[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 24401]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               HONORING LINDA RAWLS OF SONOMA, CALIFORNIA

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MIKE THOMPSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 19, 2008

  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today along with my 
colleague, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, to honor and acknowledge Linda 
Rawls, who has been named the 2008 Sonoma Treasure Artist of the Year, 
or simply the Sonoma Treasure, by the city of Sonoma. Each year the 
city's Cultural and Fine Arts Commission selects one of the hundreds of 
artists living and working in the Sonoma Valley to receive this honor. 
Ms. Rawls was singled out for her decade's long work in costume design.
  By one account, she has fitted and costumed the stars and extras of 
more than 132 productions, including those of the Sonoma City Opera, 
the Sonoma Ballet Conservatory, school plays at Sonoma Valley High and 
each of the grade schools, Vintage House Senior Center, churches and 
Hootchie Doo Productions, a community theatre group. Her talents have 
led her to create designs for productions in neighboring counties, 
including 42nd Street Moon productions in San Francisco.
  According to Ms. Rawls, ``Costumes have to do everything. A show can 
have no scenery, but with a woman's dress or a man's hat, you can 
decipher the time and place in an instant.'' She calls costumes the 
``elemental scenery of a play, telling more about character and context 
than anything else on stage.''
  Ms. Rawls stumbled into her artistic calling 26 years ago when the 
costume designer for a school opera in which her 8-year-old son was 
performing unexpectedly quit. She volunteered to step in and has been 
following her passion ever since.
  Her peers have acknowledged Ms. Rawls work by awarding her the Best 
First Day Costume Award from the International Gilbert and Sullivan 
Festival in Buxton, England, in 1996 and the Dean Goodman Choice Award 
for Outstanding Achievement in Theatre for Costume Design in 2003.
  Madam Speaker, Linda Rawls is a true artist in every sense of the 
word and it is appropriate that we honor her today as the 2008 Sonoma 
Treasure Artist of the Year.

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