LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Sept. 22, the Lake County Board of Supervisors proclaimed October Big Read Month in Lake County, in recognition of the importance of reading and that citizens of a community who read and experience the same book have a unique opportunity to share ideas, forge new understandings and develop cultural connections.
The proclamation urges all citizens to read “To Kill a Mockingbird” and take part in the numerous Big Read events offered throughout Lake County.
The Big Read, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts, was created to restore reading to the center of American culture.
It is a community-wide reading program that promotes literature and brings people together through reading and discussing a common book.
Harper Lee’s classic novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” has been selected and community book discussions will be held around the county all month long. Most events are free and others have an admission fee.
The Lake County Lit-Fest kicks off the Lake County Big Read at the Mendocino College Lake Center in Lakeport on Oct. 3, 1 to 4 p.m. The campus is located at 2565 Parallel Drive.
On Oct. 4, 1 p.m. at Star Gardens Nursery in Middletown, 21288 Washington St., is the location for a program on Gardens of the South. It will coincide with a customer appreciation day.
The Clear Lake Campus of Yuba College will present a southern cuisine banquet at noon on October 13. The college is located at 15880 Dam Road in Clearlake.
The Soper-Reese Theatre’s classic film for October is the Universal Picture’s Academy Award-winning film of “To Kill a Mockingbird” starring Gregory Peck, on Oct. 13 at 6 p.m. The theater is located at 275 S. Main Street in Lakeport and the Web site is www.soperreesetheatre.com/ .
Marymount University’s Lakeside Campus will host a Mockingbird panel discussion, “Race Relations and Civil Rights in the Novel and in Real Life,” on the campus at 3700 Country Club Drive in Lucerne at 5 p.m. This is a free event.
The panel will feature David M. Kennedy, professor of history, emeritus, from Stanford University and 1999 Pulitzer Prize winner for Freedom From Fear and William Alsup, U. S. District Court judge from the Northern District of California, Harvard graduate and a native of the deep South.
Also on the panel is Peter Windrem, attorney at law, from Kelseyville and a 1964 civil rights volunteer. Bernie Butcher from the Tallman Hotel will moderate the discussion.
Adults and teens are all invited to attend this free event. For high school students who arrive early, at 4 p.m. Marymount Lakeside executive director Michelle Scully will lead a tour of the campus and answer all admissions and curricular questions
The Tallman Hotel at 9550 Main St. in Upper Lake will present a “Mockingbird Mystery Dinner” a dinner theater murder mystery based on “To Kill a Mockingbird” on Oct. 24 at 5:30 p.m. There is limited seating for this event and tickets are $80 plus tax. See the Tallman Hotel Web site www.tallmanhotel.com/calendar for more ticket information.
For more information about the Lake County Big Read events call the Lake County Library at 707-263-8817.
Visit the Lake County Big Read on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LakeCountyBigRead for additional activities, book discussion events and opportunities to get involved with your community reading program.
The Lake County Library thanks the Lake County Big Read sponsors: Friends of the Lake County Library, Friends of Middletown Library, Lake County Friends of Mendocino College, Friends of the Mendocino College Library, Tallman Hotel, Rotary Club of Lakeport, Lake County Office of Education and the Lake County Literacy Taskforce.
Jan Cook works for the Lake County Library.