How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
News
- Details
- Written by: Lake County News reports
The grants will fund energy-efficient and climate-friendly refrigeration and freezer equipment for corner stores, small businesses, and food donation programs in low-income or low-food access areas throughout the state.
Grantees will use the new equipment to stock California-grown fresh produce, nuts, eggs, meat and dairy products, as well as minimally processed and culturally appropriate foods.
In Lake County, awards went to the Redwood Empire Food Bank and the Kelseyville Food Pantry.
Redwood Empire Food Bank, which serves Lake, Sonoma, Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte counties, has received $200,000 for 22 units — reach-in coolers and reach-in freezers — that will either replace aged, inefficient equipment or will supplement existing refrigeration capacity to allow their partners to drastically increase the scope of their work and the quality of the food they can provide.
The Kelseyville Food Pantry, managed by Kelseyville Presbyterian Church, has been awarded $5,238. The pantry, which has operated since 2012, serves all of Lake County, with a focus on the greater Kelseyville and Lakeport areas.
They will receive one standalone refrigerator and one standalone freezer. Both will be in their food pantry and will increase their capacity to store and distribute perishable items for the twice-monthly food distributions.
“This program is funding refrigeration units across California, from Humboldt County to San Diego,” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “That demonstrates the importance of these grants in increasing food access in underserved communities. We thank Gov. Newsom and the California Legislature for funding this effort.”
- Details
- Written by: Ray Rast, Gonzaga University
Irving Berlin was a Jewish immigrant who loved America. As his 1938 song “God Bless America” suggests, he believed deeply in the nation’s potential for goodness, unity and global leadership.
In 1940, he wrote another quintessential American song, “White Christmas,” which the popular entertainer Bing Crosby eventually made famous.
But this was a profoundly sad time for humanity. World War II – what would become the deadliest war in human history – had begun in Europe and Asia, just as Americans were starting to pick up the pieces from the Great Depression.
Today, it can seem like humanity is at another tipping point: political polarization, war in the Middle East and Europe, a global climate crisis. Yet like other historians, I’ve long thought that the study of the past can help point the way forward.
“White Christmas” has resonated for more than 80 years, and I think the reasons why are worth understanding.
Yearning for unity
Christmas in America had always reflected a mix of influences, from ancient Roman celebrations of the winter solstice to the Norse festival known as Yule.
Catholics in Europe had celebrated Christmas with public merriment since the Middle Ages, but Protestants often denounced the holiday as a vestige of paganism. These religious tensions spilled over to the American colonies and persisted after the Revolutionary War, when slavery divided the nation even further.
After the Civil War, many Americans pined for national traditions that could unify the country. Protestant opposition to Christmas celebrations had relaxed, so Congress finally declared Christmas a federal holiday in 1870. Millions of Americans soon adopted the German tradition of decorating trees. They also exchanged presents, sent cards and shared stories of Santa Claus, a figure whose image the cartoonist Thomas Nast perfected in the late 19th century.
The Christmases that Berlin and Crosby “used to know” were those of the 1910s and 1920s, when the season expanded to include the nation’s first public Christmas tree lighting ceremony and the appearance of Santa Claus at the end of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Despite these evolving secular influences, Christmas music and entertainment continued to emphasize Christianity. Churchgoers and carolers often sang “Silent Night” and “Joy to the World.”
‘The best song anybody ever wrote’
Berlin’s inspiration for the song came in 1937, when he spent Christmas in Beverly Hills. He was near the film studios where he worked but far from his wife, Ellin – a devout Catholic – and the New York City home in Manhattan where they had always celebrated the holiday with their three daughters.
Being apart from Ellin that Christmas was particularly difficult: Their infant son had died on Dec. 26, 1928. Irving knew his wife would have to make the annual visit to their son’s grave by herself.
By 1940, Berlin had come up with his lyrics. In his Manhattan office, he sat at his piano and asked his arranger to take down the notes.
“Not only is it the best song I ever wrote,” he promised, “it’s the best song anybody ever wrote.”
Berlin had connected his lonesome Christmas to the broader turmoil of the time, including the outbreak of World War II and fraught debates about America’s role in the world.
This new song reflected his response: a dream of better times and places. It evoked a small town of yesteryear in which horse-drawn sleighs crossed freshly fallen snow. It also imagined a future in which dark days would be “merry and bright” once again.
This was a new kind of Christmas carol. It did not mention the birth of Jesus, angels or wise men – and it was a song that all Americans, including Jewish immigrants, could embrace.
