CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Barbara Flynn will be the speaker at the Soroptimist meeting at Howard’s Grotto in Clearlake at noon Thursday, Nov. 21.

Flynn will talk about business opportunities for women in Lake County.

She was born in Lakeport, raised in Sonoma County and has lived in Lake County since 1972.

Since 1972, Flynn has worked as a real estate agent, owned three restaurants, two inns, a store named Country Classics in the Santa Rosa Plaza, as well as an antique shop or two.

She has always loved the Cobb community, and produced the Cobb Jazz and Blues festival which ran for five years.

She also is behind Cobbtoberfest, and Halloween and Christmas in the Village at Cobb.

Flynn is a director on the Lake County Chamber of Commerce and on the board for Lake Family Resource Center. She currently owns and operates The Brick Oven Pizza, Pasta on Cobb and Bellissimo! Wine Country Catering.

She recently opened Trends Salon and Day Spa with her daughter, Marci, in Middletown.

All interested persons are invited to attend this talk by Flynn.

For more information, please call Wanda Harris at 707-987-9027.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Main Street Association will host “Very Merry Main Street” in downtown Lakeport on Saturday, Nov. 30.

The event will take place from 2 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

There will be arts and crafts, and a merchants' open house.

Santa Claus will be on hand, and the light parade will take place beginning at 5:30 p.m., with the Hospice Light-Up-A-Life Tree Lighting and Festival of Trees also featured.

For more information call the Lakeport Main Street Association at 707-263-8843.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake Co-op announced that its online shopping store and overage site in downtown Lakeport will be closed for the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holiday weeks.

The co-op is encouraging customers to stock up for the holidays in the weeks prior to the closures to ensure a robust supply of holiday favorites and local gifts.

The last window of opportunity to order for the Thanksgiving holiday will be Sunday, Nov. 17 at 12:01 a.m. through Tuesday, Nov. 19, at 12:30 p.m.

The co-op online sales and overage site at 307 N. Main Street in Lakeport will be closed Nov. 28 and Dec. 26 for the holidays.

The co-op prepares for these closures by offering seasonal favorites in the weeks leading up to the closures.

Customers will find the organic fruit and veggie boxes filled with treasured and traditional favorites and the local farmers and producers offer fresh organic seasonal products including winter squashes, pumpkins, chard, kale, collards, specialty baby lettuce mixes, walnuts and persimmons.

Lake Co-op also helps customers prepare for holiday shopping by offering multiple healthy and locally-sourced selections, including gift certificates, gift-packaged products, subscription orders and donations to local charitable organizations.

Customers of Lake Co-op can easily purchase a gift certificate in any amount online through the Co-op's website ( www.lake.coop ). The recipient receives an email with a code that gives them a store credit in the amount of your choice.

“It's a simple and effective way to say I love you. I care how you treat your body.” shared JoAnn Saccato, Lake Co-op's Interim Manager.

“Also, local producers package their products in attractive ways that lend themselves perfectly for gifts,” Saccato mentioned. Customers can purchase Lake County organic walnuts, specialty olive oils, exotic and traditional teas (not local), specialty mushroom fudge, sea veggies from Mendocino County, local made organic health and beauty products and more. These products can be found weekly during the Lake Co-op's normal order cycle (Sundays, 12:01 AM through Tuesdays, 12:30PM).

“We also offer an extremely easy feature for our customers who are either too busy to order each week or like the same products on a regular basis,” remarked Saccato. She refers to subscription ordering where a customer can pick and choose from all of Lake Co-op products and ask that they be sent automatically each week. “Whether it's Lake Co-op's Organic Fruit N' Veggie box (featuring a variety of local and beyond seasonal fruits and vegetables), a favorite cheese from Petaluma's Spring Hill Farm or one of a treasured selection of Main Street Bakery's organic breads, our subscription service keeps it simple,” she furthered.

