LOWER LAKE, Calif. – As the community of Lower Lake works to get back on its feet, residents are finding a place on Main Street that's open daily for meals, with healthy sides of fellowship and encouragement.
At the Brick Hall, owned by the Lower Lake Volunteer Firefighters Association, Susie Novak has been working seemingly nonstop for nearly a week and a half, preparing meals for community members.
Walking through the door on Sunday, this reporter was greeted by a friendly volunteer who asked, “Are you hungry?”
Novak, formerly owner of Susie's Grill, said after people started returning home on Aug. 19 from being evacuated during the Clayton fire, she went to the Lake County Fire Protection District and asked to open the Brick Hall as a temporary community center.
Her request was granted, and on Aug. 20 she set to work whipping up three meals a day, seven days a week, serving community members from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
“We have people who are hungry,” she said.
And it's not just hunger for food but for community, a place to meet with neighbors and connect in the midst of the town's devastating experience.
It's meant to be a place of comfort, as a big yellow sign on the exterior of the building that says “Community comfort zone” states.
At first it was just Novak and a few volunteers. “In the beginning, there was just a handful of us,” she said.
But a groundswell of support has occurred, with donations of help and food now pouring in, she explained.
On Sunday afternoon, Novak took a brief break in the midst of preparing the evening meal in the Brick Hall's kitchen to share details of the effort.
Just outside of the kitchen, Novak stood amidst tables piled with bread, English muffins and other supplies. Nearby, a few community members were getting free massage and Reiki treatments.
Novak said significant donations of food and other items have come from the Salvation Army, Foods, Etc., Walmart, St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake, the Clearlake Gleaners, Lower Lake Coffee Co., Golden Gate Meat Co. and Clover Stornetta Farms. One of the donations included 400 pounds of chicken, which is part of the daily fare.
In addition to supplying food, St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake helped her secure another refrigerator since she filled up the one the hall had. Still another large commercial freeze at the fire station next door is being used for storage.
At times early on, Novak said it felt like being on the television show “Chopped,” which challenge chefs to come up with unique meals with odd ingredients. She’d be fixing a meal and would realize she needed something she didn’t have.
She recently made homemade meatball sandwiches but she only had American cheese – not mozzarella – to top them. As it turned out, the diners didn’t seem to mind about the cheese improvisation.
Thanks to the increase in donations, however, she said those shortages of essential ingredients aren’t as much of a factor.
Additionally, she said people are offering more help all the time.
Walmart staff have come to help serve, and the Lower Lake High School culinary class came in last week and will return to help prep this week, she said. The Kelseyville High culinary class also was reported to have helped out last week.
Novak has been grateful for the appearance of trained chefs – such as the one from St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake – to help with the effort.
“I'm just a fry cook,” she said with a grin.
However, the kind of solid, down-home style cooking Novak has been offering to her community has mattered.
So much so, that on Sunday she had some good news: The fire district had approved her keeping the Brick Hall open through the end of September.
“They just gave us the go-ahead,” she said.
Lake County Fire Protection District Board Member Mike Dean said he had secured the permit for operating the center from Lake County Environmental Health. That permit, said Novak, is good through Sept. 30.
Lake County Fire Chief Willie Sapeta praised Novak for her seemingly nonstop efforts, noting that she's there early in the morning and doesn't leave until late at night.
Novak estimated that the hall has been serving meals to more than 100 people daily, including boxed to-go meals.
“We're having some of the same faces and new faces everyday,” she said, from firefighters needing a good, sit-down meal to any community member who happens through and is hungry.
On Sunday afternoon Frank Haas, chair of the Lower Lake County Water Works District, stopped in for a break, chatting with friends.
Haas lost his home in the fire while, at the same time, trying to protect the district's infrastructure, which for the most part appeared to have survived with little damage.
The district's boil water notice had just been lifted on Friday, and notices of that order's cancellation were placed around on the tables, as the hall has become a key place to share information with the community.
Novak continues to welcome additional help. For those interested in pitching in, she asks them to drop by the Brick Hall, 16374 Main St.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
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