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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – All branches of the Lake County Library system will be closed Dec. 23 through 27 to observe Christmas.
Normal hours at all branches will resume on Dec. 28.
Call your local branch if you have any questions.
All branches of the Lake County Library system will be closed Dec. 31 to observe New Year’s Day. Normal hours at all branches will resume on Jan. 3, 2017.
Even though the library will be closed you can still go online to the library Web site at http://library.lakecountyca.gov to download ebooks, audiobooks, movies, music and magazines.
You also can check on your account, renew any items you have checked out or requests books from libraries in Lake, Sonoma and Mendocino to pick up at your local branch when the library does reopen.
Lakeport Library, located at 1425 N. High St., is open Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The phone number is 707-263-8817.
Redbud Library, 14785 Burns Valley Road, Clearlake, is open Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Wednesday from noon to 7 p.m. The phone number is 707-994-5115.
Middletown Library, 21256 Washington St., is open Tuesday through Friday from noon to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The phone number is 707-987-3674.
Upper Lake Library, 310 Second St., is open Tuesday through Friday from noon to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The phone number is 707-275-2049.
The Lake County Library is on the internet at www.library.lakecountyca.gov and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LakeCountylibrary . The library’s calendar is found at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Lake_County_CA__Library/Calendar.htm .
LAKEPORT, Calif. – One hundred twenty members and affiliates of the Lake County Association of Realtors had dinner at Boatique Winery during the association's annual installation of the Board of Directors.
Dinner was provided by Chic Le Chef and musical entertainment by Gator Nation Lite.
The theme chosen by 2017 president Bobby Dutcher, broker associate at RE/MAX Full Spectrum, was “New Orleans/Mardi Gras.”
Attendees agreed by applause that Dan Fossa from Fossa’s Backhoe Service was the clear winner of that costume challenge.
Current Secretary/Treasurer Victoria Gindele of Morgan Lane Real Estate was honored by the Realtor membership as Realtor of the Year 2016, because of her efforts and accomplishments which improved LCAOR and their statewide standing.
Leana Teschner of Stearns Home Loans, which is a mortgage and refinancing lending service
Realtors frequently utilize, was chosen Affiliate of the Year.
Teschner is a member of the Lake County Realtors Scholarship and Community Fund organization and formally worked at First American Title.
The Outstanding Customer Service Award went to John Ussery of Farmers Insurance, Ussery Insurance Agency. Ussery’s customer service went well beyond the “call of duty.”
Scott Knickmeyer, association executive and master of ceremonies, kept the dinner meeting lively, and the incoming board of directors were installed, pledging to keep the ethics of the association to high standards and the services to their membership expanded.
Joining Dutcher as LCAOR directors for 2017 are: Mary Benson, Realty 360 Wine Country; Christie Burris, Noble Realty; Elizabeth Davis, Coldwell Banker Towne & Country Realty; Mike Damiata, Shore Line Realty; Victoria Gindele, secretary/treasurer, Morgan Lane Real Estate; Heidi Johnson, Broker Network; Melissa Chapman, president-elect, Broker Network; and Erin Woodward, past president, RE/MAX Lake County.
Noteworthy also, the ongoing scholarship committee sponsored a silent auction and raffle at this dinner event, which raised more than $6,500 and will be added to the scholarship money distributed to each of the five high schools in Lake County annually.
What would our lives be like if we didn't have imagination? Here's a poem by Rachel Richardson, who lives in California, from her book, Hundred-Year Wave, from Carnegie Mellon University Press.
Astronomer
A child climbs into a cardboard house,
shuts its doors and windows
to hold in the dark, and lies on her back
inside, looking up through its cut-out moon
and stars. She knows she is not looking
at the sky. But she calls out, still,
It's nighttime! I'm looking at the sky!
American Life in Poetry does not accept unsolicited submissions. It is made possible by The Poetry Foundation ( www.poetryfoundation.org ), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2016 by Rachel Richardson, “Astronomer,” from Hundred-Year Wave, (Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2016). Poem reprinted by permission of Rachel Richardson and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2016 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A Pacific storm system is expected to bring more rain to the region and Lake County this week.
