CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Soroptimists International of Clear Lake will host Ani Carol at the group's next meeting at noon Thursday, Oct. 24.

The meeting will be held at Howard’s Grotto, 14732 Lakeshore Dr. in Clearlake

Carol is a former psychiatric nurse who is a nun at Buddha Maitreya Shambhala Monastery here in Lake County.

She has a private practice where she offers holistic psychiatric care and treats patients who other practitioners have failed to help.

She will talk about soul therapy, and the other healing arts available through The Shambhala Life Extending Wellness Center, which is located at the monastery.

The Shambhala Life Extending Wellness Center is now open and offering state of the art therapies to assist in the balancing of the brain function, brainwave optimization; stimulating optimal cellular function through electromagnetic field therapy.

The center supports self-responsibility for health and early diagnosis through infrared thermography scans and promotes the life-skills of meditation. Meditation and brainwave optimization retreats are available at the center.

All are welcome to attend the lunch meeting of Soroptimists on Oct. 24 to hear more about Carol and the services available at the monastery.

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

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The third annual Bass Bowling event at Lakeside Family Fun and Event Center had a strange twist Sunday evening.

Bass Bowling is an event that has students from Kelseyville High School compete with students from Clear Lake High School for a winner take all prize of $500, courtesy of Lakeside Family Fun and Event Center.

The event called for each school to field three teams each, one from their respective varsity football, junior varsity football and cheer squads. The teams were to compete in bowling, laser tag and dodge ball, and the school that won the most competitions would win the $500.

Kelseyville had just enough students show up to fill up their teams, but Clear Lake High could only fill out their cheer squad team. This meant that Clear Lake High would have to forfeit two thirds of the competitions, and all but hand the $500 prize money to Kelseyville High for the third year in a row.

But after winning the first round of bowling, many of the Kelseyville students left due to the lack of sufficient competition and early curfews, and soon they were unable to field any team.

Because the Clear Lake High cheer squad hung in to the end, they ended up winning $500 for their school by forfeit.

“It was like the old saying, 'It ain't over until it's over,'” said Bass Bowl Director Phil Smoley. “There was no way the Cardinals were going to win unless Kelseyville dropped out before Clear Lake High did. Kelseyville had three times more students attend the event initially, but it was the Cardinals who were left at the end. I was impressed with the Cardinal girls because they were ready to compete in spite of the odds.”

Lakeside Family Fun and Event Center sponsors and manages Bass Bowling at their multipurpose facility in Lakeport.

“They went way beyond our expectations to put on this event,” Smoley said. “They decorated the place in the schools colors and had added staff to manage the events. It's a great place to have an event, and we will be back next year.”

Bass Bowling is a prelude event for the upcoming Bass Bowl, sponsored by SERVPRO of Lake and Mendocino Counties.

The SERVPRO Bass Bowl is the annual high school football rivalry game between the Cardinals of Clear Lake High and the Knights of Kelseyville.

This is the fourth year for the Bass Bowl, and the Cardinals lead the series two games to one.

The winning team takes home the Bass Bowl Trophy and totem pole. The game is this Friday night at Clear Lake High in Lakeport and will feature a Civil War cannon that will fire after every score.

For more information, go to www.BassBowl.com .

CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – The Lake County Democratic Central Committee will hold its regular meeting on Thursday, Nov. 7.

The monthly meeting will take place in the community room at the Clearlake Oaks Community United Methodist Church, 12487 The Plaza, beginning at 6 p.m.

Guest speaker for the November meeting will be Davis Mayor Joe Krovoza, a candidate for State Assembly District 4.

Come and get to know this candidate and his position on issues that you care about, and let him know your concerns and ask questions. His campaign's Web address is http://joekrovoza.org/ .

The agenda includes reports from representatives for members of Congress Mike Thompson and John Garamendi, Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada and State Sen. Noreen Evans, as well as reports from Stonewall Democratic Club Chair Mark Wickhamshire and Lake County Democratic Club representative Paula Mune.

There also will be a report on the successful turnout of the 20th annual Legislator’s BBQ.

As always the group invites public participation at its meetings, which are open to the public. Committee membership is open to all registered Democrats.

