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Opinion
- Details
- Written by: Nelson Strasser
When I was a teenager, many decades ago, there was a constant battle between my mom and me about the messy condition of my bedroom. It was hard to deny the charge; the evidence was in plain view, and there was plenty of it.
One day my dad could no longer tolerate the bickering and, with Solomon-like wisdom proclaimed that everything on the inside of my bedroom was mine, to do with as I willed. Everything outside my bedroom, belonged to my mom, and her compulsive need for cleanliness, had to be respected.
I had always noticed, when visitors were coming, my mother’s notion of clean came close to antiseptic and I always thought this to be an affectation. This mildly annoyed me as well, because I knew I was a slob, and, left to my druthers, I wouldn’t go out of my way to keep it a secret.
Today, an incident occurred that brought all of this back to me. A young colleague of mine, knowing that I am an avid walker and cyclist, asked me to be her walking partner until she established walking as a habit. She was due at my mobile home later this morning.
I woke up and began my routine of brushing, flossing and shaving. But my face seemed a bit out of focus. I squinted, and refocused. There was still a problem. OMG! The bathroom mirror is filthy! I remembered that I had secreted away some Windex. I got it out and cleaned an area, and there I was, back in focus.
Uh, oh! Maybe there is more dirt. Perusing the area left me with an unavoidable conclusion: This place is a pigsty. I don’t want to humiliate myself. I will be found out. I know that I should have some standards.
The more I cleaned, the more dirt I found; the surfaces the carpet, the kitchen floor. It really did not take very much time and effort, plus, I figured that after my friend got a whiff of the ever present odor of old dog (hey, my dog is 13 and I have no fenced yard; more precisely I have a yard, and it would be ample if my pet was a rat) she probably would not have the sensual acuity to notice much else.
My friend arrived at my door and I bid her to enter. I told her to stand in the middle of the living room and then told her to do a 360 degree turn.
“What was that?” she asked. “A tour of my house” I replied.
We had a nice walk and a nice chat, and I was almost sorry she did not ask to use the bathroom, because it shone.
After my friend left I realized that I felt much more comfortable in a clean house. I know that my mom loved me, even though I failed to live up to any of her expectations, and, I must admit, some of her criticism was well founded.
Nelson Strasser lives in Lakeport, Calif.
- Details
- Written by: Joyce Overton
The Lake County Youth Center would like to thank all those that are participating with the renovation of the building located at 4750 Golf Ave., Clearlake.
This has been a much bigger and longer process then we had anticipated, but it will be well worth the wait.
We are still a few months away from opening, and still need help to finish this project. So through this holiday season please give of your time to this worthy cause: help build a future for our children.
We will be having an open house on Saturday, Jan. 5. Please come by and see all we have accomplished and what is in store for the future of the Youth Center.
Special thank you to the participating business and organizations: Pacific Gas and Electric, American Legion Women’s Auxiliary, Four Corners Builders Supply, Mendo Lake Credit Union, Grocery Outlet, Foods Etc., Tipsters, City Plaza Businesses, KMOB radio station, LCPTV 8, Mendo Mill Lumber, Best Bass Tournaments, Clearlake Bait and Tackle, Clearlake Fire Department, and Clearlake Papers and Janitorial Supplies.
There have been many community leaders that have given of their time throughout this past year and if it was not for them we would have never been able to move forward with this project.
A very special thank you to Richard Chapdelaine (chappie) electrician; Joe Lavota and Joe Rocker, sheet rocking plus special projects; Bob Hopkins family and friends, yard maintenance; Robert (Bob) Sanders and Anthony (Tony) Spittler, plumbing; Annette and Shaun Lee, Eddie Gonzales flooring; Bruno Sabatier, Bill Williams, Tim Williams and Ron Wallace (a little bit of everything).
These community leaders gave of themselves to help get this project off the ground and most have continued to work. There have been many more community leaders that have given of their time when possible and we greatly appreciate all of you.
A very special thank you to Marvin Carpenter for his patience and love for our city.
Because of the community this Youth Center is possible.
With great admiration and appreciation we wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.
For information please contact me at
Joyce Overton is volunteer director for the Lake County Youth Center in Clearlake, Calif.
- Details
- Written by: Mary Morse
Kelseyville’s 19th Annual Christmas in the Country, Merchant Open House & Parade of Lights was a magical evening to kick off the holiday season.
Main Street bustled with rosy cheeked children, happy faces, visitors from all over, holiday music and twinkling lights that seemed to delight all.
I want to thank The Kelseyville Business Association for sponsoring this very special event.
We had over 60 entries in the parade and we want to thank Mike Linnell for being the parade organizer. Mike always does a great job of contacting participants and lining up the festive entries including floats, animals, motorcycles, Model As and the bubble machine that delighted close to 1,000 holiday visitors.
We want to thank all the parade participants. Without all of your hard work and creativity we wouldn’t have the biggest and best light parade in Lake County.
This year the Main Street merchants welcomed all in grand fashion. Holiday treats, warm beverages and their shops decorated for the season. It is an old-fashioned Christmas for all to enjoy without pulling out their wallet. Their generosity showed the true spirit of the holiday.
