Teacher, historian and author Bill Coate is the featured speaker at this year's Annual Meeting of the Mariposa Museum and History Center on October 19. The public is invited and advance reservations are required by Oct.9.

Bill Coate is a veteran of 36 years in the classroom, including 10 years as an adjunct faculty member at National University's Fresno campus.

For more than a decade he has been the host of "Twist in Time," a twice weekly television show aired on KMPH Fox 26 in Fresno, which features ironic and surprising historical mysteries and incidents.

Lunch by Johnson Catering begins at 1 am. After the meal will be a short members meeting followed by Mr. Coate's entertaining and informative program where he will share some new information and stories about Major James Savage.

Coate's book titles include: History's Mysteries Revealed (2005), History's Shocking Secrets (2006), and History's Outrageous Oddities (2007) and "Madera" (Images of America Series). He has also published numerous articles in educational and historical journals as well as in many newspapers across the USA.

He has been named "National History Teacher of the Year by the Daughters of the American Revolution and was a California Teacher of the Year finalist. he has been the recipient of numerous awards for innovative teaching.

He was recognized nationally by the Disney Company for creativity in the classroom and given the Disney American Teacher Award. Disney also showed Bill in a national public service spot called "The Power of Teaching" which aired on ABC, Disney Channel, and ESPN. Harvard University's Graduate School of Education also featured Bill in a documentary entitled, "Inside the Creative Classroom."

He is the originator of the Madera Method, a research based educational experience that uses primary source material to immerse students in history. He also started the Madera Method Wagon Train, which gives youngsters a living history experience on the trail with mule-drawn wagons.

His new project is called "Hooked on History" in which he will use his highly entertaining style speaking in schools and service clubs all across the country to "fight historical illiteracy".

The Subject of Coate's Mariposa talk was a well known, controversial and influential personality who came to California in 1846. John Savage had close associations with local tribes, learning their languages and marrying daughters of tribal leaders.

Through his trading and mining operations, Savage became a wealthy man. In late 1849, he established a trading post on the Merced River just twenty-five miles downstream from the Yosemite Valley, an area which was unknown to non-native people at the time. He found himself in the midst of conflicts between Indians and the gold-rush newcomers.

Tickets for the event are $17.50 each which includes a delicious lunch by Johnson Catering. Reservations need to be made by Oct 9 to reserve a spot and a lunch ticket.

This promises to be an interesting and entertaining program.

For additional information and reservations contact the Mariposa Museum and History Center 209-966-2924