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KELSEYVILLE, Calif. — For three decades, the last weekend of September has been a time of celebration for Kelseyville's farming industry, in particular, its famed pears.

On Saturday, Sept. 28, downtown Kelseyville buzzed with excitement as over 180 vendors came together with tens of thousands of residents and visitors to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Kelseyville Pear Festival.

Food purveyors, local farmers, artists and community organizations filled up sides of the Main Street, with live band music blasting through the day.

Since its launch in 1993, the Kelseyville Pear Festival has grown into a cherished annual tradition for local residents and incoming tourists. It has endured through wildfires and economic challenges, with just one brief pause in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic.

Tracing back to its first launch in 1993, “We were not just celebrating the pear; we were celebrating our agricultural history of this big valley. It’s also about the Kelseyville community pride,” said Marilyn Holdenried, who chaired the pear festival for 23 years until 2015 when she retired.

“I always had a big white tent. We rented it and covered that whole parking lot, but it got too expensive to rent,” Holdenried said, recalling the old days holding the festival outside the Westamerica Bank. Now, she was delighted to see these bright colored umbrellas: “I think it’s charming and colorful.”

‘Small towns, big families’

“Probably my favorite part of the festival is still the parade,” Holdenried said of the event’s unique showcase of the pride in community and agriculture during a phone call with Lake County News.

“The children, the adults, the floats, the carts, the tractors …” Holdenried said in a delighted tone. “I probably love the children the most.”

But she couldn’t leave out her other favorite.

“I love the tractors being a farmer’s wife,” she said, laughing. “I always felt like those tractors belonged in the parade, and now especially with the women drivers, it’s just so fun.”

This year Toni and Phil Scully of Scully Packing Co., Lake County’s only remaining pear packing company, sat on an antique tractor in the parade as the appointed grand marshals for the first time.

They moved their young family to Lake County in 1974 and started the company 10 years after that.

Now, Scully Packing ships 40% of California’s Bartlett pears going into the fresh market, according to Toni Scully.

This year’s festival also was 7-year-old Adrian Rojas’ first time taking part in the parade together with his siblings Mila and Mira.

Their grandmother, Julie Tibbetts, a former Kelseyville resident, has been coming to the pear festival every year since 2004, even after she moved to Sonoma County in 2011, except for last year when the family had a death.

This year, Tibbetts was joined with her two daughters, a son-in-law and three grandchildren. For the day, they watched the parade and shopped with the local merchants.

“And now we’re gonna listen to some of the local talents that we’ve been hearing for years since they were kids,” Tibbetts said, sitting with the family under a big red umbrella at the Westamerica Bank parking lot.

What she loved the most about the festival is “the small town community,” Tibbetts said with a smile.

Alvaro Gonzalez with his family of five came out from their home on Second Street to join the festive crowd as early as 8:30 a.m.

They had breakfast at the fire department. “We do that every year,” Gonzalez said of the family tradition.

It’s hard for Gonzalez to pick a favorite part of the event: The kids were in the parade. The church sold really good tamales and the Lions club oysters and beer. “It’s really nice for the community.”

As the interview went on, Gonzalez was constantly stopped by longtime friends who went to Kelseyville High School with him decades back, all with their own families. “Small towns, big families!” they shouted and laughed.

Eat up the pies

At noon, the pear pie eating competition kicked off under the hottest sunlight of the day. Twelve contestants, each representing a nonprofit, were getting ready to compete for the shortest time to eat up a freshly-made pear pie.

Organizer Trista Fossa, a Realtor with NextHome who’s also substitute teaching at Kelseyville High, said she would donate $250 to the winning nonprofit.

After intense wrestling with the pies, Elijah Watkins of Kelseyville High School won the crown and the donation for his school’s Boosters Club.

Watkins’ strategy to win involved starving.

“I didn’t eat last night,” he disclosed to another contestant before the race started. And he flexed his biceps to the audience to show his strength and determination while his varsity football teammates cheered by the huge trailer donated by Lauenroth Trucking that served as a stage for the competition.

Use of hands was prohibited by the rules, so Watkins immediately pressed his face into the pie when the game started. Soon he stood up while he kept eating off the pie, as if that would speed up the process.

