A.V. COLLEGE EVENT TO CELEBRATE LIVES OF SPECIAL WOMEN.

Byline: Joanne Crawford Education

Antelope Valley College will host its 10th annual women's conference March 14, featuring a series of first-person presentations and workshops.

``In this way we hope to honor the stories and hence the lives of women now living, as well as those who came before us,'' said conference organizer Debra Olson Tolar.

The conference will start at 8 a.m. March 14 at the student center on campus, 3041 W. Ave. K. Advance registration for the seminar is $15 if paid by Friday, said Steve Standerfer, the school's public relations director. Registration forms can be obtained at the student services center.

Keynote speaker for the conference will be Washington-based writer and storyteller Erica Helm Meade, author of ``Tell It by Heart; Women and the Healing Power of Story.''

``Drawing upon myth as a source of inspiration, she teaches workshops in the United States and abroad,'' Standerfer said. ``Her favorite topics include storytelling and rites of passage, creativity . . . community, mythic rituals of the sacred feminine and poetry of sacred place.''

Following Meade's talk, attendees will choose from a variety of other workshops, including those by American Indian storytellers Cecelia Regay and Marie Schults; ``discovering your female energy'' with Emily Pack; Annette Marks-Ellis, focusing on the lives of American women who broke gender barriers; raising children with disabilities, by Alice Coopers and Roberta Dunn; recognizing your personal growth pattern with Dr. Margaret Longenecker; and contemporary issues facing men featuring Michael Traina and others.

To conclude the program, participants will have lunch together while storyteller Barbara Clark presents stories with the theme Beyond Girlhood, Standerfer said.

``Clark, of Los Angeles, is a former librarian and an advocate of the spoken word with a repertoire of stories ranging from funny personal experience to startling accounts of mysterious events.''

For more information about the women's conference, including the ticket price for those who register after the advance-purchase deadline, call [phone].

Also at the college, the campus art gallery will feature works from the Ruth Bachofner Gallery in Santa Monica beginning Thursday and continuing through March 26.

A reception will also be held Thursday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Admission to the show is free, said gallery director Pat Hinds.

``We'll have 40 pieces representing about 20 artists,'' Hinds said. ``I just feel so fortunate having it here. These are prominent living artists from the United States and from other countries.''

Some of the participating artists, who will show mainly abstract works, have been featured in the most prominent galleries in the United States, Hinds said. For more information, call [phone].

PALMDALE - The Palmdale High School Falcon Pageantry Corps boosters will hold a steak and shrimp dinner fund-raiser March 21 at the Outback Steakhouse, which adjoins the Antelope Valley Mall.

Serving time on a first-come, first-served basis is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., said boosters President Robin Harris. The dinner is open to the public, she said.

Admission is $10 a person and menu choices include center cut sirloin steak, ``chicken on the barbie,'' ``shrimp on the barbie,'' ``kookaburra wings,'' and ``ribs on the barbie,'' Harris said.

``This fund covers ongoing Pageantry Corps expenses all year and benefits all our band students,'' Harris said.

Only 300 tickets for this event will be sold, so community residents are urged to reserve spaces as soon as possible, Harris said.

For more information, contact Kim Harmon at [phone] or Harris at [phone].