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LAKEPORT, Calif. – This year’s Mothers’ Day concert by the Lake County Symphony features both patriotic and traditional American music familiar to most of us, under the talented direction of conductor John Parkinson.
The concert takes place on Sunday, May 14 – Mother’s Day – at 3 p.m. at Lakeport’s Soper Reese Theater and showcases the works of some of our most beloved and prolific composers, many who were born near the turn of the 20th century, including Irving Berlin, George M Cohan, John Philip Sousa, Leroy Anderson, Stephen Foster and George Gershwin.
As is traditional, the Lake County Youth Orchestra, under the direction of Sue Condit, will introduce the concert with two selections.
The first, “Tango Expressivo” is by Matt Turner. The second, “Clinch Mountain Backstep” is an Appalachian folk song arranged for orchestra by Larry Moore.
The young musicians will then surrender the stage to the full Symphony, who will open with a medley of patriotic tunes entitled “From Sea to Shining Sea” by Samuel Ward, followed by works of George Gershwin, George Cohan, Stephen Foster and Aaron Copland.
Traditional Irish and early American selections are also on the list for those who like toe-tapping fiddle music like Leroy Anderson’s “Chicken Reel” and “Horse and Buggy,” along with traditional Irish tunes like “Donegal Reel” and the “Star of the County Down.”
The great American West is featured with a medley of music from popular movie westerns, “The Magnificent Seven,” “The Good the Bad and the Ugly,” and “Hang ‘em High.”
Also not to be missed is an energetic rendition of “Hoe-Down” from Aaron Copland’s 1943 Ballet, “Rodeo” which was drawn from the American Southwest tradition of the afternoon rodeo. In the “Hoe-Down” you will hear themes from the fiddle tunes “Bonaparte” and “McLeod’s Reel.”
The concert will end with Irving Berlin’s heartfelt tribute to his adopted country “God Bless America.”
The annual Mothers’ Day Symphony concert is a sellout nearly every year and LCSA members are urged to get in their reservations soon on-line at www.soperreesetheatre.com or by phone at 707-263-0577.
Tickets are $25 for general admission, or $30 for premium reserved. Members receive a $5 discount in both categories.
In order to encourage greater youth participation, an open rehearsal concert is held at 11 a.m., open to young people under age 18 at no charge; for others there is a modest admission fee of $5.
The Soper Reese Theatre is located at 275 S. Main St., Lakeport.
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Redbud Audubon Society members and guests are welcome to join the group on Thursday, May 18, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. for its annual end-of-the-year picnic and installation of officers.
The event will be held at Lakeside County Park on Park Drive off of Soda Bay Road.
The picnic is a potluck, but Audubon supplies hot dogs, buns and condiments. You are welcome to bring an alternate meat or meat-substitute to grill if you prefer.
Sodas and water will also be provided.
Participants are encouraged to bring salad, beans, chips or dessert to share.
Please arrive at 5:30 p.m. Look for thems down by the lake to the left of the launch ramp.
The event will include installation of officers and is a nice way to visit with and get to know chapter members.
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – 100+ Women Strong in Lake County is pleased to announce its second meeting will take place at Twin Pine Casino & Hotel event center in Middletown on Thursday, May 11, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
There will be mingling, networking, professional photography with a step and repeat, food and beverages, and most importantly, at the end of the night a local Lake County charity will be selected to receive a very generous donation that is made possible by the local women of Lake County.
Women wishing to join this organization are welcome to pre-register online or to register at the event.
Part of a worldwide coalition of similar organizations, the Lake County chapter was just created in 2017 as a community effort to fundraise for Lake County based non-profit organizations.
The group consists of women in Lake County from all ages, walks of life and professions. What unites them is their commitment to donate $400 per year to different Lake County charities.
The group meets once every three months and three local, pre-vetted, charitable organizations are invited to give brief presentations in hopes of being selected by 100+ Women Strong.
One of the three charities is selected by a majority vote of the group after the presentation and receives $100 from each and every member of 100+ Women Strong. The goal of the group is to be able to raise $10,000 each quarter for local charities.