“I really don’t like cinnamon, so I almost threw up,” he told Lake County News after the competition. But the will to win prevented that from happening — “I looked around the trophy and I was like, I want that,” he said. “I got it.”

After all, he won the beautifully designed pear-shape trophy.

Fossa has known Watkins since he was little. “He's a super sweet kid,” Fossa said. “I told him this is a returning trophy. You have to bring it back next year.”

Will Watkins win again? “Hopefully. Stay tuned,” Fossa said and laughed. “It’s just a fun event to get people together and it’s a conversation starter for sure.”

Pears, more pears!

By 1:40 p.m. almost all official souvenirs specially designed for the 30th anniversary at the “Pearaphernalia” booth had been picked away. Aprons and women’s T-shirts were completely sold out; only four men’s T-shirts and a few caps were left, said Kathy Windrem, a volunteer at the booth.

Although Windrem had only volunteered for recent years, she had been a loyal attendee for decades as a Keylseville native. She wore a pair of pear-shaped earrings that sparkled under the sun.

“I’ve come every year and my earrings are from maybe 20 years ago,” Windrem said with a proud smile, showcasing the vintage earrings she bought at one of the old pear festivals.

Kelly Moe of Kelly’s Designs makes and sells her own art. This was her third year coming into the festival as a vendor with her craft in all forms from plushes, purses to earrings.

Moe started out four years ago at The Mercantile before the farmer’s market and then ventured out at some of the “bigger shows” such as the Blackberry Festival. “I try to stay local,” she said.

“I was disabled, and so I started making earrings just for myself, and then you know, it escalated,” Moe said and laughed, adding that she was expecting to come back next year again at the same spot.

Animal friends

Not only children and adults, but donkeys and horses also took their part. Steve Robinson walked along the street with his two miniature horses, Biscuits and Gravy, and was constantly stopped by visitors who wanted to pet the two and take photos.

Robinson said the two little horses were pulling a wagon with him and another four people on it for the parade. “It’s nothing for these guys; they can pull five times their weight,” said Robinson.

Whitney Braito of Whitney’s Ranch Care went a step further with a makeover of herself as Princess Fiona from the Shrek movies, wandering the streets with her best donkey friend who’s 23 years old and a horse friend who’s 25.

“Both of these guys have been rescued,” Braito said. “They both came to me needing dietary corrections and rubber hoof trimming.”

Braito said she was going to send them back and come out again, since she was going to remove the makeup and “be a human.”

“When the donkey goes, the costume goes,” Braito said.

“Oh well, did we dream of it lasting 30 years?” Holdenried repeated the question that was asked of her in the phone call as she recollected memories of starting the festival at the very beginning.

“Probably not,” she said with a joyful chuckle.

Email Lingzi Chen at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Firefighters limited a fire burning on the Northshore to little new growth while raising the containment on it on Saturday.

The Glenhaven fire began on Friday at Hillcrest and Henderson drives near Glenhaven before moving toward Clearlake Oaks, endangering homes and leading to the evacuations of thousands of residents.

The fire burned 403 acres and two structures by Friday night, when containment was 10%.

By Saturday morning, the fire had grown to 417 acres, a number which firefighters held it to during the course of the day. By Saturday night, containment had risen to 30%.

Also on Saturday evening, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said the last of the mandatory evacuation orders had been reduced to warnings. Information about community evacuation zones is here.

The sheriff’s office urged community members who had been evacuated to return home with caution.

The agency offered the following guidelines:

Inspect property: Look for structural damage and check utilities.
Document damage: Take photos for insurance.
Dispose of contaminated items: Discard any unsafe food, water, or medications.
Ventilate your home: Air out any smoke or odors.
Be aware of wildlife: Stay alert for displaced animals.
Follow safety guidelines: Wear protective gear if cleaning up.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County Animal Care and Control has more new dogs, some of them puppies, that are waiting for new homes this week.

The dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of Anatolian shepherd, Australian cattle dog, Australian shepherd, border collie, boxer, cane corso, Chihuahua, German shepherd, husky, Labrador Retriever, pit bull terrier and terrier.

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.

Those dogs and the others shown on this page at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption.

Call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278 or visit the shelter online for information on visiting or adopting.

