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- Written by: LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS
Children at the Redbud Library in Clearlake, California, show off their reading logs. Courtesy photo.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Get ready to embark on a summer of literary discovery and exciting rewards.
The Lake County Library announces that the Summer Reading Challenge has started once again.
By participating in the library's summer reading program, children, teens, and adults have a chance to win prizes, ranging from stickers and small toys for kids to fun gift baskets.
Participating in the library's Summer Reading Challenge is a wonderful opportunity for everyone to set personal reading goals and explore new genres.
For students, summer reading is a proven way to combat the "summer slide" and ensure they return to school ready for academic success.
Beyond the classroom, reading for pleasure also enriches vocabulary, sharpens critical thinking, and fosters a lifelong love of learning.
The Lake County Library offers engaging, tailored programs designed for all age groups: pre-K, kids, teens, and adults. Even the littlest readers who haven't yet mastered independent reading can join the fun, with parents and caregivers logging the books they share together.
The program started on June 5, but residents can still register for the summer reading challenge on the Library's website or in person at the library. Registration remains open until Aug. 5, ensuring ample time for signing up. To get started, simply visit http://library.lakecountyca.gov and click on the "Summer Reading" link.
Once registered, participants can dive into books and earn points by logging their reading progress either online or by visiting the library. Every type of material borrowed from the library counts towards their goals, including eBooks, print books, audiobooks, magazines, and even graphic novels and comics.
To make summer reading even more enjoyable, the library offers enticing prizes. Adults and teens have a chance to win exciting rewards through a prize drawing at the end of the program. Kids can earn fun toys and stickers.
Participants can also enter to win fun themed gift baskets by completing Library Missions to attend Library events.
For instance, attending the Lakeport Library Cookbook Club enters participants to win a fun crafting basket, while joining the Gamer’s Craft at the Middletown Library might earn a participant a gaming-themed basket.
Details about the various library missions are available on the Summer Reading program site and at your local branch.
The more points participants earn by reading, the higher their chances of winning. The prizes are generously provided by the Friends of the Lake County Library, a community non-profit membership organization.
Upon reaching 1,000 points, participants will also have a book donated to the library in their name by the Friends of the Lake County Library. The book will bear their name, commemorating their reading achievement, and they will have the privilege of being the first person to check it out.
Don't miss out on this opportunity to make your summer more exciting and rewarding with great reads and prizes! Register today at http://library.lakecountyca.gov to discover more about this exciting summer reading challenge.
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- Written by: LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA — After another wet winter and above average snowpack, warming temperatures and winds are quickly drying out the abundant annual grass crop.
The increasing fire danger posed by the high volume of dead grass and hotter, drier conditions in the region is prompting Cal Fire to suspend all burn permits for outdoor residential burning within the State Responsibility Areas of Colusa, Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties.
This suspension takes effect Monday, June 23, at 8 a.m., and suspends all residential outdoor burning of landscape debris such as branches and leaves.
For Lake County, an annual burn ban is implemented each year by the Lake County Air Quality Management District beginning on May 1.
From January through June 15, the Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit has had 124 dispatches to wildfires. That number is up from what we saw over the same timeframe from the previous two years (92 in 2024 and 87 in 2023), but aligns with the previous five-year average.
From 2020-2024, the Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit averaged 147 wildfire dispatches between Jan. 1 and June 15.
While outdoor burning of landscape debris by homeowners is no longer allowed, Cal Fire is asking residents to take that extra time to ensure that they are prepared for wildfires.
Cal Fire asks residents to create defensible space — especially focus on Zone 0, the first 5 feet around your home. Start at your home and work your way out by clearing all dead and or dying vegetation around all structures, out to 100 feet from them where applicable.
The department may issue restricted temporary burning permits if there is an essential reason due to public health and safety.
Agriculture, land management, fire training and other industrial-type burning may proceed if a Cal Fire official inspects the burn site and issues a special permit.
The suspension of burn permits for residential landscape debris does not apply to campfires within organized campgrounds or on private property.
Campfires may be permitted if the campfire is maintained in such a manner as to prevent its spread to the wildland. A campfire permit can be obtained at local fire stations or online at
PreventWildfireCA.org.
For additional information on how to create Defensible Space, on how to be prepared for wildfires, as well as tips to prevent wildfires, visit www.ReadyForWildfire.org.
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- Written by: Janine Smith-Citron
Kelseyville Fire Department staff will be on hand to meet and greet with youth like this pictured Kelseyville resident who participated in the 2024 Fire Safety workshop. Courtesy photo.
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. — This weekend community members will have the opportunity to learn about best practices to protect their homes and families from fire.
The inaugural Soda Bay corridor Community Fest is set for Saturday, June 21, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
This event will be held at Riviera Elementary School, located at 10505 Fairway Drive in the Kelseyville Riviera.
This complimentary family-friendly event is designed to promote Firewise practices, helping residents of the Soda Bay corridor including the Rivieras, Buckingham and neighborhoods in between prepare for the fire season.
Various organizations will be present to offer information, resources and demonstrations, including Fire Extinguisher training by Lake County Community Emergency Response Team, or CERT.
