Come join us at Old St. Mary’s Chapel of Rocklin for our Speakers Series.

For October we have Bill George who will be sharing bits of his films on pioneer history.

About Bill George
Bill has been fascinated with culture, history and travel for many years. He was a tour director in Chicago while working his way through college. He then became a television journalist, before transitioning to public relations. In 2010 he formed Nimbus Films to make a documentary film about the building of the first transcontinental railroad over the Sierra Nevada, and then wrote the book Rails, Tales and Trails that explained how to find the old railroad sites, along with museums, towns and restaurants in the area.  Bill followed that with a film portrait of Newcastle, California one of the most important agriculture, railroad and gold rush towns. He then produced a documentary film about the Chinese experience in California. And then produced a history of California agriculture. Realizing that there are many great documentary films about the west, Bill launched the Golden West Film Festival in 2014 in the Gold Rush town of Auburn, California.
Bill has made hundreds of presentations about California’s history to civic, educational, travel and cultural groups.  He was invited to China in 2016 to show his film Chinese Builders of Gold Mountain, and he made several speeches and showed his films on China Central Television.
Bill is a former KCRA-TV, Sacramento journalist and communications executive, serving as Vice President of Marketing for the California Trade and Commerce Agency and Global Marketing Manager for Ford Motor Company.

Come join us at Old St. Mary’s Chapel in Rocklin for our Speaker Series on California and the Civil War, a multimedia show created by Grass Valley author Richard Hurley, whose book on the topic has just been published by The History Press

Through fine art, maps, and photos, the show traces the political and military history of the Golden State and reveals how close California came to siding with the South in 1861. Featured are stories of men of honor like General Albert Sidney Johnston, a Southern sympathizer whose refusal to betray his officer’s oath spared California from partisan war – and San Francisco’s gifted orator, the Reverend Thomas Starr King, whom Abraham Lincoln dubbed “the man who saved California for the Union.” The show also depicts the exploits of daring Rebel partisans determined to act for the Confederacy in California, both by land and by sea.

Old Town Rocklin Tree Lighting co-sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Rocklin and the City of Rocklin. An ALL FREE event for the children of the community held in December on Front Street in Rocklin’s Historical District. A fun filled evening, opening procession at 4:30 p.m. with bounce houses, wagon and train rides, face painting, crafts, selfies with Santa, hotdogs, chili, popcorn, cookies, hot chocolate, caroling, costumed characters, performances by local musical groups, and the lighting of the Rocklin Holiday Tree 7:00 p.m. The Tree Lighting Committee is composed of members of service clubs, businesses, schools, churches, and charitable organizations including for example, Kiwanis, Rotary, Crossroads Church, Rocklin Historical Society and Rocklin Residents United for Fido (RRUFF). The informal event is supported primarily by in-kind products and funds donated by businesses and solicited by the committee members. City Public Services assists with street closures, logistics, and promotion. Kiwanis of Rocklin Foundation maintains accounting of Old Town Rocklin Tree Lighting funds, receives charitable donations, holds and disperses funds as required.