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Press Release
San Francisco Fungus Fair -
Official Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Yu-Shen Ng
(650) 429-3876 or (650) 813-9149
yushen@hearme.com
Palo Alto, CA
Electronic press kit
San Francisco Mushroom Fair Brings Fun, Food, and Learning
San Francisco, Calif. - On December 9 and 10, the San Francisco Mushroom Fair brings to Golden Gate Park the beauty, smells, tastes, and intricacies of the world of mushrooms. Sponsored by the Mycological Society of San Francisco, the Fair offers cooking demonstrations, slide shows, displays of habitat and fresh and unusual mushrooms, and informational booths covering mushroom-related "hunting," poisoning, biology, art, medicines, and identification. The Fair is open to the public, and all are welcome. It will be held at the County Fair Building's Hall of Flowers in Golden Gate Park on both Saturday and Sunday, December 9 and 10 (10am-5pm on Saturday and 11am-5pm on Sunday).
Over a thousand specimens of local mushrooms will be on display at the fair, and visitors will learn, first hand, how to distinguish the deadly poisonous mushrooms from the choice edibles. Mushrooms will be displayed in a setting that assists in their identification and mimics their natural habitat.
EXPERTS SPEAK
Speakers at the fair will focus on various roles of mushrooms in our society -- in our economy, in our society, and in the world ecosystem. Internationally-renowned photographer Taylor Lockwood will present a multimedia slide show about exotic mushrooms from around the world. Mycological scientist, visionary and pioneering cultivator Paul Stamets will discuss "Mushrooms as Planetary Healers" and "Psilocybin and Amanita Mushrooms: An Innocent Discovers the Infinite." Michael Boom, past president of the Mycological Society of San Francisco, will give an introductory talk on mushrooms, titled "The Secret Life of Mushrooms". Dr. Matteo Garbelotto, UC Berkeley mycologist, will explain and introduce Sudden Oak Death, a fungal disease that has been threatening trees in the Bay Area. Dr. Mo Mei Chen, also of UC Berkeley, having just returned from a Medicinal Mushroom conference in the Netherlands, will present on the state of medicinal uses of mushrooms worldwide. And, Janet Doell, founder of the Lichen Society, and her husband Richard will give a multi-media slide show on lichens, which are comprised of a symbiotic relationship of fungi and algae.
COOKING DEMONSTRATIONS
Cooking shows will be held on both days of the Fair. Sunita Dutt, Executive chef of Chinook Restaurant in San Rafael will demonstrate techniques and recipes for preparing choice wild mushrooms available in the Bay Area. Similarly, "Mycochef" Patrick Hamilton, food columnist for the Mushroom, the Journal of Wild Mushrooming and long-time member of the Mycological Society of San Francisco, will teach mushroom cooking techniques.
Some culinary events will also occur prior to the Mushroom Fair. Sponsor restaurants Chinook of San Rafael and La Lime's of Berkeley will each be hosting a series of mushroom-centered dinners. Chinook's dinners will be held on November 15 and 16, and La Lime's will be held December 5 and 6. Call the respective restaurants for details.
JUST FOR KIDS
Middle and high schools students will enjoy and appreciate most fair activities, and younger students can also participate in artist and author Louise Freedman's Kid's Area. The Kid's Area will provide opportunities to learn about a select set of mushrooms, participate in a mushroom drawing contest, and "hunt" for specific mushrooms among the display tables.
ORGANIZED MUSHROOM HUNTING FORAYS
In addition to viewing displays and presentations, fair visitors can participate in "mushroom-hunting" by joining one of the pre-fair "mushroom forays." On Friday, December 8, several teams of experts will invite fair-goers to hike through forests, hillsides, trails, and seashores to collect mushrooms in San Francisco, in Marin, in the North Bay, on the East Bay, on the Peninsula, and elsewhere throughout the Bay Area. To participate in any of the pre-fair forays, call the Mycological Society of San Francisco's (MSSF's) hotline at 415-759-0495 for more information.
The Mushroom Fair is not a crafts fair; some mushroom related items, however, including books, tee-shirts, mushroom dyed clothing, posters, and mushroom home cultivation kits, will be available for sale.
SUMMARY
San Francisco Mushroom Fair - Explore the world of mushrooms. See thousands of mushrooms on display, learn to find and identify wild mushrooms, see cooking demonstrations, and hear experts on psychedelics, poisonings, medicinal uses, cultivation and more.
- Saturday, 12/9, 10am-5pm, and Sunday, 12/10, 11am-5pm.
- County Fair Building / Hall of Flowers in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
- $6 adults/$3 students with ID and children under 12
For more details, call the Mycological Society of San Francisco's hotline at 415-759-0495 or visit www.mssf.org.
ABOUT THE SOCIETY
The Mycological Society of San Francisco is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of educational and scientific activities involving mushrooms. The M.S.S.F is the largest regional mushroom society in the United States, and has over 800 members. Founded in 1950, the society awards yearly scholarships, tracks local mycological species, assists Bay Area poison control centers, leads mushroom identification walks and works to preserve cultural traditions of mushroom collecting.
Electronic Press Kit
Copyright © 2000 Michael Wood & the Mycological Society of San Francisco
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