The National Weather Service issued a special weather statement warning of more rain – and snow in higher elevations – through Thursday.
Forecasters said the warm and wet weather system moving inland from the Pacific Ocean is should bring more rain to Northern California beginning on Tuesday.
The heaviest rain is expected on Tuesday and Thursday, with a slight break and lighter amounts on Wednesday, according to the weather statement.
There also are chances of snow in elevations ranging from 3,500 feet in the south to 5,500 feet farther north on Tuesday, rising to between 5,500 and 7,500 feet elevation on Wednesday, when forecasters said warmer air will move in over the region.
The forecast expects some snow in the mountainous areas of northern Lake County, particularly in the Mendocino National Forest.
In the specific Lake County forecast, the county is expected to have chances of rain from Monday night through Friday night, with temperatures ranging from the low 30s at night into the high 40s during the day.
Lake County received a large amount of rain late Friday and early Saturday, according to National Weather Service observations.
The 24-hour rainfall totals ending at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, in inches, are as follows:
– County line: 0.88.
– Bear Canyon at Middletown: 1.89.
– Boggs Mountain: 1.55.
– Cobb Mountain: 1.97.
– Hidden Valley Lake: 0.82.
– Indian Valley Reservoir: 1.04.
– Jerusalem Grade near Middletown: 0.98.
– Kelseyville: 1.12.
– Lower Lake: 0.70.
– Mt. Konocti: 0.88.
– Putah Creek near Middletown: 0.63.
– Upper Lake: 1.70.
– Whispering Pines: 1.72.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
“The history of every country begins in the heart of a man or a woman.” – Willa Cather, O Pioneers! 1913
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Ah, the good ol' days when every farm house, like the Anderson Ranch house, had a butter churn and when calories didn't count.
Many varieties of butter churns were available, from wooden or crockery churns to the 1920s version, which was a large glass jar mixer that was turned by hand with the crank on the jar's lid.
The old crockery or tall wood churns employed a dasher, or plunger which was manipulated up and down in the cream to eventually produce golden butter.
It is said that pioneers moving west along the trails simply kept an enclosed container of some sort on the back of the wagon. The constant movement along the trail churned the butter for them.
A barrel churn, like the one in the photograph could be turned by a handle, which turned a crank with churn-paddles inside the wooden container. The larger barrel churns were used more often for larger production purposes.
Butter as a food goes back as far as 2,000 B.C. Certain butter churns were put to use as far back as the 6th century A.D.
According to National Geographic, “bog butter” was unearthed in Ireland. The 22-pound mass of fat that was found in a bog is believed to have been preserved in the peat over 2,000 years ago.
Bog butter has been unearthed in more than 400 places there. The cool, acidic moisture in the bogs was used as an early form of refrigeration for many foods. Bog butter could be bartered or even used to pay taxes then.
Butter's creamy colors range from yellow to off-white, depending on Bessie the cow's feed. Today, carotene or other coloring is often added to butter.
Aside from making butter from cream skimmed off the top of cow's milk, butter can be produced from goats and sheep. For an exotic culinary treat butter can be churned from buffalo or yak's milk as well.
When butter is first churned the cream separates. The thin liquid left after the separation is buttermilk.
Can you say butter cookies, buttered popcorn and buttered biscuits?
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is a retired educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also writes for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.
LUCERNE, Calif. – In the last installment of its fall Distinguished Speaker Series, the Friends of Marymount California University Lakeside presented a sommelier whose talk featured the chance to taste pairings of food and wine produced here in Lake County.
“Grape to Glass: The Past, Present and Future of Agriculture in Lake County” wound up on Dec. 1 at Marymount California University's Lakeside campus in Lucerne.
Robert Bath, MS, CHE, professor of wine and beverage studies at the Culinary Institute of America, Napa Valley, and member of the Court of Master Sommeliers, was the featured speaker.
A fan of Lake County food and wine, he spoke about the Farm to Table movement, which he believes has a special opportunity in Lake County.
See the full video of his presentation above.