The first meeting resulted in a donation of $14,600 to Operation Tango Mike, all from local Lake County women who came out in full force to give back to the local community.
“The Feb. 9 event far exceed our expectations,” explained one of the group’s founders, Crystal Martin. “We weren’t sure if we would meet the 100 women mark by our first meeting, but were overwhelmed when we had 146 local women register and donate.”
Martin added, “100+ Women Strong in Lake County is a group of local women who are dedicated to supporting our community. We come from all walks of life and different financial backgrounds. As individuals, we found that it is difficult to make a significant difference, but as a group we have the ability to contribute to the growth of our community and make an impact in ways that we never thought possible.”
On May 11, the doors will open at 5:30 p.m. for about an hour of mingling and networking while light appetizers are served along with a no-host wine and beer bar.
The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. sharp and the three chosen presenters will each introduce their charity.
The membership has an opportunity to ask questions and then voting will commence. At the conclusion of the event, a winner is chosen and the winning charity then will receive a generous donation, made possible by the local women of Lake County.
This quarter the group has selected Sponsoring Survivorship, Lake County Arts Council, and Totes 4 Teens as the candidates to present and receive the donation on May 11.
For more information or to register to join visit www.100womenstronginlakecounty.com .
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Flotilla 8-8 of Lake County, will meet on Saturday, May 13.
The meeting will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Konocti Bay Sailing Club building located at Braito's Marina, 1555 Eastlake Drive, Buckingham Peninsula, in Kelseyville.
The meeting is open to anyone 17 years or older who would be interested in joining this active group.
For additional information, call the flotilla’s voice mail line at 707-278-8288.
BERKELEY, Calif. – The first year of elementary school markedly boosts a child’s attentiveness, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley, and the Max Planck Institute in Germany.
The study, led by the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, shows that children who transition earlier to a formal school environment learn to be more focused and less impulsive than their peers at play-based preschools.
The findings were published Wednesday in the online issue of the journal Psychological Science.
“These results demonstrate for the first time how environmental context shapes the development of brain mechanisms in 5-year-olds transitioning into school,” said study co-author Silvia Bunge, a UC Berkeley professor of psychology and neuroscience.
Researchers hypothesized that a controlled educational setting in which young children must learn to sit still, follow directions and avoid distractions would boost certain cognitive skills, such as staying on task.
The experiment, conducted in Germany where preschool is referred to as “kindergarten,” proved their theory.
“Our results indicate that the structured learning environment of school has a positive effect on the development of behavioral control,” said study lead author Garvin Brod, a researcher at the German Institute for International Educational Research.
For the study, researchers used computerized tests and brain imaging to track the cognitive performance of 62 children aged 5.
In comparing the results of tests conducted at the beginning and end of a school and preschool year, the study found that the children who had gone to school showed greater improvement than their preschool peers at maintaining focus and following rules.
Moreover, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of their brains during an attention control task showed the schoolgoers to have a more active right parietal cortex, which supports attentiveness, among other cognitive skills.
While the findings reveal new information in the ongoing debate over the developmentally appropriate age to start school, the researchers are not necessarily advocating for early school start ages.
“Those results should not be taken to mean that the elementary school setting is necessarily better for young children’s development than play-based early schooling,” Bunge said, citing research that shows children do well in hands-on, interactive learning environments.
Moreover, there is enormous developmental variation across children of the same age, she said.
The study is part of the HippoKid project led by Yee Lee Shing at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development.
Yasmin Anwar writes for the UC Berkeley News Center.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Three months after he disappeared without a trace, a Rohnert Park man last seen in Clearlake remains the focus of efforts by law enforcement and his family to find him.
Tuesday marked three months since 34-year-old Fernando Ruben-Miñón was last seen in Rohnert Park by his mother, Diane Gamber-Miñón.
In the time since then, there has been no activity on his credit cards or cell phone, and no solid leads as to his whereabouts, according to his mother and law enforcement officials in Lake and Sonoma counties.
