in 2011. He lives in Incline Village, NEV. Contact: www.ghostoftwain.com. E-Mail: twain1601@AOL.com, (775) 833-1835, or (775) 847-0433.

John Poswall – Lawyers: Class of ‘69, and The Altar Boys - A Sacramento native and a well-known lawyer in the Sacramento area, John Poswall graduated in 1969 from the UC-Berkeley School of Law. Poswell is listed in Best Lawyers in America and has been honored as Humanitarian of the Year by the Sacramento County Bar Assn. His first book, Lawyers: Class of 1969, is about the civil rights movement in California from 1960-80. Although written as a novel, it expresses the upheaval and political maneuvering of a state government awash in change. Poswall, raised in the Catholic Church, was an altar boy at the Sacramento Cathedral. In his second book, The Altar Boys, he used facts that tell a true story but with changes enough to make it a novel. He lives in Lincoln, CA. Contact: johnposwall@aol.com. Web Sites: www.johnposwall.com, Amazon.com: The Altar Boys (9780972999250): John M. Poswall ...Amazon.com: The Lawyers: Class of '69 (9780972999243): John M. Poswall ... E-Mail: johnposwall@aol.com

Big Jim Williams - Audio Books : The Old West, Tall Tales of the Old West, Credits in Anthologies : Murder to Mil-Spec, the Last Man Anthology: Tales of Catastrophe, Disaster & Woe, and At Home and Abroad: Prize Winning Stories (All available at Books on Amazon)
Short Listing of Short Stories: Hutch Higgins Ain't No Horse Thief, The Last Mountain Man, A Deserted Mansion. Big Jim Williams said that he loves the history of the Old West, the people and tales; and what an exciting time it would be to be in California’s '49 Gold Rush, ride the Oregon Trail, or explore with Lewis and Clark. That is why Big Jim loves writing westerns. Big Jim was General Manager of a radio station in Santa Barbara for a couple of decades, and he retired in 1992 as the Public Information Officer of Santa Barbara Community College District. He has been known as "The Voice of Santa Barbara," and he continues to do radio drama with Shoestring Radio Theatre, and over 100 public radio stations, and Second Creation by American Museum of Radio and Electricity's KRME Radio's Midnight Radio Players, Bellingham, WA. He lives in Goleta, CA. Contact: Web Sites: www.ropeandwire.com/MainPaiges/StorySections/Big_Jim_Williams.html, and Sniplits.com/bigjimwilliams.jsp,
E-mail: bigjimwilliams2@cox.net, or (805) 961-8559.

Assistance League®…Quietly Serving Sacramento for Over 44 Years

Making life better for children is a primary goal of Assistance League of Sacramento. This 250-member all-volunteer organization has been helping Sacramento citizens since 1968. It reaches into Sacramento, Yolo, and El Dorado counties, partnering with four school districts, the major hospitals, California Highway Patrol, the California Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Women’s Empowerment, and many other nonprofit organizations.

It is one of 120 chapters of Assistance League, an organization highly motivated to effect change locally. Unlike many national charities, Assistance League puts local needs first. Every dollar raised by Assistance League of Sacramento stays in this community.
Assistance League members come from all walks of life. Most having raised their families or enjoyed satisfying careers and now have time to give back and help those less fortunate. There are nine programs serving children, families, homeless women and seniors; but the major focus is clothing children through the Operation School Bell® program. Last year more than 5,100 elementary schoolchildren attended class with renewed confidence and a desire to learn because they had the appropriate clothing and were dressed like their peers.

Imagine a child that does not have a jacket to keep warm or a boy who attends class wearing his father’s oversized undershirt. It happens in our community every day. Educators share that the proper clothing enhances a child's self-esteem, which then contributes to the child's regular school attendance and better academic performance.
Teachers and principals in 34 area elementary schools identify the children who need clothing, most from families below the poverty line. Without Assistance League support, these children would not have such necessary items as pants, shirts, underwear, shoes, backpacks, sweatshirts, and hygiene kits. Assistance League is proud to have clothed almost 30,000 local children since the inception of the program.

The amazing thing is that the organization has no paid staff and accomplishes its work without federal or United Way assistance. It is dependent upon grants and donations from private citizens, corporations, and foundations. 65% of program funding comes from Assistance League Thrift Shop, a 501(c) (3) nonprofit business that is 100% volunteer-manned.
Assistance League Thrift Shop, located at 2528 Yorktown Avenue near the intersection of Watt and El Camino Avenues, has carved a special niche in the growing retail sector of thrift and consignment. This small shop is clean, attractive, has inviting displays, and personal, friendly service. Several years ago, the Sacramento Bee referred to it as “the Nordstrom of thrift shops.” In 2009, Sacramento Magazine in their Best of Sacramento issue named it "Best Proof Second Time's A Charm."
Donations of women and men’s clothing, shoes, household items, books and decorator items are welcomed during operational hours 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, Monday through Saturday. Every donation serves someone in Sacramento. Assistance League re-donates to the Salvation Army those items that cannot be sold in their shop or items that are broken but have recyclable parts. Even the cardboard boxes and the paper bags that donations arrive in are recycled.
To learn more about Assistance League of Sacramento, visit their website, Sacramento.AssistanceLeague.org, their Facebook page, or request their quarterly community newsletter by emailing assistanceleagueofsacramento@gmail.com. This group exemplifies its tagline, Caring & Commitment in Action.            END