Attendees of all ages will enjoy complimentary food and a sense of community while gaining valuable knowledge on safeguarding themselves, their families and their properties during emergencies.
The event will feature free giveaways, games, grazing goats, pet-related disaster preparedness, entertaining activities and educational opportunities.
The Lake County Children’s Museum of Arts and Sciences will sell hot dogs, chips and drinks for $5.
The CommunityFest is made possible through the collaboration of multiple organizations, including the Konocti Fire Safe Council, CLERC, NCO-CERT, Kelseyville Riviera Community Association, American Red Cross, Cal Fire, Kelseyville Fire Department and Lake County OES.
Janine Smith-Citron represents the Kelseyville Riviera Community Association.
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Playing cards and socializing at the Middletown Senior Center in Middletown, California. Courtesy photo.
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. — The Middletown Senior Center has received the Parade Pioneer Award for Middletown Days 2025.
The celebration takes place this weekend, with the parade on Saturday, June 21, starting at 10 a.m. in downtown Middletown.
Lori Tourville has served as the Middletown Senior Center’s director for 13 years. The center is a private nonprofit corporation.
The center was started in 1973 by Floyd Truitt. While looking through the articles of incorporation, Tourville noticed the address of his first original office was at her current address.
What a shock, she always wondered what the office was on the other side of her garage, with a separate entrance. She surmises that she was meant to be the director 39 years later.
In 1981 John Baughman and his outreach worker Lucille Lambert leased the building at Middletown Central Park for $1.00 a year for the next 31 years.
The senior community was so grateful to have a facility to meet senior needs in Middletown. They shared the building with the Middletown Central Park Association and then began to outgrow the space.
Jacque Spiker became the director in 2000. In 2008, thanks to Spiker, then-District 1 Supervisor Ed Robey and Kelly Cox, then Lake County’s administrative officer, who collaborated in planning and volunteered personally in fundraising efforts with unwavering dedication to the project.
The first lunch was served at the center’s current location November 26, 2012. What a change from the Central Park location.
Moving into a brand-new facility was a dream come true. The facility is owned by the county and the center leases it for $1 a year. The kitchen equipment is owned by the center and all maintenance to the kitchen furnishings is the center’s responsibility.
The Middletown Senior Center is a senior nutrition program that services Middletown, Cobb and Hidden Valley Lake. The center serves approximately 35,000 meals a year to seniors in the dining room combined with meals on wheels to homebound seniors.
There are 68 clients participating in the Meals on Wheels Program. There are currently three routes. On average, 45 to 50 seniors are served in our dining room daily, excluding weekends.
The center also responds to the needs and interests of older adults and provides activities and services to help them maintain their independence by supplying them with information and assistance. In a typical week, there are over 100 phone calls or drop ins regarding senior community member needs.
The senior center is governed by an unpaid board of directors who assist as volunteers wherever needed and is staffed by five part-time employees, which includes the center director.
The annual budget is $450,000 to operate the center. The government makes up a little over one-quarter of the center’s funding with three different grants totaling $125,000.
The center also receives a grant from the Redbud Healthcare District totaling $100,000. Local businesses and clubs donated approximately $50,000.
The dining room brought in $30,741 which equals $3.28 a meal, and homebound seniors contributed $14,558, which equals $2.01 per meal. The center’s average cost per meal is $12.
The center falls short of the annual budget every year between $20,000 and $30,000. Fundraisers are required to meet the shortfall. Fundraising efforts consist of two silent auction dinners a year, March 4 Meals, chili cookoff, Subaru Share the Love, raffles and bake sales. The Senior Thrift Store made $8,000 last year.
Center officials said the three communities are awesome in supporting endeavors to help meet the senior community’s needs. The center receives financial assistance through donations from the Church of Shambhala, Lions Club, Middletown Area Merchants Association, Middletown Luncheon Club, Wine Alliance, Middletown Rancheria and Hardester’s Markets. Donations are also received from individuals.
Volunteers are key to the smooth operation of the center. There are currently over 50 active volunteers who are celebrated with an annual appreciation brunch.
Duties of the volunteers consist of driving, serving meals, greeting, working in the thrift store and video library, getting the mail, working in the office, washing windows, sweeping, playing the piano and other needs as they arise.
The total volunteer time worked last year was over 5,000 hours. Paying minimum wage, the cost would have been an additional $80,000 added to the center’s annual budget shortfall.
The goal is to get seniors out of their homes and active. It is so easy to stay in your jammies all day. Different activities are offered such as writing classes, computer lessons, and line dancing. When a new activity is presented, effort is put in to look for someone to teach or facilitate it. There is a monthly newsletter that contains an activity calendar to get the word out as well as posting on the Center Bulletin Board.
There are many future goals. Research is being done to cut electricity costs by installing covered parking structures on which to mount solar panels. In depth diabetes education is being looked into and the center is in the process of providing homebound Seniors Emergency Supply Kits.
Please contact the Senior Center at 707-987-3113 if you wish to volunteer, have ideas or want to support the Center in other ways.