After weeks of reading the book and discussing sustainability, the Alliance community will have the opportunity to meet and hear authors Alisa Smith and J. B. MacKinnon, whose book Plenty was chosen as the featured read of the One Book One Community program for 2007-08.
The authors' presentation will be Wednesday, April 2 at 7 p.m. at the Mount Union Theatre and is free and open to the public.
The appearance of the authors is one of the criteria that sets the Alliance program apart from other community reads, according to Harry Paidas, vice president for public affairs and marketing at Mount Union College who chairs the committee.
"We are one of more than 300 communities throughout the country who have embraced a one-book concept," Paidas said. "But one of the main reasons we feel ours is among the best in the nation is our insistence that the authors be available to our community and to the school children who have been reading the book. Past appearances by the authors have resulted in life-changing experiences for some of our students and community members."
The selected books for the past four years have been The Color of Water by James McBride, Riding the Bus with My Sister by Rachel Simon, Real Time by Pnina Moed-Kass and Beyond the River by Ann Hagedorn."
Plenty, which carries the subtitle, "One Man, One Woman and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally," chronicles the challenges of two people who spent a year trying to eat foods produced within 100 miles of their Vancouver, British Columbia home.
"Since this is the fifth year of One Book One Community in the Alliance area, we were intent on picking a book that could actively involve our readership," Paidas said. "Our sessions have been well attended and 'Plenty' has inspired many in the community to give more thought about where their food originates. Alisa and J.B. are coming a long way to tell their story to Alliance and I hope the community responds."
Paidas said that in addition to the highly successful discussion sessions that have already taken place, an additional session on "Backyard Gardening – Real Life Experiences" will be held on Wednesday, April 16 at 7 p.m. at Feed My Sheep Ministries located at 114 E. Main St.
Alliance's One Book One Community program is sponsored by the Friends of Rodman Public Library, Mount Union College, The Greater Alliance Foundation and The Review.
Members of the One Book executive committee, in addition to Paidas, are Cheryl Paine, Pete Schneller, Diane Thomas and Sandra Giese of Mount Union College; Pat Stone of the Rodman Public Library; Rae Ellen Dale and Libby Patterson of the Alliance City Schools, Michael Zerbe, instructor at Stark State University and former owner of Chapter Two Book Store and Tiffany Gravlee, community activist.
For more information, visit www.rodmanlibrary.com/onebook or call 330- 823-6063.