The Lake County Democratic Central Committee is the official governing body of the Democratic Party in Lake County.

For more information about the Democratic Party in Lake County visit www.lakecountydemocrats.org .

Contact the Democratic Party of Lake County at 707-533-4885 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Flying Saucer Club will host its next meeting on Sunday, Oct. 27.

The group will gather from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at its new meeting place, Round Table Pizza, located in the Safeway Plaza on 11th Street in Lakeport.

For more information call Chip at 707-263-3391 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

UPPER LAKE, Calif. – The Upper Lake Community Council will hold a benefit event for the annual Avenue of Flags on Saturday, Oct. 26.

The spaghetti and lasagna dinner and silent auction will be held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Bachelor Valley Grange, 9355 Government St.

Presale dinner donation/tickets cost $10 per person, or $12 per person at the door.

For information or tickets call 707-275-9515.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Have you seen the Youth Center lately? If not, you're invited to drop by and check out all the hard work that has gone into this building for the children of Clearlake.

The building is located at 4750 Golf Ave.

Clearlake Mayor Joyce Overton Mayor said she took this project on again when the Lake County Community Action Agency filed for bankruptcy.

She became involved for the first time when she was elected to the council in 2004 and saw that there was a need for a center. She and her sister Joan Moore financed and operated the Clearlake Lake Youth Center for one year to prove to the community that there was a need for the facility.

After the first year, she asked the LCCAA Board to accept the youth center under it umbrella, which it did till the closure of LCCAA.

Overton still felt there was a need for the center, but the building was in need of repair. “It was unacceptable for the children to be occupying the facility,” she said.

Overton asked for help from the Redbud Health Care District, and the board also saw a need for a facility to keep children safe and supervised, along with providing healthy activities and food.

The district gave a grant for the past two years to help renovate the building. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. donated the money to replace the heating and air conditioner, and some community leaders stepped up and donated money to help with replacing the light covers and other supplies.

Mendo Mill gave a great discount to the center to help spread the money out further. Four Corners Building Supply donated all the equipment and also gave discounts to help.

This renovation was expensive, and according to Overton took much longer than anticipated, as all the work has been completed by community volunteers. The center is still looking for volunteers to help finish the center.

Mike Vandiver, who came on in January, has worked hard on a daily basic to complete the project, along with the Mormon missionaries who show up rain or shine every Saturday. Overton said the center would not even be close to being finished if it had not been for their dedication to get the job done.

Richard Chappie completely rewired the building and helped with construction decisions. “I could not have done this without him,” said Overton. “He was my life line to this project and I couldn’t have gotten as far as I did without Chappie, and now without Mike and the missionaries.”

She added, “Because of them, the dream of a youth center will come true. It was just a vision of mine, but these volunteers are making it a reality.”

Every one of the volunteers is appreciated for the time they were able to contribute. She estimated there has been close to 10,000 volunteer hours contributed, the equivalent to more than $250,000.

They have totally renovated the building from electricity to flooring. They added a shower and laundry room so the youth who may not have access to hot water or laundry facilities will be able to have a safe environment to come and take a shower and wash their clothes and will no longer have to depend on a coach to stay after school. Overton said this happens more than the community would like to think, and it has only gotten worse over the last few years with the economy.

They also built a studio which was used last year by Konocti Dance Academy, which is no longer teaching at the center. Overton said the center is looking for a dance teacher who would be able to teach the younger children on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

There also are hopes of using the studio as a boxer center, and they are looking for a trainer for the class. This will not be competition boxing, it would only be to teaching techniques and for fun.

A new commercial kitchen was built in order to help raise funds for the center. This will allow them to have breakfasts and dinners as a funding source.

Other projects needing to be completed include roof and siding work, painting, finishing the commercial kitchen, taping and texturing, and building a fold up table for the computer room.

The center also needs four to five laptop computers, USB backup cards, pool sticks and accessories, and food and snacks.

Overton said there is not a firm opening date as the projects list will need to be completed before the center can open.

For more information on the center, job opportunities and volunteering call 707-994-KIDS (5437) or Joyce Overton at 707-350-2898, or visit www.clearlakeyouthcenter.org .