“We still have an active missing persons investigation,” said Sgt. Jeff Justice of the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety Investigations Unit.
Gamber-Miñón said her son is diabetic and has Asperger’s, a syndrome which is considered to be on the higher-functioning end of the autism spectrum.
On Feb. 9, Ruben-Miñón said he was going to a friend’s house in Santa Rosa to watch a movie, and borrowed his mother’s silver 2016 Kia Soul to go, authorities said.
Gamber-Miñón said her son hadn’t seemed depressed when he left. When he didn’t come home, she said she texted him the following day.
The original report from law enforcement said Ruben-Miñón sent his mother a text saying he would be home on Feb. 14. She would not hear from him again.
Justice said Ruben-Miñón was last seen on Feb. 12 in Clearlake, where he stayed with acquaintances.
Those individuals told investigators that they last saw Ruben-Miñón driving away from their home, and Ruben-Miñón hadn’t indicated where he was going, Justice said.
So far, there have been no other sightings of Ruben-Miñón. “From everything that we’ve found to this point, the last place that he was seen was in Clearlake,” Justice said.
Justice said Ruben-Miñón’s mother reported him missing on Feb. 16 when he failed to return home as he had said he would.
In the months since, the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety has been working with the Clearlake Police Department and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office on leads, Justice said.
Justice said the agencies have received reports from people who thought they saw Ruben-Miñón in local businesses. However, when following up with surveillance video, investigators concluded it wasn’t him.
Besides there being no verified sightings of Ruben-Miñón, Justice said there hasn’t been any electronic trail, as Ruben-Miñón’s cell phone appears to have been shut off since Feb. 12. The last call from the phone was made to a Clearlake pizza restaurant on that day.
Gamber-Miñón also said there has been no activity on his bank account or credit cards since he was last seen.
The most significant finding in the case came on April 1, when the Kia Rio Ruben-Miñón had been driving was found near Highway 53 and Ogulin Canyon in Clearlake. Justice said the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and the Clearlake Police Department were requested to assist on the case.
Found in the unlocked car were Ruben-Miñón’s wallet, which still had $23 in it, plus another $20 under the seat, his house key, diabetes kit, pants and shoes, Gamber-Miñón said. She added that he usually kept another pair of shoes and pants in the car in case he went hiking.
Lt. Steve Brooks of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said the vehicle’s brake pads were rusted, leading investigators to believe that the vehicle had been there for longer than just a few days.
The same day as the car was found, a search of the surrounding area was launched by the Lake County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue team, as Lake County News has reported.
Brooks said cadaver dogs were brought in to help in the search, and the dogs got a scent hit near a pond.
The pond subsequently was completed drained, but nothing was found, Brooks said.
Brooks said the sheriff’s office is acting in an assisting role to Rohnert Park officials in the Ruben-Miñón disappearance.
While they continue to work the case, the sheriff’s office also has had no new leads or information as to what happened to Ruben-Miñón, Brooks said.
Gamber-Miñón said the family has bombarded the area with fliers seeking information.
Likewise, Justice said his agency has sent out press releases and numerous fliers around Lake, Sonoma and Mendocino counties and other parts of the region in hopes of getting leads, but nothing solid has been reported.
“We don’t have any further information at this point as to where he currently is,” said Justice.
Justice said Ruben-Miñón is in the missing person’s system and his department also is working with the California Department of Justice’s Missing and Unidentified Persons Unit, which notifies agencies of any possible matches with unknown live and deceased individuals. There have been no matches, Justice said.
Authorities and Ruben-Miñón’s family are making a renewed appeal to the public in an effort to locate him.
Ruben-Miñón is described as being 5 feet 10 inches tall and 170 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair.
He’s known to frequent coffee shops and is very social.
If you have seen Fernando Ruben-Miñón or have information as to his location, please contact the Lake County Sheriff's Office Dispatch at 707-263-2690 or the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety at 707-584-2630 or
Email Elizabeth Larson at
