The show will be broadcast at 5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 7.

Tina Tidmore from PANDORA and MCWPA will discuss new developments for this disease which affects millions of people.

A medical doctor also will join Tidmore to discuss medical aspects and research developments in this field.

Email your questions to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and the talk show hosts will pose the questions to the guests.

Pictured are Interact Club members Delia Glueck, Linda Olivera, Tawny White and Billie Jeffers; and Kelseyville Rotary Club members Wally Holbrook, Rita Abbey, Jim Hilton and Richard Smith.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Rotary Club of Kelseyville Sunrise recently conducted its annual visit to third grade classrooms in the Kelseyville Unified School District to distribute dictionaries to all students.

Interact Club members from Kelseyville High School also participated in the event.

The Dictionary Project is just one way Kelseyville’s Rotary Club supports literacy.

The club also purchases books for its guest speakers to autograph and then donates them to the school libraries.

Club members and Interact Club members read to elementary school students each month and the club is a sponsor of “The Big Read” kickoff event at Moore Family Winery on Saturday, Jan. 8.

The Big Read is a project of the Lake County Office of Education; sponsorship of this project is another way the Rotary Club of Kelseyville Sunrise supports the countywide Literacy Task Force.

Phil Smoley gives a $1,332 donation from county employees to Mary Jones of the Lake County Community Action Agency. Courtesy photo.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – For the fourth time in the last six years, the county of Lake Human Resources Department provided the largest per capita donation to the Realtor CanTree food drive.

With seven employees, Human Resources donated an average can equivalent of 73 per staff member, while the Elections Department came in second with an average can equivalent of 56 for their three employees.

“These two departments have been battling it out every year since 2004,” according to CanTree Coordinator Phil Smoley. “They have been in the top three every year since then.”

Overall, county employees donated 1,963 cans and $1,332. Since a dollar donation is given a two-can equivalent, the total can equivalent came to 4,627.

Since 1986, county employees have donated an equivalent of more than 100,000 cans.

“I’ve helped cart off tons of food from the courthouse over the years,” Smoley said. “The county folks have been very gracious to this food drive.”

To encourage participation, Smoley instituted a friendly competition between the departments in the 1980s.

Kicking off the drive the week after Thanksgiving, volunteers arrive with fresh donuts and wrapped barrels for each department, announcing the start of the drive. Employees bring in cans to fill up the barrel and/or make cash contributions.

A week before Christmas, the volunteers return to add up what each department was able to donate, and the department that gives the highest amount per capita wins a pizza party and the right to have the CanTree Plaque displayed for the coming year.

“We base it on the average donation per employee so that smaller departments can compete against the bigger ones,” Smoley explained. “Over the years we have had big departments such as Community Development win, and small ones, such as Elections, win.”

Several departments have laid claim to being the “winner.”

“But the real winner is the local food cupboard and the needy of our community,” Smoley said. “This year with donations and funding down and demand way up, they needed this boost. It came at the right time, right before Christmas.”

Besides Human Resources, many other departments have won more than once. “When we first started this, Building and Grounds were the guys to beat,” Smoley said. “Then it was the tax collector. the auditor-controller had some great runs, as did the farm advisor. Whenever the contributions from one department drop off, another seems to pick up the pace. This year an employee in the Community Development Department donated $400. A few years ago, another employee in Community Development donated $500. Every year I am amazed at the generosity of the county employees. I used to work there, so I know they don’t get paid a whole lot.”

Volunteers Phil Smoley and Rob Foglestrom pose by the official Realtor CanTree at the CPS Country Air Office in Lakeport, Calif. Courtesy photo.

The Moore Family Winery, 11990 Bottle Rock Road, Cobb, will host the fundraising dinner, which starts at 6 p.m.

Tickets are priced at $40 each.

Included are: a three-course Italian dinner with a glass of Moore Family Wine or nonalcoholic beverage, silent auction, entertainment by locals the Gill Brothers Plus One and poetry readings presented by Sandra Wade.

The Lake County Office of Education administrates the project supported by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Proceeds go toward the one-to-one match that the federal grant requires.

Tickets are on sale at Big Read partner locations: Mountain High Coffee and Books, 16295 Highway 175, Cobb, and at 19849 Hartmann Road, Hidden Valley; Catfish Books, 1013 11th St., Lakeport; and Watershed Book Store, 305 N. Main St., Lakeport. Lower Lake High School also will be selling event tickets.

For more information, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The event will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29, at the Lakeport Fire Station at 445 N. Main St.

All donors will receive a free barbecue lunch and an event T-shirt.

To sign up, please visit the fire station or call 707-545-1222.

The event is sponsored by Blood Bank of the Redwoods, www.bbr.org .