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Time to start going through your garage or attic to get ready for “Show & Tell” night on Thursday, December 13, 2012, 7:30 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2400 N. Canal St., in Orange.

This is the third time this popular and crowd-pleasing event is being hosted, but each one is unique since attendees share historical artifacts, heirlooms, and memorabilia from their personal collection with members of the Society and other guests.

At the last event, Phil Brigandi brought a mysterious knife from his family collection, seeking to find out more about its history. (See Chris Jepsen’s write up about this event and Phil’s knife at http://ochistorical.blogspot.com/2012/01/mysterious-knife-and-some-local-history.html.)

What will we uncover at this month’s meeting? Perhaps a tool used for picking oranges or avocados? Or a name badge from your employment at Disneyland that you wore on opening day. Maybe your great-grandfather’s branding iron? Or an outstanding photo of Orange County that few have seen before.

A sign up sheet will be posted at the front door, and those who brought an item to share will be called forth—in the order on this list—to share their item.

Whatever the night will bring, we look forward to the surprises in store for us!

Hear authors of the latest Orange County history books discuss their work, and then have a chance to meet them, buy their books, and have them signed at OCHS’ annual “Authors’ Night” program on Thursday, November 8, 2012, 7:30 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2400 N. Canal St., in Orange. This event will also mark the release of Orange Countiana, Vol. 8—this year’s OCHS historical journal. Contributors to the journal will also be on hand to sign copies. (A copy of the journal comes with OCHS membership, but additional copies will be available for purchase.) Between books and journals, this will be a great opportunity to do some holiday shopping—for others or for yourself. The event is open to the public and refreshments will be served.

Some of the authors and books you can expect to find at this event:

Jason Schultz – Disneyland Almanac. Schultz, archivist at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum and former Disneyland cast member, will discuss this third book on the unique daily history of Disneyland, co-authored with MiceAge columnist Kevin Yee.

Mike Heywood – Orange County: Twelve Decades of Extraordinary Change. Heywood is a historian for the Huntington Beach Coordinating Council which supports service groups in the community and retired insurance executive. His second book provides his view of O.C. from 1889 to 2010.

Ted Dougherty – Knott’s Halloween Haunt: A Picture History. Dougherty’s book, which arrives in time for Halloween Haunt’s 40th Anniversary, features images and anecdotes about this annual event which has grown into an enormous 5-week juggernaut emulated by other theme parks around the world. The author also operates UltimateHaunt.com online.

Chris Epting – Baseball in Orange County. No stranger to our Authors’ Night events, Epting’s latest book explores America’s favorite pastime as it was played in Orange County. A noted pop-culture historian and a frequent collaborator with Arcadia Publishing, we’re curious to see what he’s written about one of his great passions: baseball.

Frank Ritenour – San Juan Capistrano Treasures. Ritenour and his wife Marlene run Ritenour’s Photography in San Clemente, and are award winning photographers with more than 25 years of professional experience. The author will bring copies of several of his books with photographs documenting past and present views of Dana Point, San Clemente, and San Juan Capistrano.

Phil Brigandi – Orange Countiana Volume VIII. Brigandi, our intrepid editor, will be presenting OCHS’ latest historical journal, along with perhaps two of the contributors to this edition who are both members of the Society:

John M.W. Moorlach, C.P.A., contributed a first-hand account of “The Orange County Bankruptcy” to our journal. Moorlach has served as Supervisor for Orange County’s 2nd District since 2006, and was appointed Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector following the resignation of Robert Citron in the wake of the county bankruptcy. A former member of the Board of Directors of the Costa Mesa Historical Society, he also served as Vice Chairman of the California State Sesquicentennial Foundation.

Froy Tiscareño, author of several books, contributed an article about his memories of colorful Orange County figure and historian William McPherson as well as tales of his Mexican-American family’s life in Orange County during the first half of the 20th Century. Tiscareño, who taught mathematics at Mt. San Antonio College for 27 years and currently teaches at Irvine Valley College, came to O.C. from Mexico in 1949, settling in the little town of McPherson, near El Modena.

Orange County’s role in California Style watercolor painting will be the subject of the Orange County Historical Society’s season kick-off program on Thursday, September 13, 2012, at Sherman Gardens, 2647 E. Coast Highway, in Corona del Mar. If you’d like to participate in the Society’s appetizer and dessert potluck beforehand, arrive at 6:30 p.m. with a plateful of goodies. Otherwise, arrive in time for the 7:30 lecture by author, historian, exhibition curator and art dealer Gordon T. McClelland.

From the 1930s through the 1970s, an innovative approach to watercolor painting called the California Style, flourished in Southern California. Artists like Rex Brandt, Phil Dike, and Emil Kosa, Jr. were considered part of the American Scene or Regionalist movement and often painted scenes of everyday city and suburban life. Their work featured bold design, creative use of the white paper as a “color,” and highlighted the transparency of their unique medium. One of the key schools that taught this approach to creating art was the Brandt-Dike Summer School of Painting in Corona del Mar.

The presentation will feature outstanding examples of California watercolors inspired by scenes in Orange County, with an emphasis on works painted in and around Newport Beach. McClelland will also address the historical and artistic importance of these works both locally and nationally.

Local historian Cynthia Ward will speak on “Historical Preservation: Thinking Outside the Box,” at the OCHS’ next meeting, Thursday, May 10, 2012, 7:30 p.m., at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2400 N. Canal St., in Orange.

As California’s economy shifts, and local governments lose redevelopment funds, preservationists must find new avenues to maintain and restore our historic legacy. Join us for an open discussion of how communities and non-profit groups may be moving forward in the future. Cynthia will also present examples of how others have used creative thinking to preserve our built environment.

Cynthia Ward is a preservation consultant, and owner of Cynthia Ward Historic Preservation Consulting. She specializes in research and documentation of historic homes for Historic Register applications, and Mills Act tax reduction program filings. She also designs restorations and adaptive reuse for both interior and exterior changes to vintage homes. She and her husband Richard are currently restoring their own second historic home, the 1908 era Owens House, in the Anaheim Colony Historic District.