Back in 1989 Bill Rennie was teaching ASL classes out of his apartment in Fullerton, CA. He dreamed of someday owning his own business and out of his love of teaching, that dream came to fruition not long after.  He came up with the name SIGN LANGUAGE FACTORY after having dinner with friends at the Spaghetti Factory!  He designed a logo and his first SIGN LANGUAGE FACTORY t-shirt was printed. He sold a dozen or so to his students...who told other students...who told other students and pretty soon, the SIGN LANGUAGE FACTORY was on it's way!  Bill also met his future wife, Bonnie, that year and together they prepared the way to teach more and more people the language of the Deaf. 

In 1990, Bill and Bonnie hosted their first ASL workshop in Anaheim, CA.  They had 3 people attend that first workshop.  But, again, those 3 told their friends, who told their friends and pretty soon, they had an average of 30-40 people attending their workshops.

In December of 1992, Bill and Bonnie were married. The SIGN LANGUAGE FACTORY continued to grow, with Bill teaching ASL classes and workshops and Bonnie acting as coordinator and administrator. They started traveling out of state to host their workshops to places like Phoenix and Tucson, AZ, Boston, MA, Erie, PA, New Mexico as well as Northern California.

In 1993, the SIGN LANGUAGE FACTORY hosted their first "Expressions in Silence" silent weekend in Big Bear, California. They were praying for at least 25 or 30 people.  They had 75 sign up!  The next year, over 100 people signed up for the weekend.  In 1997, they expanded and did their Silent Weekend in Phoenix, AZ and the following year added another in Northern, California.  God was good and He blessed the SIGN LANGUAGE FACTORY in abundance!

In 1999, the Lord blessed them again.  This time with 4 year old twins! Bill & Bonnie, along with Bill's two older children, Jeanne & Paul, welcomed Rachel and Franklin into their family and a new path began for the Rennies. They decided to put their focus into their new family for the next few years, doing occasional workshops and weekends.

Now it's 2010.  Rachel and Franklin are 15 years old now and are homeschooled.  They often help with the business, setting up for the workshops, registering participants and selling SLF merchadise! 

They help out at the Deaf Expos and you'll see them when we go to Deaf Night at the Block.  They are great kids who love the Lord!  They have a few deaf friends and are both fluent in ASL!

Jeanne is now a teacher in Erie, PA and Paul manages a coffee store in Richmond, VA.  Although we do not get to see them as often as we would like, they are always in our hearts!

This year, the SIGN LANGUAGE FACTORY will be hosting their 17th Silent Weekend.  They continue to host monthly ASL workshops on a variety of topics, do their "Nobody Famous!" comedy shows and attend many of the Deaf Expo events all over the country.  God continues to be good!

If you are interested in having the SIGN LANGUAGE FACTORY come to your area to host a workshop(s), please email us at SLFWOW@sbcglobal.net for more details.