PRESS RELEASE

Occidental Heritage Days

April 29, 2006 (Saturday)

Occidental, CA

  

 

Occidental Heritage Days to feature

the 100-Year Anniversary of the 1906 Earthquake

A day of activities for young and old celebrating the folklore and history of Occidental

 

 

Occidental, CA – (March 31, 2006)  The Occidental Heritage Association is pleased to announce the second Occidental Heritage Day event on Saturday, April 29th, 2006.   Attendees can expect a full day program of fascinating local history and stories of disaster and survival in Occidental with a special focus on the 100-year anniversary of the catastrophic earthquake of 1906.

 

Co-hosted by the Occidental Center for the Arts.  The day will feature guest speaker and author of the book “1906”, James Dallesandro, an interactive slide show presentation by local Sonoma County Historian Harry Lapham, docent led Occidental Walking Tours, demonstrations by the Sonoma County Spinners Association and Traditional Hammer dulcimer music by local instrumentalist Kate Price.

 

Occidental Heritage Days is an ongoing series of presentations and activities that help establish a framework and forum for Occidental to celebrate, share, and continue to record our colorful and rich history.   The first Occidental Heritage Day was a major success (November 12, 2005) and focused on Occidental buildings and people at the turn of the century.  

 

Held at the Occidental Center for the Arts, 4008 Bohemian Hwy in Occidental. The days activities start at 10 a.m. and continue until 4 p.m., with a feature presentation on the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake by James Dallesandro beginning at 1:15 and special slide presentation examining Occidentals’ architectural history by Harry Lapham at 2:30.

 

Please join us on April 29th, 2006 for this special event bringing together local community leaders, respected founding families and friends to celebrate Occidental, our colorful history and our rich and valuable roots.

 

Admission is free to all.   The program will take place rain or shine.  

 

Program Schedule and Author Bio attached.

 

 

About Occidental:

Nestled among the towering redwoods of West Sonoma County, the historic landmark town of Occidental, California provides a wealth of get-away opportunities. You’ll enjoy excellent lodging, shopping and recreation year round. Stroll in this lovely, relaxed setting and browse the town’s unusual shops, boutiques, art galleries and nurseries. Nearby there are beaches, hiking trails, hands-on farms, wineries and spas.

 

 

For More Information: 

For more information, contact:  Sherry Huss, 707-874-9407, sherry@renga-arts.com

 

PROGRAM SCHEDULE:

 

Program Summary

The Occidental Heritage Association presents a day of fascinating local history. Stories of disaster and survival in Occidental and the Bay area with special recognition of the 100 year anniversary of the devastating 1906 Earthquake.

           

 

Speakers and Participants

            James Dallesandro, author - 1906

            Harry Lapham, Director and Archivist, Sonoma County Historical Society

            Sonoma County Spinners

            Kate Price  - Dulcimer

            The Occidental Volunteer Fire Department

 

Schedule

  • 10:00am - 5:00pm - Doors open in the main exhibit/presentation room - photo exhibit, book area, Spinning demonstrations, live music, refreshments, local networking and more (continues throughout the day)
  • 10:00am, 10:30, 11:00 & 11:30 - Occidental Walking Tour (docent lead tours through town, one hour each referencing “An Historical and Anecdotal Walking Tour of the Small (but fascinating) Village of Occidental, California” by Amie Hill with Harold Lapham.
  • 12:00pm - Occidental Volunteer Fire Department Open House Tour and Disaster Preparedness information. Support your Volunteer Fire Department
  • 1:00pm - Introductions and event overview - Occidental Heritage Association
  • 1:15pm - Author James Dallesandro presents - “1906”, Corruption, crimelords and the great San Francisco Earthquake
  • 2:30pm  - Harry Lapham  – “Disasters and Survival in Occidental”
  • 3:30pm - Q&A with Harry Lapham
  • 4:00pm - Heritage Association wrap-up
  • 5:00pm-8:00pm - Restaurants (Pignoli and The Union) will be participating by providing special menu items of days gone by

           

A note to attendees:

Please bring your photos, artifacts and stories.  Volunteers will be onsite to archive photos, help identify area artifacts and capture stories from early Occidental. Help us fill in the blanks on the Occidental History Time Line

 

Further Information

For more information please contact Heidi Schmidt, 707-874-2161 or Sherry Huss, 707-874-9407

 

 

 

AUTHOR BIO:

 

JAMES DALESSANDRO

 

AUTHOR/SCREENWRITER

 

            Since its publication in April, 2004, James Dalessandro’s 1906, an epic novel of the great San Francisco earthquake and fire, has fulfilled the prediction of the Chronicle’s Heidi Benson and become “a publishing sensation,” appearing regularly on Northern California Best Seller Lists for nine months.  Mr. Dalessandro has appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered, The Ronn Owens radio show on KGO radio, and twelve regional television stations.  Warner Brother’s Films is scheduled to begin production in 2005 on a $150 million film version of 1906, from a script also written by James Dalessandro.

 

            He is currently finishing his 1906 documentary, THE DAMNDEST, FINEST RUINS, with partners CAVMEDIA of Napa, and Executive Producers Paul and Debbie Johnson of Napa.  The one hour film is schedule for release by April 1, 2006.

 

            On January 25, 2005, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to set aside the city’s official death count of 478 from the 1906 Earthquake and Fire, based on a resolution that he wrote and presented.  It gives Mr. Dalessandro, Chairman of the Board of the City Museum of San Francisco, and Gladys Hansen, founder of the museum and Historian Emeritus of the City, until the Centennial on April 18, 2006 to produce a more accurate death count.  The current list of casualties, assembled by Gladys Hansen in more than 40 years of research, is 3,400 and counting.

 

            His previous novel, Bohemian Heart, a hard-boiled thriller about corruption and political assassination also set in San Francisco, introduced the descendants of the main characters in 1906, the Fallon/Fagen clan, a group of opera-loving, motorcycle riding young cops bent on ending the rampant graft in their beloved city.

 

            Mr. Dalessandro has had a long and distinguished commitment to his adopted home of San Francisco.  In 1973, he founded the Santa Cruz Poetry Festival with Ken Kesey,  Allen Ginsberg and Charles Bukowski, which for four year was the nation’s largest literary event, drawing praise from Lawrence Ferlinghetti for “giving a new birth to American poetry.”   He published his first work, Canary In A Coal Mine, that same year.

 

            In 1999, he published Citizen Jane, the story of a Marin County woman who founded a national victim’s rights group and has helped solve 14 cold case murders.  James is the screenwriter and co-executive producer of a Court TV Movie of The Week also called Citizen Jane.