Berlin soon took “White Christmas” back to Hollywood. He wanted it to appear in his newest musical, one that would tell the story of a retired singer whose hotel offered rooms and entertainment, but only on American holidays. He titled the film “Holiday Inn” and pitched it to Paramount Pictures, with Crosby as the lead.
Fighting for ‘the right to dream’
Raised in Spokane, Washington, Crosby had launched his music career in the 1920s. A weekly radio show and a contract with Paramount led to stardom during the 1930s.
With his slim build and protruding ears, Crosby did not look the part of a leading man. But his easygoing demeanor and mellow voice made him immensely popular.
“Holiday Inn” premiered in August 1942. Reviewers barely mentioned the song, but ordinary Americans couldn’t get enough of it. By December it was on every radio, in every jukebox and, as the Christian Science Monitor newspaper noted, in nearly “every home and heart” in the country.
The key reason was the nation’s entry into World War II.
“White Christmas” was not overtly patriotic, but it made Americans think about why they fought, sacrificed and endured separation from their loved ones. As an editorial in the Buffalo Courier-Express concluded, the song “provided a forcible reminder that we are fighting for the right to dream and for memories to dream about.”
This made it a song all Americans could embrace, including those not always treated like Americans.
Affirming faith in humanity
Berlin and Crosby didn’t set out to change how Americans celebrate Christmas. But that’s what they ended up doing.
Their song’s universal appeal and phenomenal success launched a new era of holiday entertainment – traditions that helped Americanize the Christmas season.
Like “White Christmas,” popular songs such as “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (1943) tapped into a longing for being with friends and family. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (1949) and other new songs celebrated snow, sleigh rides and Santa Claus, not the birth of Jesus.
“White Christmas” had already sold 5 million copies by 1947 when Crosby recorded “Merry Christmas,” the first Christmas album ever produced. On the album, “White Christmas” appeared alongside holiday classics such as “Jingle Bells” and “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.”
Hollywood followed suit. In the popular 1946 film “It’s a Wonderful Life,” for example, bonds of family and friendship proved their value just in time for Christmas.
Faith was affirmed, but it was a faith in humanity.
Over the coming decades, Christmas entertainment continued to reach new audiences.
The upbeat songs of Phil Spector’s 1963 album “A Christmas Gift for You,” for example, appealed to baby boomers. Producers also catered to younger audiences with television specials such as “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”
Hollywood then rediscovered Christmas during the 1980s, largely because of “A Christmas Story,” a film that didn’t exactly view Christmas through rose-colored glasses. While satirizing the chaos and angst of the holiday season, the film nonetheless embraced Christmas, warts and all. A steady stream of Christmas films followed – “Scrooged,” “Home Alone,” “Elf” – where themes of nostalgia, family and togetherness were ever-present.
Since the 1940s, the Christmas season has become even more inclusive. A 2013 Pew Research survey found that 81% of non-Christians in the U.S. celebrate Christmas. Yes, the holiday has also become more commercial. But that, too, has made it all the more American.
Amid these changes, Irving Berlin’s song has been a holiday mainstay, reminding listeners of what makes them not just American, but human: the importance of home, a longing for togetherness and a shared hope for a better future.
Ray Rast, Associate Professor of History, Gonzaga University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
- Details
- Written by: Lake County News reports
Georgina Marie Guardado, the current poet laureate, officially announced the search.
“It has been my honor to serve two consecutive terms in this role during a period of history that was undoubtedly challenging for all of us. And yet, the power of words did not yield. Our county undoubtedly has a rich literary community and I look forward to the search for the next Poet Laureate!” Guardado said in a Facebook post.
The poet laureate, which is a volunteer post, represents and promotes poetry and literacy in the community.
The person filling the role also will help “facilitate collaborations between local creatives, cultural organizations, local businesses, and community institutions,” according to the online application.
The Board of Supervisors established the poet laureate post in 1998.
Guardado has held the post for two terms since 2020.
She is the youngest Lake County poet laureate, as well as its first Hispanic American female.
Guardado also is the first person to be appointed to the office for more than one term, and the 11th individual to hold it.
The next term will be for 2024 to 2026.
She reported that applications — which opened on Dec. 15 — will be accepted through Feb. 1, 2024.
Visit this website to see application guidelines and to apply online.
For questions or assistance with the application, email Guardado at
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of Australian shepherd, border collie, Chihuahua, Doberman pinscher, German shepherd, Great Pyrenees, hound, Labrador retriever, pit bull, Queensland heeler, shepherd and terrier.
Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.
Those dogs and the others shown on this page at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption.
Call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278 or visit the shelter online for information on visiting or adopting.
The shelter is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