The shelter is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

What's up for October? This month's viewing tips for Venus, Saturn, Mars and Jupiter. When's the best time to observe the destination of NASA's next deep space mission? And how you can see a (potentially bright) comet this month?

And watch our video 'till the end for photos of highlights from last month’s skies.

Up first, we look at the visibility of the planets in October. Look for Venus low in the west just after sunset. It's setting by the time the sky is fully dark. Saturn is visible toward the southeast as soon as it gets dark out, and sets by dawn. Mars rises around midnight all month. By dawn it has climbed quite high into the south-southeastern sky, appearing together with Jupiter. Now, Jupiter is rising in the first half of the night. In early October you'll find it high in the south as dawn approaches, and later in the month it's progressed farther over to the west before sunrise.

And, speaking of Jupiter, NASA plans to launch its latest solar system exploration mission to one of the giant planet's moons this month. Europa Clipper is slated to blast off as early as October 10th. It's thought that Europa holds an enormous ocean of salty liquid water beneath its icy surface. That makes this the first mission dedicated to studying an ocean world beyond Earth. Europa Clipper is designed to help us understand whether this icy moon could support some form of life, and along the way it'll teach us more about the conditions that make a world habitable.

Now, if you've ever pointed binoculars or a telescope at Jupiter, you know the thrill of seeing the little star-like points of light next to it that are its four large moons, which were first observed by Galileo in 1610.

There are two mornings in October, the 11th and the 25th, when you can most easily observe Europa. These are times when the moon is at its greatest separation from the planet as seen from here on Earth, and it's all by itself to one side of Jupiter. So be sure to have your own peek at Jupiter's moon Europa this month, as a new NASA mission begins its journey to explore an ocean in the sky.

Now a look at Moon and planet pair-ups for October. On the 13th and 14th after dark, look for the nearly full Moon with Saturn toward the southeast. Then on the evening of October 20th, the Moon rises near Jupiter, with the giant planet looking extremely bright.

You should be able to find them low in the east after around 10 pm that night. Then, in the morning of Oct. 23rd and 24th, early risers will be able to spot Mars together with the Moon, high overhead in the south.

October offers a chance to observe what could be the brightest comet of the year. Earlier this year we got a look at Comet 12P, which was visible with binoculars but not super bright. Now another of these ancient and icy dust balls is streaking through our neighborhood on an 80,000-year orbit from the distant reaches of the Oort Cloud. The comet, known as C/2023 A3, aka Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, is currently speeding through the inner solar system. It passed its closest to the Sun in late September, and will be at its closest to Earth on October 13th. And after that time, through the end of the month, will be the best time to look for it. This is when the comet will become visible low in the western sky beginning during twilight.

It will quickly rise higher each subsequent evening, making it easier to observe, but it'll also be getting a little fainter each night. As with all comets, predictions for how bright it could get are uncertain. If the comet's tail is brilliantly illuminated by the Sun, predictions show that it could become bright enough to see with the unaided eye. But comets have a way of surprising us, so we'll just have to wait and see.

Your best shot at seeing it will be from around October 14th through the 24th, with binoculars or a small telescope, and a reasonably clear view toward the west. So good luck, and clear skies, comet hunters!

Watch our video for views of what some of the highlights we told you about in last month's video actually looked like.

Stay up to date on all of NASA's missions exploring the solar system and beyond at science.nasa.gov.

Preston Dyches works for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

GLENHAVEN, Calif. — A fire that began near Glenhaven on Friday morning quickly grew in size and moved toward Clearlake Oaks, leading to the evacuation of thousands of Northshore residents, prompting temporary road closures and resulting in the sheriff’s declaration of a local emergency.

Cal Fire said the Glenhaven fire began at approximately 11:37 a.m. Friday at Hillcrest and Henderson drives.

Shortly before 1 p.m., when the fire was still at an estimated 50 acres, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office began issuing mandatory evacuation orders, one each in Glenhaven and Clearlake Oaks, and also issuing two warnings in the two communities. Another half-dozen evacuation zones were added in Clearlake Oaks by 3 p.m.

The county opened temporary evacuation points at the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center and the former Pearce Field airport in Clearlake. An evacuation shelter was set up at Twin Pine Casino in Middletown.

