FORT BRAGG – Symphony of the Redwoods' annual Pops Fundraiser Concert will be held on Saturday, May 8.

The concert begins at 7 p.m. in the Eagles Hall in Fort Bragg.

The theme this year is “Anything Goes with Cole Porter.”

Don’t miss the fun and frivolity when the symphony presents such favorite Cole Porter tunes as “Another Op’nin’ Another Show,” “Night and Day,” “Too Darn Hot,” “Let’s Fall in Love” and many others.

The show includes singing and dancing, food, no host bar, and a silent auction.

Limited seating is available. Tickets can be purchased online at www.symphonyoftheredwoods.org, and at Tangents, Harvest Market and Out of This World in Fort Bragg.

For more information call Symphony of the Redwoods at 707-964-0898 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

LUCERNE – The Harbor Village Artist Complex will host several art classes this coming Saturday, April 24.

Class offerings will include dot painting on a gourd, peyote stitch beading and demonstrations of beaded embroidery and silk painting.

For information call 707-349-9588 or 707-274-2346.

The Harbor Village Artist Complex is located at 6197 E. Highway 20 in Lucerne, Calif.

Author Elizabeth Vega, who will be featured at LitFest at Mendocino College in Ukiah, Calif., on Saturday, April 24, 2010, is pictured here with her son. Courtesy photo.

UKIAH – Children are invited to a special interactive workshop planned for this year’s Literary Festival at Mendocino College, organizers have announced. Elizabeth Haze Vega, author of “The Laughing River: A Folktale for Peace,” will conduct the workshop during LitFest 2010 on Saturday, April 24, at Mendocino College, 1000 Hensley Creek Road.

LitFest 2010 will feature workshops, readings, and talks by more than 20 local writers and poets, starting at 10 a.m. and continuing until 5 p.m. that day.

Admission to LitFest and the included workshops is free, and the event is open to the public. Food will be available with selections from Taqueria Michoacan between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

The one-day festival is sponsored by the Mendocino College Foundation and its affiliate organization, Friends of the Mendocino College Library, as well as other various supporters.

In addition to LitFest, several other events will be taking place on campus the same day. They include a College open house, K-12 science fair, ceramics workshop sponsored by the Mendocino College Ceramics Club, and a PowWow.

Additional information is available on the College website, www.mendocino.edu.

Vega’s workshop will be one of several planned.for the festival. Topics include the importance of rewriting, creating a writers’ group, writing poetry, and building good story lines. Pre-registration is urged by festival organizers. Descriptions of the workshops and registration is available on the event website, www.mendocino.edu/litfest2010. Interested individuals may also call 707-468-3051.

A musician, author, and fifth-grade teacher in Healdsburg, Vega plans to provide materials for young attendees to make their own drums and then participate in the reading of “The Laughing River,” her book about conflict resolution.

Describing the workshop as “accessible, exploratory, and engaging,” Vega said the story’s music is derived from an African folk song. “It’s a read-along, sing-along, dance-along,drum-along story.” Pre-schoolers through adults, and especially children age 6 through 12, will enjoy the workshop, according to the author.

The educator uses the Carl Orff approach for her instruction and workshops. Orff, a 20th Century German composer, is known for the music education methods he developed. Vega will incorporate Orff instrumentation and simple themes that the children will be able to play along with, she said. “Music carries the story.”

Vega, who says music is her first passion, said,“Part of its charm is that music is a common language. When you combine spoken words with other art forms, it opens the mind and heart.”

Throughout the day, LitFest attendees will have an opportunity to hear readings and talks by many contemporary authors and poetic artists who reside in the Mendocino, Lake, and Sonoma county areas. They include fiction writers Marc Bojanowski and Tara Sufiana, and poets Dan Barth, Blake More, Robin Rule, Ethel Mays, Armand Brint, Mary Norbert Korte, and Sandra Wade.

MIDDLETOWN – D’s Coffee & Tea Shop will host the Cobb Stompers in concert this Friday, April 23.

The event will begin at 7 p.m. with an open microphone for children, and the Cobb Stompers at 7:30 p.m., to be followed at 8:30 p.m. by a general open microphone.

For more information, call the shop at 707-987-3647.

D’s Coffee & Tea Shop is located at 21187 Calistoga St., Middletown, Calif.

Mike Wilhelm, center flanked by Mark Phillips and Eric Roach at the Blue Wing Saloon in Upper Lake, Calif., in 2009. Photo by H. C. Anderson.

LAKEPORT – Veteran blues/rock guitarist Mike Wilhelm plays Konocti Vista Casino's expanded Point Bar with his band Hired Guns this Friday from 8 p.m. until midnight.

The recently formed band has already proven its ability to keep people boogying on the dance floor with its potent mix of Rhythm & Blues and Rock 'n' Roll spiced with harmony vocals.

Friday's line-up has Wilhelm on guitar and vocal; John Beckwith, bass; Mark “Street Dog” Phillips, drums and vocal; the smoky vocals of Kathie Kent; plus the honking sound of Jim “Jimmy the Lion” Leonardis on tenor sax.

Konocti Vista Casino is located at 2755 Mission Rancheria Road, Lakeport, Calif.

Further information is can be found at www.konocti-vista-casino.com. For information about Mike Wilhelm go to www.flyingsnail.com/Scrapbook/Mike_Wilhelm.html. For bookings call 277-7912 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..