President’s Message:
We Have Carried the Torch of the Founders
The archives of California Writers Club Sacramento Branch contain a photograph of our club’s inaugural meeting. The date was October 31, 1925. The place was Sacramento’s brand-new Senator Hotel, prominently located across the street from the State Capitol. About forty of our founders and possibly their guests (no attendance list remains) sit on bentwood chairs or pose along a wall of the Empire Room. An unnamed photographer saved for posterity the occasion which commemorated their accomplishment: A writers’ club had been founded in Sacramento!
This is our 100th year as a writers’ club. Those gathered at the Senator Hotel in the beginning would be enormously proud of us. We have carried the torch of the founders throughout the years. And what years they have been. None of us remember the Great Depression, but there are those among us who remember the Second World War. And subsequent wars and conflicts, economic downturns, social strife, pandemics, and just plain bad weather cycles. And CWC Sacramento Branch survived. Best wishes and thank you to all who have gathered here to celebrate this club’s founding, its history, and its successes.
Sandra S. Navarro
President, CWC Sacramento Branch
Our Star-Studded Line Up for Oct. 18
Meet our accomplished celebrities in the literary community who will be headliners at our October 18 gala
Jack Ohman
Pulitzer Prize-winning Editorial
Cartoonist & Columnist
Rich Ehisen
Editor-in-Chief
Capitol Weekly
Alison Monet Linton
Executive Producer of Streaming
CBS News, Sacramento
Sandra Proudman
Author & Literary Agent,
Gallt & Zacker Literary Agency
Al González
Executive Producer
Quad Air Communications
Carol Lynn Stevenson Grellas
Author & Editor for Kelsay Books
13-time Pushcart Nominee
Maryellen Burns
Cultural Historian
Author & Publisher
Gala History
A Toast to a Century of Fine Writing
Let’s be frank. Our gala celebration is organized on a shoestring budget, and the club is responsible for a minimum of $500 in sales at the gala bar on October 18. So what better way to accentuate the afternoon than by sidling up to the Northridge Country Club bartender and ordering a cocktail historically enjoyed by some literary greats. What cocktails did they celebrate with?
Honoring Tradition Since 1925
For 100 years, our writing club has fostered a cadre of fine writers. It started with our parent club in Oakland that began in 1909. Are you curious what the connection is to the historic author Jack London?
Welcome to Gala News!
Award winner Kiyo Sato, 102, plans to attend the Gala
At 102 years old, Kiyo Sato continues to teach America about courage and justice.
This October, members of the California Writers Club will have the rare honor of meeting her in person.
Sato, author of Kiyo’s Story, will attend the California Writers Club, Sacramento Branch’s 100th Anniversary Gala on October 18, 2025, at Northridge Country Club in Fair Oaks. Her presence will mark a proud moment in the club’s century-long history of supporting California writers.
Born in Sacramento in 1923 to Japanese immigrant parents, Sato grew up helping her family farm strawberries and nuts near Rancho Cordova. As a young college student, her life changed overnight after the attack on Pearl Harbor. She and her family were forcibly removed from their land and incarcerated in an Arizona internment camp, along with nearly 120,000 other Japanese Americans.
Her memoir, originally published as Dandelion in the Crack and later reissued by Soho Press as Kiyo’s Story, won the 2008 William Saroyan International Prize for Nonfiction. Critics call it “unforgettable” (Sacramento News & Review) and “an important portrait of a shameful period in American history” (Kirkus Reviews).
Sato’s story not only recounts her family’s survival through internment and prejudice but also honors their quiet moments of dignity, her father’s haiku poetry, and the enduring quest for the American Dream.
We hope her visit to the Gala will inspire a new generation of writers to pen manuscripts for truth, memory, and resilience.
Save the date for the gala on October 18th, 2025
Meet at North Ridge Country Club
By Teri Lown
North Ridge Country Club in Fair Oaks offers a luxurious and welcoming environment for golf lovers and social members, blending championship golf with vibrant community life.
It will be the site for the 100th anniversary celebration of the California Writers Club, Sacramento Branch.
North Ridge emphasizes quality service, exceptional dining, and a variety of recreational activities in a scenic setting. Pristine grounds are meticulously maintained to serve its members and the more than 100 guests expected to attend the Sacramento writers’ anniversary gala.
Please laugh at our dialog
We are telling our story a little differently for this celebration
Gala Highlights
Experience the Northridge County Club for the meeting of the year
Networking Buffet
Break away from your round-table regulars to network with new writing friends at the buffet.
Live Entertainment
Can we give a shout out to our high school jazz band?
A rare book afternoon
Don’t touch, but see our history on display in the form of rare books by CWC authors going back decades.
Also view the original woodcut for the California Writers Club logo from 1909.
The Fashion Sense
Have you been asking yourself, “What should I wear?” It is business casual or period dress from 1925.
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