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MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – As it turns out, a snowball does have a chance in hell.
The “hell” was the region of Middletown, Hidden Valley Lake, Cobb and Anderson Springs, which two months ago was on fire and going up in flames in what has come to be known as the Valley fire.
What brightened this ground zero-like area was the concept by a preschool teacher of a bicycle giveaway to the young people who lost all they owned in the fire.
The idea caught on so well that in one month’s time 1,350 bikes have been given away, creating what the teacher – Candy Alcott of Livermore – calls a “snowball of love.”
In turn, Alcott is being called the “Bike Angel,” and she's formed a group called Bike Angels United to support her ongoing efforts.
Alcott was so amazed by the generosity involved by all associated with the giveaway she was struggling to hold back the tears.
“ ... Because it’s just a miracle,” she said. “It’s a snowball of love. People from all over the state are proving they care about Lake County. They care what happens here.
“All of these bikes – each of them – represent joy, love, hope, all of that. They wanted to give something and this is what they give," she said.
So far there have been three giveaways – the latest comprising more than 500 bikes at Minnie Cannon Elementary School in Middletown on Saturday, a day brightened by a visit from Congressman Mike Thompson.
The bulk of the bikes came from Napa County. Napa County Bicycle Coalition, which worked with a group of community leaders to provide free bicycles and helmets to kids who lost their bikes in the Valley fire.
Supported by generous donations from bike shops in Napa County, as well as the Eagle Cycling Community, Napa Bike secured about 150 new bikes for Lake County youth who were survivors of the Valley fire.
Thompson was impressed.
“I think it’s fantastic,” he said of the event.
“Great people come up with great ideas and put the plan into motion. It’s not only generous and thoughtful, they’re also operational and that’s good," he said.
Given what has occurred to aid victims of the fire, it was by no means a surprise.
Keep up with Alcott's efforts on the Bike Angels United Facebook page.
E-mail John Lindblom at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Valley Fire Long Term Recovery Task Force will be conducting its third open meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17.
This week the task force will meet at a new location, the Black Rock Golf Course, 16451 Golf Road in Cobb.
The Long Term Recovery Task Force had been meeting weekly via conference calls since the beginning of October.
More recently it invited the public to attend in an effort to provide helpful information, clarify issues, and help the Lake County fire survivors receive the assistance and guidance they need to rebuild and recover.
Along those lines, a new office with new hours has been opened. Two days a week, Recovery Coordinator Carol Huchingson will hold open office hours at the Gibson Museum and Cultural Center located at 21267 Calistoga St. at Callayomi Street in Middletown.
The public is encouraged to drop in and talk with Huchingson about the progress of the recovery.
Office hours will be held on Mondays from 1 to 3 p.m. and Thursdays, 9:30 a.m. to noon. These hours do not include Thanksgiving or Christmas week.
The Lake County Valley Fire Recovery Task Force is a partnership of local, state, federal and tribal representatives.
These agencies are working together to provide comprehensive services to aid in the recovery of Valley Fire survivors and Lake County residents.
The group was convened at the end of September immediately following the deactivation of the Lake County Emergency Operation Center. Huchingson is leading the task force.
Minutes from previous meetings can be found at www.LakeCountyRecovers.com .
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Lake Area Rotary Club Association Fire Relief Fund has committed to doubling the capacity of the afterschool program in Middletown.
The Lake County Office of Education is authorized to serve 29 students in the Minnie Cannon School Afterschool Program.
The association committed $12,500 to support expanding the program, which is now serving 60 students.
Due to the Valley fire many families have been displaced, and the waiting list for the afterschool program rapidly grew to 30 students. Many of these students had no homes to go to and were waiting on campus for working parents to pick them up.
Rotary’s financial assistance allows the Lake County Office of Education to hire an additional staff member to provide students with a supportive safe place to go after school.
“Afterschool programs provide a safe and supportive environment to engage students in supplemental learning activities and receive assistance with homework,” said Lake County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg.
Afterschool programs provide a safe nurturing environment for students every school day until 6 p.m.
Students are given one hour each day of academic homework support and they are presented with hands-on activities that are fun and engaging yet also enhance the school curriculum.
In addition, the program includes a healthy supper and lively team building physical activities.
With the generous donation from Lake Area Rotary Club Association, the Lake County Office of Education reported that it will be able to meet the increased demand for the remainder of the school year.
For more information about the afterschool program please contact Della Murphy at 707-263-4563, Extension 213.
For more information about the Lake Area Rotary Club Association Fire Relief Fund please visit www.larca5130.org .
“Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory, there would be no civilization, no society, no future.” – Elie Wiesel
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The native peoples of Lake County were a hunting and gathering society for thousands of years.
It wasn't all work and no play for the Pomo, Miwok, Wappo, Patwin and Yuki Indians of Lake County.
There were many games played in times past. If you look across cultures throughout what is now the United States, you would be surprised at how many different cultures played similar games.
There were games of all description. Many games required much in the way of skill from a player. Materials for games all reflected the natural surroundings of a tribe’s location, whether it was wetlands, oak woodlands, coast, mountains or desert.
During one version of a game a player shuffled small pieces of deer bone wrapped with milkweed string. There were Indian footballs made of deer hide, which were stuffed with shredded soaproot.
One game included sunflower leaves bunched together to be used for archery practice. Games of dice were made from walnut shells that were filled with pine pitch. Grass games of many kinds were popular.
Games of chance were as popular then as they are now. The dice of various culture areas could be devised from reed, bone, animal teeth, wood or even fruit stones.
On Chapman University's Huell Howser Archive, you can view a demonstration of the game of shinny: https://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/2000/12/08/california-missions-california-missions-108/ .