Main Street’s decorations didn’t just happen. With the help of Eric Schofield, Lucas Kepler, Dave Morse, Trena and Armand Pauly, Bob and Jeanette Bartley, Brian Fischer, Jon Ballesteros, Nick Batitta, Sara Delk and Ron Chips all donated their time and energy to make our town sparkle.
The big ornaments on the light poles are put up every year by Jim Merriman and the Kelseyville Lions Club and Bill Dawson.
We also want to thank Ruth Stewart, owner of Kelseyville Pharmacy for sponsoring the new dripping icicle lights. Kelseyville Pear Festival also bought 11 new lighted wreaths for our lamp posts. A big thanks to all of you.
We appreciate the time that the California Highway Patrol senior volunteers, Ed McDonald, Al Reynolds and John Wikirchen for donating their time by closing Main Street. Thanks to Larry Caravario and the CHP Explorers for all of their time and energy.
Our candy cane barricades, built by Ernie Ostern, are placed down both sides of Main Street to keep the holiday visitors safe. Ernie works tirelessly to keep them in good condition and helps us set them up and take them back down. All of the above elves worked so hard to make Christmas in the Country the wonderful family event that it has become.
The local churches participated with St. Peters Catholic Church offering free goodies and food, Kelseyville Presbyterian Church held its annual chili or chowder dinner and Kelseyville United Methodist Church and Unitarian Universalist Community, had their free holiday treats, their canned food drive and caroling.
Westamerica Bank hosted Santa again this year and Dawn Smith of ColorSplash Photo took pictures and donated all the proceeds to Lake County Foster Children. Thank you, Dawn.
Carolyn Morris had her artwork on display for all to enjoy and Dave Neft entertained the crowds. Kelseyville Fire Department did a great job of decorating the firehouse and their truck that Santa road on top of at the parade. Our towns young live Christmas tree was darling too, good job!
Special thanks to Rob Brown and so many others that made the event so special. Thanks to the generosity of Kelseyville Pizza, Johns Market, Umpqua Bank, Studebakers Coffee House, Lyle at Kelseyville’s Road Department and Lake County Waste Solutions.
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Last but not least we want to thank all the people that came out and made the evening so much fun. Your happy faces and enthusiasm is why we love to welcome everyone back each year.
Next year will be our 20th Christmas in the Country and we look forward to that celebration.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year!
Mary E. Morse is event coordinator for Christmas in the Country in Kelseyville, Calif.
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- Written by: Hedy Montoya
Our 2012 Spirit of the Season program was a happy success due to the work of so many in our community.
Grateful hearts commend the community at large for their response of Wish Tree gifts fulfilling the dreams of many children. Special thanks to Phyllis Kelsey for co-chairing the Spirit of the Season again this year.
We are enormously indebted to Sandy and Sarah Tucker for their skill in organizing and disseminating the gifts and to Laura Pimentel for assisting on distribution day.
To Bonnie Thompson who heads up all the data processing and without which we couldn’t keep our collective act together.
We sing praises for our volunteers Kathleen and Kelly Connors, and Mary Rose Pott who collected the Wish Tree gifts from the community locations: West America Bank, Tri-Counties Bank, St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, HVL Realty and Mulligan’s.
We thank Linda DeDominic and the crew that collects and packages the candy. Special thanks to Kathleen and Kelly (again) and Jeanne Netherland, Carolyn Tobin, MaryAnn and Joe Kenney, Wansley Adams, Susan Watts, Bryan Ridste, Gary Graves, the volunteers from Vet Connect and the Hunger Task Force for their hours of work in making up boxes, helping with the distribution and so much more.
We are thankful to Scully Packing for their year after year gift of boxes for this program and to Hettie and Jim Hendrickson of Clover Stornetta Dairy for their gift of milk and butter for all the recipients.
To the Calpine employees we offer our gratitude for their incredible generosity in supplying gifts of bicycles and more for the children and to Lamont Kucer and his staff at Foods Etc. for their help with getting the food items ready for distribution.
We cannot forget Tim Weber of Perry’s Deli and Pastor Voris Brumfield of United Methodist Church for last minute assistance to our needs.
A very special thank you to Judy and Myron Meeks for their gift of Martinelli’s for all the family boxes.
Spirit of the Season commends the First Baptist Church and its community for allowing access to their space from which to do the distribution of gifts and food this year.
Finally we’d like to offer a round of applause to all who have made a donation to this year’s event. Donations to Spirit of the Season are still needed to cover this year’s expenses.
This program does not receive assistance from any other funding source other than the largess of our community.
Donations can be made to Spirit of the Season, P. O. Box 1468, Middletown 95461. This grassroots community program is a tremendous outpouring of the goodness of our small town values.
Neighbors helping neighbors, businesses and community service organizations all supporting the needs of the least among us and people of all faiths keeping the Spirit of the Season alive in our midst.
Hedy Montoya is co-coordinator of the Spirit of the Season fundraiser in south Lake County, Calif.
