Author Laura Ackley, an architectural historian who has spent many years delving into the joys and mysteries of the Panama Pacific Exposition of 1915, will be the guest speaker at the annual awards banquet of Sonoma County Historical Society Sunday, Mar.22, at the Flamingo Hotel at Fourth St. and Farmers Lane in Santa Rosa.

Doors open at 11 a.m. and lunch will be served at noon. Cost is $40 per person. The SCHS also would appreciate donations to sponsor luncheon tickets at $40 each for History Day students who attend.

The menu: Entrée Choices: Mediterranean Pasta (Vegan Option), Grilled Chicken Rustica, or Atlantic Salmon with Mango Pico de Gallo sauce; Caesar salad, herb roasted Yukon potatoes and vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup.

There will be exhibits related to the Expo and also exhibits by History Day students. There will also be a business meeting, awards presentations and a fundraiser raffle.

Ackley, a resident of Marin County, first became interested in the PPIE while at UC, Berkeley, and has done further research, with a major emphasis on architecture. Her book, San Francisco’s Jewel City, The Panama Pacific International Exposition of 1915, was recently published by Heyday Press.

Sonoma County played a major role in supporting the Expo and gloried in the historic meeting of three of America’s most famous men in Santa Rosa in October, 1915 when Thomas Edison and Henry Ford dropped in to visit with the resident plant wizard, Luther Burbank.