This popular Native American game was filmed at Mission San Antonio, and is demonstrated by the Pala Indians; scroll the video to the 22:23 minute point.
The lively game of shinny resembles a variation of the modern-day game of field hockey. Indians from all over North America played versions of this game.
Many of the games played incorporated two teams with three to 10 players per team, and was enjoyed on an open field.
A goal would have been assembled on each side and players would have used a stick – one per player – to hit a ball or puck. The ball would have been designed from a mistletoe stalk, madrone root, animal bone or even an oak burl.
Not a lot is known about how the game was scored back then. Women were the primary players in the Nisenan tribe, and men competed in the game in most other areas. Villages in many Lake County and North American areas often played against their neighbors.
Many other games were played such as foot cast where a ball made from stone was thrown with the tops of the players' feet, Indian football was played using a buckskin-clad ball.
There was a form of racket ball which resembles lacrosse, along with the game of hoop and pole played by throwing a javelin into a rolling hoop.
The remarkable variety of olden-time games entices one to laugh and partake in a game that has endured the test of time.
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is an 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.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The fascinating discipline of archaeology – both locally and in other parts of the world – was the featured topic at a special event late last month.
The Lake County Museum's “Day of Archaeology” was held Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Historic Courthouse Museum in Lakeport.
Curator Tony Pierucci welcomed visitors of all ages who packed the building's upstairs courtroom for the presentation.
The featured speakers, and when they are shown in the video, are as follows:
– Curator Tony Pierucci: Welcome (0:26)
– Professor Douglas Prather of Mendocino College recounted his experiences on projects in Ireland and in South America (1:45).
– Assistant Curator Whitney Petrey discussed her work in underwater archaeology, from finding and documenting World War II plane crashes in Hawaii to working on the excavation of the pirate Blackbeard's wrecked flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, off the coast of North Carolina (32:28).
– Dr. John Parker of Lucerne discussed his decades of work chronicling Lake County's prehistoric archaeology (56:10).
Pierucci, who funded the event through a state grant as part of California Archaeology Month, said he hopes to have more of these programs in the future.
Visit the Lake County Museum online at http://museums.lakecountyca.gov/ .
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control this week has a full shelter of all kinds of dogs needing new homes.
The dogs available this week include mixes of German Shepherd, Great Pyrenees, Labrador Retriever, Pekingese, pit bull, Rottweiler shepherd, Shih Tzu and terrier, and include one remaining dog rescued from the Valley fire.
Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.
If you're looking for a new companion, visit the shelter. There are many great pets hoping you'll choose them.
In addition to the animals featured here, all adoptable animals in Lake County can be seen here: http://bit.ly/Z6xHMb .
The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (additional dogs on the animal control Web site not listed are still “on hold”).
Shepherd-pit bull terrier mix
This male shepherd-pit bull terrier mix has a short brown coat with white markings.
Shelter staff recommend him for a home without children.
He's in kennel No. 3, ID No. 3937.
'Digger'
“Digger” is a male terrier mix with a short tan coat.
He was found on Lakeview Drive in Nice.
He's in kennel No. 4, ID No. 3693.
Male pit bull terrier
This male pit bull terrier is a Valley fire survivor, found behind the Middletown gas station.
Has has a short gray and white coat.
He's in kennel No. 5, ID No. 3720.
Male pit bull mix
This male pit bull terrier mix has a short gray and white coat.
He was found on Gaddy Lane in Kelseyville.
He's in kennel No. 7, ID No. 3458.
Great Pyrenees mix
This male Great Pyrenees mix has a short white coat.
He's in kennel No. 9, ID No. 3988.
Rottweiler-Labrador Retriever mix
This male Rottweiler-Labrador Retriever mix has a short black coat.
He's in kennel No. 10, ID No. 3955.
'Ruger'
"Ruger" is a male pit bull terrier mix with a short brown and white coat.
He's in kennel No. 15, ID No. 4022.
'Lobo'
"Lobo" is a male German Shepherd mix.
He has a tan and black coat.
He's in kennel No. 17, ID No. 3963.
'Zeus'
"Zeus" is a male shepherd mix with a short brown coat.
He's in kennel No. 18a, ID No. 4017.
'Beast'
"Beast" is a male shepherd mix with a short black and tan coat.
He's in kennel No. 18b, ID No. 4018.
'Maddie'
"Maddie" is a female pit bull terrier with a short brindle and white coat.
She's in kennel No. 22, ID No. 3193.
Terrier mix
This male terrier mix has a short white coat.
He's in kennel No. 23, ID no. 3970.
Pekingese-Shih Tzu mix
This female Pekingese-Shih Tzu mix has a long tan, black and white coat mix.
She's in kennel No. 25, ID No. 3935.
'Camo'
"Camo" is a male pit bull terrier mix.
He has a short brown brindle coat.
Camo is in kennel No. 28, ID No. 3911.
Pit bull terrier mix
This female pit bull terrier mix has a short gray and white coat.
She's in kennel No. 30, ID No. 3982.
Pit bull terrier mix
This female pit bull terrier mix has a short gray and white coat.
She's in kennel No. 32a, ID No. 4015.
Pit bull terrier mix
This male pit bull terrier mix has a short brown and white coat.
He's in kennel No. 32b, ID No. 4016.
Labrador Retriever-shepherd mix
This male Labrador Retriever-shepherd mix has a short tan and black coat.
He's in kennel No. 33, ID No. 3861.
To fill out an adoption application online visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dog___Cat_Adoption_Application.htm .
Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.
Office hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm .
For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.
Email Elizabeth Larson at