Year round Lake Co-op offers their customers the opportunity to donate to community projects related to food security and the local food system, including the Friday Night Farmers' Market, Walter's Community Garden in Clearlake, and local food security organizations, such as the NCO Community Action Agency and the Hunger Task Force. “Another great holiday idea that supports our community,” reflected Saccato.

For more information about Lake Co-op, their products, producers and holiday information, visit www.lake.coop or call 707-513-5226.

WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5) on Monday voted to pass H.R. 2061, the Digital Accountability and Transparency (DATA) Act of 2013.

This bill requires information on all federal spending to be posted to a single, comprehensive and searchable Web site, www.USASpending.gov .

The DATA Act also limits federal agency travel expenses to 70 percent of their fiscal year 2010 travel costs, limits the allowable costs of agency conferences and requires extensive new reporting and public disclosure of conference costs and activities.

“Taxpayers deserve to know their money is being spent wisely and effectively on smart investments that create jobs, grow our economy and move our country forward,” said Thompson. “This legislation will increase transparency, help make sure taxpayers are getting the most bang for their buck, and allow us to hold agencies and individuals accountable for wasteful spending and lavish junkets funded by hard-earned tax dollars.”

In 2012, the General Services Administration (GSA) held a lavish $823,000 conference in Las Vegas and former GSA executive Jeffrey E. Neely spent $40,000 on a trip he and his wife took to Napa.

The extensive new reporting and public disclosure of conference costs and activities would help prevent these kinds of abuses from occurring in the future.

In addition, the bill expands the role of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board that was created by the 2010 stimulus law to oversee stimulus spending.

The DATA Act will require the board to help make sure tax dollars are being spent wisely and effectively by detecting waste and fraud at all levels of federal spending.

H.R. 2061 passed the House and will now go the Senate for consideration.

CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – The Lake County Stonewall Democratic Club will host its monthly potluck on Monday, Nov. 25.

The group will meet in the social hall of the Clearlake Oaks United Methodist Church, 12487 The Plaza, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

This meeting is open to the public and the community is encouraged to attend.

Please bring a canned or other nonperishable item to the Stonewall Club meeting.

All donations go to support Community Care HIV/AIDS Program Food Pantry here in Lake County.

COBB, Calif. – On a stunning autumn day in October, the Friends of Boggs Mountain (FOBM), the Lake-Mendo Unit of the Back Country Horsemen of California (BCHC), Main St. Bicycles, and the Clear Lake and Kelseyville High School Bike Team came together to hold the “Wag, Walk and Wride” trail etiquette event at Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest.

BCHC President, Paul Villanueva, kicked off the program with a brief description of the Back Country Horsemen’s mission and goals.

Villanueva explained their core mission is to preserve and protect existing trails, support multiuse where it already exists, and help foster goodwill among all trail users in Lake and Mendocino counties.

The BCHC also provides a valuable service for government agencies such as the Mendocino National Forest that avail of horse and pack stock to haul equipment in and out of the back country where motorized vehicle access is not possible.

In addition, the BCHC strives to educate trail users on proper trail etiquette to minimize user conflict.

For instance, Villanueva recommended stepping off the trail on the downhill side to let equestrians pass as horses may consider someone or something above them a predator. Another helpful tip was to calmly talk to the horse and rider as you approach to help assure the animal that you are not a threat.

On some occasions, people will step aside and wind up behind a brush or tree thinking they can avoid disturbing a horse altogether.

“What might be considered courteous could actually result in agitating a horse on a trail,” Villanueva warned.

As prey animals, horses are always on the lookout for predators, and something unseen that makes a movement or noise near the trail can spook them. Villanueva emphasized that because hikers and mountain bikers need to yield to horseback riders, it’s often best for the equestrian to communicate with other trail users and guide them in a way that keeps their horse calm.

In addition, it is recommended that young or green horses are slowly introduced to multiuse trails, and even experienced horses should be desensitized to many different objects and animals.

Villanueva enjoys seeing his grandchildren have fun riding their bikes around his horses, as it’s a great way to get them used to bikes on trails.

