Writers Contest Banquet . . . and a BARN OWL?

How did the banquet go? Rachel

Thanks for asking, Rachel. What a fabulous group of students, families and teachers came!
*We played a game with the winning entries
Congratulations to Caie Kelley and Sara Sweeney who were the winners of the bookstore certificates!
*The club members, who are poets, journalists, novelists, short story writers, nonfiction authors, children’s authors, etc., met and talked with the winners and their families.
*We ate a grand spread, which included (drum roll please) my all-time favorite chocolate moose. (Why is this dessert so hard to find? It’s also hard to make nice and light!)
*Took photos of the students receiving their awards. But since we don’t do model releases there and for security reasons, we aren’t posting them here nor on the California Writers Club website.
*Note: The main group photo will be sent to the Contra Costa Times. The “insert paper” usually publishes the picture with a story within a few weeks.
For instance, the Pleasant Hill/Martinez Record comes out on Wednesday. As soon as the photo and article is published, (usually takes a few weeks) I’ll post that it’s been published right here so you can look for it in your area. It should come out that same week or so in the Walnut Creek Journal, the Concord Transcript, etc.

***But I never know the date in advance.***

*Speaker Mystery novelist Camille Minichino included the first place winners’ work as examples of good writing. She incorporated them into her writing tips.
*Poet David Alpaugh read some published, entertaining poems (He’d be great at a slam!) and noted some of the exceptional lit techniques in each poem.

And when it was all over . . . the photographer, Karen Terhune and I headed over to the Wild Bird Store, where we heard they were inviting an owl and a hawk for a visit. (see the picture to the right) I began an avid dialogue with the owl, and we formed a bond over . . . a book, naturally! His very own baby book! As I read it to him and described each picture, he followed along exactly, never missing a picture.

And just as though I were reading him a bedtime story, as I turned the last page, he closed his eyes and went to sleep. Ah, what a perfect ending to a perfect day.