KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The Lake County Hunger Task Force will offer canning lessons on Thursday, Aug. 30.

The canning of fruits and vegetables will be taught from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Kelseyville Presbyterian Church, located at Third and Church streets.

Pears and tomatoes will be featured, as they are the most abundant crops in Lake County likely to be canned at home, and off a well rounded learning experience.

The class will be hands-on, with all participants experiencing each step of the process.  

Please come dressed appropriately, removing all rings, and no open-toed shoes or sandals. No children, please.  

The Hunger Task Force believes that home canning is one of the best ways to prepare healthy, nutritious food for your family. 

Upon completion of the lesson each participating household will be given a water bath canner, a book, a jar lifter and a case of canning jars to take home. Participants must be preregistered, and space is limited to 12 people.

The cost is $20, half of which will be refunded upon attendance. 

Please call 707-277-9227 as soon as possible to register.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The next meeting of the Lake County Doll Club will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 14.

The meeting will take place beginning at 11:30 a.m.

For more information, including meeting location, please call Johanna at 707-279-9970.

UPPER LAKE, Calif. – Shannon Michele of Cache Creek Catering and Lake County Wine Studio are presenting a monthly food and wine series featuring gourmet appetizers paired with select Lake County wines.   

Locally produced foods are proudly featured as key ingredients in recipes created by Cache Creek Catering.
 
The series is held from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on the second Friday of each month. This month’s event takes place Aug. 10.

The per person cost is $20 and reservations are required.
 
July’s event featured Ceago wines with an American Picnic theme.  

The “red” course featured fresh strawberries and Chevré with Ceago Rosé, followed by the “white” course of balsamic and garlic marinated chicken on ciabatta with Ceago Pinot Noir. The  “blue” course pairing of a blackberry tart served with Ceago’s port-style Syrah completed the three-course event.

Aug. 10 is themed “from farm to table” with wines from Moore Family Winery.  

The first course will be fregola with roasted tomatoes, corn, sweet onions and basil served with Chardonnay, followed by chicken with cherry barbeque sauce paired with Malbec.

The final course will be melon sorbet with Moore Family’s late harvest Sauvignon Blanc.

Sept. 14 will feature fresh harvested Lake County pears.

Oct. 12 marries old vine wines with Lake County heirloom walnuts.
 
For reservations and additional information, contact Feiler at 707-293-8752.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Middletown Area Town Hall (MATH) will hold its next meeting on Thursday, Aug. 9, with Congressman Mike Thompson and Supervisor Jim Comstock as guests.

The meeting will begin promptly at 7 p.m. at Calpine's Cartwright Geothermal Visitors Center, 15500 Central Park Road.

The group’s usual agenda items have been postponed in order to provide time for discussion with Thompson and Comstock, both of whom will speak and then hold a question and answer session.

The public is invited.

MATH meetings are subject to videotaping. Meeting proceedings may be available for viewing on public access television and/or the Internet.

MATH – established by resolution of the Lake County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 12, 2006 – is a municipal advisory council serving the residents of Anderson Springs, Cobb, Coyote Valley (including Hidden Valley Lake), Long Valley and Middletown.

The group’s current board of directors include Chairman Joe Sullivan, Vice Chair Claude Brown, Secretary Ken Gonzales and members Tom Darms and Martha Webster.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Live!, the live radio broadcast musical variety show performed at the Soper Reese Theatre in Lakeport, is giving away 100 free tickets to Lake Co-op’s first 50 customers who place orders in August.

The show on Sunday, Aug. 26, begins at 6 p.m.

The variety show, which broadcasts live on the last Sunday of every month, features local musicians and comedic skits based on life in Lake County. August’s musical guests includes Majide, with pianist Paul Kemp and Machiko on vocals. Lake Co-op farmer Jim Leonardis, on saxophone, joins this delightful duet.

Also appearing is EarReverence, a local a Capella group featuring Nick Reid, Carol Cole-Lewis, Valerie Reid and Bill Bordisso.

Lake Co-op Locavores are encouraged to, “Grab a friend and fill the Soper Reese Theatre with appreciative Locavores!” according to Co-op Chair, Janine Smith-Citron

Lake County Live!, fashioned after old time live broadcast radio shows and today’s Prairie Home Companion, features the continuing saga of Ladies of the Lake (sponsored by Mama Maybell’s Brownies).

In August the audience will learn the what and whereabouts of the ladies after July’s Lake County Wine Adventure.

Lake County Live! is broadcast live on KPFZ Community Radio from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. as well as available through live streaming on the Internet at www.kpfz.org . It rebroadcasts the following Saturday at 7 a.m. and 10 a.m.

Started in January as a vision of Doug Rhoades, the popular show has featured musical guests such as Blue Collar, Pole Cat Rodeo, Andy Rossoff and David Neft. Ladies of the Lake cast includes Vicky Parish Smith, Pam Bradley, Suna Flores, Kris Andre and Richard Smith.

The program is sponsored by KPFZ and Lake County News, www.lakeconews.com .

Co-op customers who place orders for more than $10 will receive two free tickets (a $10 value) until all 100 tickets are released.

For more information on Lake Co-op, visit www.lake.coop , Facebook or call 707-993-4270.

Visit Lake County Live! at www.lakecountylive.com or on Facebook.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Step into the world of the imagination on Saturday, Aug. 11, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., when Steele Wines presents the second annual Midsummer Fantasy Fest, a celebration of the imagination, of feast, fantasy and fun, of fairies, elves, the fanciful, unicorns, pots of gold, and characters of times gone by.

Going beyond the here and now of one’s everyday lives, there is magic for all to enjoy. This is the day when the doorway is open between the realms.  

Again this year Steele Wines will feature Jed Steele’s Writer’s Block wines, with the very special Love Potion being offered for the first time.  

Writer’s Block is the winemaking project of Quincy Steele, the son of founder and owner, Jed Steele, and is focused on prominent Lake County red varietals. These wines range from medium to full body, and include a medium to full bodied white wine as well as the reds.

Dance with the Fairies, watch Queen Tatiana, Queen of the Fairies, her consort, King Oberon, and the fairy folk, as New Vintage Productions entertains you with fun and frolics.
 
Artists, musicians, craftspeople, and food vendors will be available to tempt your eye and your appetite with their wares. Taylor Observatory will bring a telescope for viewing the waning moon.  

There is fun for the whole family, a very special children’s area with delightful activities for the wee fairies in training, and wine, food and beverages, crafts, dancing, drumming, and magic for the young and the young-at-heart.
 
Cast your cares away for the day, and come in costume as your favorite fanciful creature, a fairy, an elf, as your favorite character from Shakespeare’s plays, or use your imagination to create a new you!

Admission is free. Raffle proceeds will benefit the Clearlake Youth Center.  

For more information call Steele Wines at 707-279-9475 and ask for Tasting Room Manager Pam Prisco, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

The website is http://midsummerfantasyfest.wordpress.com . Find the festival on Facebook as Midsummer Fantasy Fest.  

Steele Wines is located at 4350 Thomas Drive, just off Highway 29, Kelseyville.