Lynn Dickerson, a former publisher of The Modesto Bee and currently the CEO of the Gallo Center for the Arts, will be the featured speaker at the Manteca Federated Women’s Club meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 18.

The luncheon meeting will begin at 11 a.m. and will be held at the Prestige Senior Living, 1130 Empire Avenue, where the club regularly meets. Prestige is the building on the northeast corner of East Louise Avenue and Empire Avenue about a block east of Cottage Avenue.

Dickerson’s topic will focus on the Gallo Center’s programming for the 2012 season which will run through the first half of the year. The Gallo Center’s 2012-2013 programming will begin immediately after that.

Dickerson will also provide information about “Duets,” a unique “social networking program for older, single adults who enjoy going to the theater,” according to the information provided by the Federated Women’s Club.

The Gallo Center schedules “Duets” events designed for “mature adults who are single, divorced, widowed, or caregivers for a spouse/significant other unable to get out.”

The Manteca Federated Women’s Club is on the mailing list of the Gallo Center, which is how Dickerson was invited as a guest speaker. The latest flyer from the Modesto arts center reports that more than 50,000 tickets have been purchased so far this season for the various scheduled programs.

Dickerson was The Modesto Bee’s publisher from 2000-2006. She has been the CEO of the Gallo Center for the Arts wince October 2009.

For more information about the meeting on Wednesday, or to make a reservation for the luncheon, call 239-0288. For information about the club and how to join, call club president Marlene Figone at 823-2494.