Local Baha'i annual Race Unity Picnic scheduled for Sunday

Source: The State Journal-Register Springfield, IL
Publication date: 2000-06-07

There will be a dramatic presentation by Galesburg actress Helen Katz, music by the band Elevator Shoe, led by jazz saxophonist Frank Trompeter and bassist Bruce Williams, and remarks by University of Illinois pre-med student Kevin Lohrasbi.

Also featured will be the pork barbecue of Wiley Mays, whose cooking skills have been behind the event for many years, in addition to a meal mostly provided by the Baha'i to picnic guests free of charge (meat and drinks will provided, potluck side dishes are invited).

Katz's "Together on the Journey" is a collection of original monologues, stories and poems that reveal society's often unconscious assumptions that help to perpetuate racism.

Katz is a 1963 graduate of Lanphier High School who once wrote about radio and television programs for The State Journal-Register. She has worked as a playwright and actress in Chicago in the award-winning non- Equity production of "Mass Murder." She also co-produced and acted as master of ceremonies for writers' "open mics," which led to Katz's current repertoire.

She also is touring the Midwest with a play about the Underground Railroad.