Gualala Arts Lecture Series presents:
Mushrooming for Beginners

with Bill Hanson
Thursday, November 1, 2012, 7:00 p.m.
Admission is $5

On Thursday, November 1, Bill Hanson will discuss collecting mushrooms for beginners. The timing for this talk, the last of the 2012 Gualala Arts Lecture Series, could not be better, because the prized fungi appear along the Mendonoma coast with the advent of late fall and early winter rains.

There is no better person to introduce and assure the novice collector that what he or she places in the basket is properly identified and safe to consume. Hanson has collected mushrooms for over 17 years and has taken hundreds of beginners on their first wild mushroom gathering foray.

He is twice past-president of the Sonoma County Mycological Association (SOMA) and a member of both the Mycological Society of San Francisco (MSSF) and the North American Mycological Association (NAMA). He is a frequent contributor to the SOMA newsletter.

Hanson also gives wild mushroom cooking demonstrations for outdoor and travel groups. He has contributed articles to the San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle, Sunset magazine and has been featured in a national food magazine.

In the second half of his presentation, Hanson will prepare two of his favorite wild mushroom dishes for the audience. Renowned Sonoma County chef Roger Praplan, owner of La Gare, a French restaurant in Santa Rosa, will assist. Praplan also teaches cooking at the Santa Rosa Junior College and other venues.

This presentation specifically targets local residents and features ample samples of mushrooms found in the area. The talk will also provide a deeper understanding of specific mushroom families. There will be ample time to answer questions from the audience.

Whether or not they gather mushrooms, anyone who hikes can gain interesting information on the fungi that appear all around us after the rain starts to fall. The lecture begins at 7:00 p.m. in Coleman Auditorium. A $5 admission will be collected at the door.

The Gualala Arts Center, located at 46501 Old State Highway in Gualala, CA,
is open weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and weekends from noon to 4:00 p.m.
Please call (707) 884-1138 for more information, or email info@gualalaarts.org.

Serving the coastal communities of northern Sonoma & southern Mendocino Counties.