Meanwhile, observers said the fire appeared to be moving along the ridge line as it moved toward High Valley and Clearlake Oaks.

Gusty winds on Friday afternoon appeared to be driving the flames, and there were numerous reports of spot fires. Cal Fire noted concern about additional spotting as the westerly winds continued through the day.

The situation led to authorities closing Highway 20 at Clearlake Oaks for several hours. However, by nightfall, the highway had been reopened through the fire area.

Cal Fire assigned a large number of aircraft to work the fire. Additional ground resources also were requested to respond.

By early evening, shortly after 5 p.m., the fire was reported to have burned 300 acres, growing by another 100 acres over the course of another hour.

Just before 7 pm. Friday, the Lake County Office of Emergency Services reported that Sheriff Rob Howe had declared a local emergency in response to the fire. That declaration is expected to be ratified by the Board of Supervisors next week.

As of 8 pm. Friday, the fire remained at 403 acres, with no containment.

Cal Fire reported that two structures had been destroyed, with 2,553 structures threatened and 3,475 people evacuated.

On Friday night, at least one helicopter appeared to be continuing to work on the fire.

By that point, the fire was continuing to put off a large amount of smoke, some of which had crossed over into the Sacramento Valley by evening.

A lengthy row of flashing red lights revealed fire vehicles lining a road at the top of a hill overlooking Clearlake Oaks, and more units were staged at Lakeview Drive and Highway 20.

Cal Fire said Friday night that the fire’s most active area was near Cerritos Drive. It was continuing to put off spot fires to the north towards High Valley and the east towards Clearlake Oaks.

Cal Fire said air and ground resources are working on picking up the spot fires as well as fortifying control lines mid-slope to keep the fire from backing down towards Highway 20.

A total of 25 engines, four water tenders, five helicopters, five dozers and four hand crews have been assigned to the incident, Cal Fire said.

In a report issued just after 10 p.m., Cal Fire said forward progress on the fire had been stopped as of 9:40 p.m., with containment at 10%.

By 11 p.m., four zones remained under mandatory evacuation — one in Glenhaven and three in Clearlake Oaks: Zones GLE-E094-B, CLO-E098, CLO-E099 and CLO-E106. That area is located north of Highway 20, west of High Valley Road, south of Cerritos Road and east of Harvey Boulevard.

Evacuation orders have been lifted for three other zones in Clearlake Oaks and warnings were in effect in three zones in Clearlake Oaks and two in Glenhaven. The zones can be seen in real time here.

Officials have so far said the Glenhaven fire’s cause remains under investigation.

The fire follows by less then a month the Boyles fire in Clearlake, which burned an estimated 35 homes and another 32 outbuildings.

Lingzi Chen contributed to this report.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Sheriff Rob Howe has declared a local emergency in response to the Glenhaven fire, which began on Friday.

The fire led to the evacuation of residents, threatened more than 2,000 structures, and resulted in road closures impacting residents and travelers throughout Lake County, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services, or OES, reported.

OES said that in the early hours of the fire, fire and law enforcement agencies quickly focused on fire suppression, safeguarding life and property, and evacuating residents.

Simultaneously, numerous county departments and local agencies mobilized to support the response to include temporary evacuation points, overnight shelter for evacuees and their pets, transportation out of the evacuation zone, and deployment of additional supportive resources.

OES said it is coordinating these efforts to ensure comprehensive and unified support to the response to the Glenhaven fire.

Public information is available at:

• Protect.Genasys.com: Evacuation zone status and more.
• lakesheriff.com: View previously issued LakeCoAlerts (Nixles) and register to receive LakeCoAlerts if needed.
• https://Ready.LakeCountyCA.gov : A comprehensive preparedness, response and recovery site with information specific to the Glenhaven fire.
• Lake County Sheriff’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lakesheriff. 

OES said donations are not needed at this time.

With low humidity expected through the weekend, fire risks remain elevated. The Sheriff’s OES is actively monitoring conditions and coordinating with responders.

Residents are highly encouraged to avoid spark producing activities, maintain a go-bag, ensure LakeCoAlert registration information is up to date and share information with neighbors.