Sarah Reid, state trails chair of the California State Horseman’s Association, was next to speak, and gave a broad picture of the California trail system. She also discussed steps taken at Annadel State Park in Santa Rosa to avoid conflict in a region that sees considerably more trail traffic than Boggs.

As a member of the Mounted Assistance Patrol, Reid and other volunteers serve as “trail ambassadors” ready to lend assistance or to provide gentle reminders on trail etiquette.

Reid also demonstrated some ways to understand the body language of a horse. Lake County Horse Council president, Virginia Vovchuk, led her lovely Morgan horse, Shalako, toward center stage. Pointing out Shalako’s lowered head, the cocked position of her hind leg, ears slightly to the side are generally signs of a relaxed horse, Reid explained to the captivated audience.

To illustrate a horse’s startle response, Reid rustled the BCHC banner behind her, and Shalako suddenly raised her head, her ears spun toward the sound, and her muscles stiffened. “Buckin’ Benny,” Villanueva’s trusty pack mule that appeared to be dozing nearby, also gave a start.

This demonstration was a reminder that equestrians have a responsibility to be able control a half-ton animal as best as they can, as well as for other users to be mindful of how they might elicit this response when approaching horses from around blind corners or from behind.

The Clear Lake and Kelseyville High School Bike Team were next on the program. With the help of four members of their team, Coach Tami Cramer briefly covered the history of the co-ed team and their plans for the future, which included growing the team through “interest rides” at Boggs this fall.

To assuage trail user concerns about the training they do at Boggs in the winter and spring, co-coach Jeff Cramer emphasized that team members concentrate on technical riding, not speed. The young cyclists then explained the policy they strive to observe in interacting with other trail users, consistent with the trail courtesies discussed in the earlier part of the program.

Cramer went on to describe the arduous physical training mountain biking requires and how the experience helps to shape the kids’ attitude toward exercise and the outdoors, as well as instilling confidence.

One of the highlights of the day came as bike team members took turns riding on a different kind of saddle – courtesy of Shalako. Vovchuk helped them get a feel for what it’s like to be 8 feet off the ground, and to put themselves on a mount that requires a different kind of skill and knowledge.

Every boy grinned from ear to ear, enjoying the higher elevation, but confessed some apprehension of “not quite being in control.” Hopefully, this realization gave them a more empathic understanding of the horsemanship skills required to handle a horse, especially on a multiuse trail where all sorts of things can unexpectedly come at or behind you.

Finally, Villanueva and Debbie Watson of BCHC took back the reins of the program and gave a terrific hands-on demonstration on how to pack a horse or mule for an extended back country trip. They described the use of “panniers” – larger versions of road bike luggage – how to securely strap them on a pack saddle, the necessity of balancing the weight, and “smart packing.”

Since Villanueva often spends weeks in the back country, the ability to carry everything you anticipate along with a few Macgyveresque skills and tools is critical.

The Cramers, who own Main St. Bicycles, got Specialized Bicycles at a recent visit to a trade show to provide free water bottle giveaways stuffed with Halloween treats. After refreshments, several participants took off for a “wag, walk and wride” to enjoy the rest of the Indian summer day.

“I went to an event like this at Montaña De Oro State Park near San Luis Obispo earlier this year,” explained Gigi Stahl, event organizer and FOBM volunteer, “and admired the camaraderie and trail stewardship in that group. FOBM feels that as more and more visitors come to Boggs each year, we need to develop a trail culture that is inclusive and prepared to handle heavier use in a diplomatic and informative way. Kids and adults in our local community are our trail ambassadors, and we’re grateful to Sarah Reid, other out-of-county as well as local participants who came to show their commitment to trail user education.”

“The Lake County Horse Council is a strong supporter of safe trails and education,” Vovchuk added. "It was great to share information about our horses with other trail users, and learn what we have in common."

To keep the momentum going, the Friends of Boggs will be rolling out a trail etiquette brochure in early 2014.