The raffle winners were Karen Hamon and Regina Ales of Lakeport, Calif.; Karen Scott of Lower Lake, Calif.; and Audrey Barber and Aqeela Bakheit of Clearlake, Calif. Courtesy photo.

Thanks to the many citizens from around our local community and county who made our inaugural BBQ Cookout in Austin Park a success.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our many sponsors and supporters: Lake Pharmacy; Clearlake Police Department Association; Foods Etc; Safeway, Clearlake; Clearlake Recycle; Grocery Outlet-Clearlake; Spoil Me Rotten; KutsbyKieve; Girlfriends; Kevin Ness Jewelers; Cache Creek Apartments; Lakeshore Fire; Four Corners Building Supply; Tony Lopez; Tatonka Trading Posts; Holder Ford, Lakeport; Bruno’s Foods, Lakeport; Lakeview Market, Lucerne; Red & White Market, Clearlake Oaks; Fancy Paws Dog Grooming, Clearlake Oaks; and Hardester's Market & Hardware, Middletown.

Special thanks to Without-A-Net band who donated their time to perform some awesome songs and vocals, these guys and gal sure knew how to get our patrons dancing in the grass.

The raffle winners were: Karen Hamon, Lakeport, 27-inch tower fan; Regina Ales, Lakeport, 22.5 Roto Q Charcoal Grill; Karen Scott, Lower Lake, mobile utility cart, who was so excited she said, “First time I ever won!”; Audrey Barber, Clearlake, Ronco Rotisserie ShowTime Oven; and Aqeela Bakheit, Clearlake, the 18.5 Weber Charcoal Grill.

Special appreciation is given to Clearlake Police Department Volunteers in Policing (VIPs) personnel for assisting us with security.

Thank you to Mayor Joyce Overton and Vice Mayor Joey Luiz for your support and drawing some of the winning prize tickets and welcoming our NAACP State Conference Northern Area Director Delois Edwards from Sacramento and Tri-Cities branch.

Thanks also to Joe Harden coming out and taking some great photos for us.

Our freedom fund committee members and event volunteers who worked tirelessly to promote this event are as follows: Dr. John Zebelean, chairman; Bessie Bell, treasurer; Jim Swatts, first vice president; Robert Harrison, second vice president; Hiram Dukes, media; Tee Watts, media; Skip Wilson and Rick Mayo, president; culinary staff, James and Johnnie Black; event members, Tim Celli; Catherine Repetski and Marla Shaffer; volunteers, Dave Repetski and Meka Collins.

Our city public works personnel under the direction of Doug Herren did an awesome job cleaning up the facilities and offering their assistance.

Again, thank you, everyone.

Rick Mayo is president of the Lake County NAACP. He lives in Clearlake, Calif.