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Arts & Life
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- Written by: Editor
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Three young fiddlers from Lake County made a fantastic showing at the recent Cloverdale Fiddle Contest.
Fiddlers travel from many parts of northern California to attend this large contest and there is much competition.
Rafael Contreras, 8, of Lower Lake played with such energy and precision that he received cheers from the audience and won first place in the Pee Wee division.
He won a medal and a cash prize, and even got his picture taken with the mayor of Cloverdale.
He is the student of Sue Condit and is a member of the Konocti Fiddle Club and the Clear Lake Performing Arts Youth Orchestra. He was accompanied by Sue Condit and Andi Skelton on guitar.
Clayton Rudiger and Lars Tisell entered in the Junior Division (13-17) and played amazing sets of three tunes each.
Both boys made the finals to play in the second round. Lars placed fourth and Clayton sixth, with only a few points difference in their scores. They also teamed up to enter the Twin Fiddle class and did not make the finals, but played well.
These fiddle contests offer a great challenge to fiddlers, since each contestant must be prepared to play a possible six to seven tunes in each division.
In addition, the Twin division required a possible four to five tunes. Tunes must be memorized and cannot be repeated, so it represents much preparation by these talented contestants.
Clayton was accompanied by Mark Rudiger and Lars by Austin and Jeanine Ison (guitar/accordion).
Clayton and Lars are students of Andi Skelton and are also members of the Konocti Fiddle Club and the CLPA Youth Orchestra. Clayton is the current concertmaster of the orchestra.
These fiddlers are all members of the Konocti Fiddle Club, which is a Lake County group for all ages and all levels of fiddle players.
This group plays lively danceable folk tunes at festivals and other venues in Lake County. This group also works with Clear Lake Performing Arts to present in-school educational assemblies.
For info about the Fiddle Club, call Andi Skelton at 707-279-4336.
Most of the young fiddlers also play in the CLPA Youth Orchestra which will be playing at the Lake County Symphony Concert on May 13 and presenting a Spring Concert on June 10 at the Soper Reese Theatre.
Clear Lake Performing Arts is offering string instruction to all levels and ages in this county-wide orchestra.
If you are interested in joining the group or just want to learn to play a string instrument, call conductor Sue Condit at 707-533-9431.
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- Written by: Editor
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Konocti Vista Casino will host a Mexican dance (baile) on Saturday, Feb. 11.
The doors open at 8:30 p.m., with music and dancing from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 12.
Local band Grupo Escapulario Norteño will be playing on stage.
Tickets can be purchased at the door with ladies' tickets $7, mens' tickets costing $12 and tickets for couples priced at $16.
This cover charge also includes the price of the first non-premium beverage at the bar. Food also will be available for purchase.
The first 10 ladies who arrive at the door get in free.
This dance is for those individuals 21 years or older.
Konocti Vista Casino is located just off Soda Bay Road on Mission Rancheria Road.
For more information call 707-262-1900 or visit www.kvcasino.com.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The next performance of Lake County Live! will take place on Sunday, Feb. 26.
Lake County Live! is a musical variety show presented on the last Sunday of each month at the Soper-Reese Community Theatre, 275 S. Main St., Lakeport.
The Feb. 26 show will be broadcast before a live audience on KPFZ 88.1 FM as well as streamed over the Internet. The link can be found at the station’s Web site, www.kpfz.org.
Each performance showcases local musicians, singers, poets, actors and good humor.
The hourlong show begins at 6 p.m. The live audience is seated by 5:45 p.m.
Admission is free. Due to seating limits, tickets must be obtained at the theater box office or at the Travel Center in Lakeport.
For more information visit www.lakecountylive.com or e-mail
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- Written by: Ted
Jaimee Kuperman is a poet living and working in the Washington, D.C., area, and she shares with many of us the experience of preparing one’s self for a visit to the dentist.
Do you, too, give your teeth an especially thorough brushing before entering that waiting room?
The New Dentist
Driving to the new dentist’s office
the slow drive of a new place
with the McDonalds that I don’t go to
on the left, the mall two miles away.
The Courthouse and the Old Courthouse
road signs that break apart, the fork in the road
that looks nothing like a fork or a spoon, in fact
at best, maybe a knife bent in a dishwasher
that leans to one side. And I know the dentist
will ask about my last visit and want to know
in months that I can’t say some time ago
and I know he will ask me about flossing
and saying when I’m in the mood won’t be
the appropriate answer.
He will call out my cavities
as if they were names in a class.
I brush my teeth before going in.
It’s like cleaning before the cleaning person
but I don’t want him to know I keep an untidy
mouth. That I am the type of person who shoves
things in the closet before guests arrive.
American Life in Poetry 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 ©2010 by Jaimee Kuperman and reprinted from her most recent book of poetry, You Look Nice Strange Man, ABZ Poetry Press, 2010. Reprinted by permission of Jaimee Kuperman and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2012 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. They do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.