We invited author and SCBWI Executive Director Lin Oliver to speak at our 2012 Spring Spirit Conference. If you attended, you know what a HUGE hit she was (and we have a record number of requests for a repeat performance)! Lin’s gifts keep on giving because she generously donated her honorarium to our region. We opted to used the money for one-time scholarships for three lucky CA North/Central members. All funds were awarded by random drawing:
 

1.       One tuition scholarship to Braden Lee to attend the May 19 Illustrators’ Day (for picture book authors, too) [randomly selected from the event registration list].
 

2.       One tuition scholarship to Kathleen Brady to attend the May 26 Shasta Character Intensive [randomly selected from the event registration list].
 

3.       Since 2010, we have sent nine members to the LA summer conference with tuition and travel grants of $750 each through our LA Grant Contest. Members interested in attending the conference submit a grant application and a writing or art sample. We announced the 2012 winners in May--Angelica Carpenter, Angelica Jackson, and Linda Knoll. But this year we wanted to help one more member attend the LA conference, so we threw the names of the remaining LA Grant Contest applicants into a hat and drew Cheri Williams’ name. Cheri, a Turlock resident, will receive a tuition-only scholarship for the Aug. 3-6 conference, and in return will help us coordinate events in the southern part of our region.