LAKE COUNTY — The Lake County Literacy Task Force is putting the finishing touches on its grant application to become a Big Read organization for 2011.
Building local support and raising local match dollars is an important component of the grant, which was the purpose of the Big Read Fundraiser, held Jan. 8 at The Moore Family Winery. The Big Read is a literacy grant designed to encourage reading on a local level with local events that are diverse in both audience and format.
The Lake County Literacy Task Force has chosen the poetry, short stories and essays of Edgar Allan Poe as the reading choice for the first year and the atmosphere at the festive event was inspired by Poe”s dark, creative genius.
Approximately 75 supporters attended the event, bidding on literacy-inspired auction items and adding to a Big Read “Idea Wall.” The Literacy Task Force will be reviewing the ideas and finalizing events for the October 2011 launch of the grant.
A few of the ideas are a Poe film festival; a 12-hour Poe open-mic reading marathon at Mountain High Coffee and Books on Cobb; county library activities and a slow “Poe” category in the Vineyard Run for Literacy in October.
The fundraising event hosted a diverse crowd from around the lake with many saying they were interested in supporting and participating in future program events. Approximately $2,000 was raised in required matching dollars for the Big Read grant.
Supporters were entertained by poetry readings from Lower Lake High School student Fallon Diener and former Lake County Poet Laureate Sandra Wade. Students from Middletown, the Gill Brothers, provided musical entertainment with a selection of eclectic original and cover selections inspired by Poe. They were joined by Cobb Elementary student Jack Shrive in a dramatic musical reading of Poe”s “Tell Tale Heart.”
For more information about The Big Read, or the Lake County Literacy Task Force, e-mail Robin Shrive at bigreadlakecounty@gmail.com or call 994-6471, ext. 2733.
