NORTH POLE – Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, and the U.S. Postal Service can help you prove it when Santa replies to your child’s letter – complete with a North Pole postmark.

Here are the steps for your child to get a letter back from Santa:

• Have your child write a letter to Santa and place it in an envelope addressed to: Santa Claus, North Pole.

• Later, when alone, open the envelope and write a personalized response.

• Insert the response letter into an envelope and address it to the child.

• Add the return address: SANTA, NORTH POLE, to the envelope.

• Affix a First-Class Mail stamp, such as a new Holiday Windows stamp, to the envelope.

• Place the complete envelope into a larger envelope – preferably a Priority Mail Flat Rate envelope – with appropriate postage and address it to: North Pole Postmark, Postmaster, 4141 Postmark Drive, Anchorage, AK 99530-9998.

“Letters from Santa” must be received by the Anchorage, AK, postmaster no later than Dec. 15. Santa’s helpers at the Postal Service will take care of the rest.

Be sure to share the experience on social media using #LettersFromSanta.

Tips

• To save paper, write Santa’s response on the back of your child’s letter. If you keep them together, your child will also be able to recall what he or she wrote.

• When responding as Santa, make the response as personal as possible by highlighting your child’s accomplishments over the past year, for example, helping around the house, receiving good grades in a particular subject at school or participating in community service activities.

• This is a great activity to do at Thanksgiving that the whole family can enjoy, including parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and other caregivers.

The Letters from Santa program adds to the excitement of Christmas and is ideal for interesting youngsters in letter writing, stamps and penmanship.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Come sell your recyclables (glass, aluminum and plastics) on the last Friday of every month in front of Konocti Vista Casino, 2755 Mission Rancheria Road, Lakeport, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The buyback events are operated by Robinson Rancheria’s state certified CRV buy back mobile operations.

Receive a $10 match play for Konocti Vista Casino if you bring in a value of $10 or more recycling.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Time Bank is preparing its relaunch.

Join them on Tuesday, Nov. 29, at 5:30 p.m. at Round Table Pizza on 11th Street in Lakeport where you'll learn about some upcoming projects the time bank is considering. Cost is only the price of your pizza.

You'll also hear about a new, mission-based fundraising program for nonprofits designed to make the time bank self-supporting. Plan to attend and bring your friends.

Time bankers exchange time rather than cash for services. Time Bank of Thrive Lake County membership is open to any Lake County resident, worker, business or organization.

For more information about Time Bank of Thrive Lake County, visit http://timebanklakeco.org , email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or phone 707-413-0220.

MENDOCINO NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. – The Grindstone Ranger District is extending customer service hours at the Stonyford Work Center for the public to purchase Christmas tree permits.

The Stonyford Work Center will be open on the following Saturdays from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., with a half-hour closure from noon to 12:30 p.m.: Nov. 26, Dec. 3, Dec. 10 and Dec. 17.

Permits sell for $10 each with a limit of one permit per household. The number of permits is limited and will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

Permits are good for this year only and trees can be cut and removed any day of the week through Dec. 24. All Mendocino National Forest offices will be closed on Thanksgiving Day Nov. 24, but will be open on Friday, Nov. 25.

As part of the Every Kid in a Park initiative, all fourth graders are eligible for a free Christmas tree permit upon presenting a valid fourth grade pass.

To obtain a free Christmas tree permit, the fourth grader must be accompanied by a parent or guardian and present their fourth grade pass or paper voucher.

For more information about this initiative and how to obtain a fourth grade pass, please visit www.everykidinapark.gov .

Christmas tree cutting in the National Forest is managed as a recreational experience. It is a chance to take the family out into the woods and cut a tree the old-fashioned way.

For more information, including tree cutting tips, please see the forest Web site http://tinyurl.com/h5o8h3h or call 530-934-3316.

MERCED, Calif. — The University of California, Merced, has announced the recipients of its Giving Tuesday scholarships.

Giving Tuesday, a global day of philanthropy, takes place annually on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving.

UC Merced’s campaign is devoted to scholarship donations, which are quadrupled thanks to matching funds provided by Wells Fargo and Foster Poultry Farms.

Senior Lacey O’dell of Lower Lake High School was awarded the Guardian Scholars Scholarship. She is a biological sciences major.

Last year’s Giving Tuesday campaign raised more than $310,000 for undergraduate scholarships, with matching funds included, and led to 116 scholarships being awarded to students for the current academic year.

This year, the drive goes from midnight EST to 11:59 p.m. PST on Nov. 29. Donors can direct their gifts to any of 14 eligible funds.

For information on how to participate in the campaign, visit http://givetue.ucmerced.edu .

We've been selecting poems for this column for more than ten years and I can't remember ever publishing a poem about a cat. But here at last is a cat, a lovely old cat. Ron Koertge lives in California, and his most recent book of poems is Vampire Planet: New & Selected Poems, from Red Hen Press.

Lily

No one would take her when Ruth passed.
As the survivors assessed some antiques,
I kept hearing, "She's old. Somebody
should put her down."

I picked her up instead. Every night I tell her
about the fish who died for her, the ones
in the cheerful aluminum cans.

She lies on my chest to sleep, rising
and falling, rising and falling like a rowboat
fastened to a battered dock by a string.

American Life in Poetry does not accept unsolicited submissions. It is made possible by The Poetry Foundation ( www.poetryfoundation.org ), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2016 by Ron Koertge, “Lily,” from Vampire Planet: New & Selected Poems, (Red Hen Press, 2016). Poem reprinted by permission of Ron Koertge and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2016 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson and Santa Rosa-based national nonprofit Canine Companions for Independence held a press conference on Monday at Canine Companions' Santa Rosa campus.

The event highlighted the recent launch of a pilot program through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that offers service dog benefits to veterans with mental health diagnoses, including post-traumatic stress, or PTS.

In addition to Rep. Thompson, a veteran and co-chair of the bipartisan Military Veterans Caucus, CEO of Canine Companions Paul Mundell also spoke, as did Bay Area Navy veteran Randy Wight who brought along his Service Dog Neo.

Following the speaking program, there was a live demonstration of the PTS service dogs' commands by Canine Companions professional trainer and Army veteran, Chelsey Darrow.

At Rep. Thompson and Canine Companions' request, the VA launched a program that will pair 100 veterans who experience a mental health diagnosis that limits their mobility, including their ability to conduct normal social activities and navigate public spaces, with a highly trained assistance dog.

Until now, the VA had only offered benefits for service dogs to veterans who experienced a physical disability, such as blindness, deafness and loss of limb.

“I’ve seen firsthand the tremendous benefits service dogs provide for our veterans dealing with invisible wounds of war, like PTS and traumatic brain injuries, and I’m so glad that by hosting today’s event, others will be able to see those benefits firsthand too,” said Rep. Thompson. “I’ve been so proud to work with Canine Companions for Independence to make the service dog benefit available through the VA for veterans with mental health conditions, and to significantly reduce the time it takes for veterans to be paired with a service dog. Because I strongly believe that service dogs are not just changing lives, they’re saving lives among our veterans with PTS.”

“The service dog pilot program will provide the opportunity for veterans with PTS to fully engage the numerous benefits of a highly trained assistance dog,” Mundell said. “Thanks to Congressman Thompson and the VA for taking this important step.”

“My Canine Companions Service Dog Neo picks up dropped items, opens and closes doors, can pull my wheelchair and helps me get up from the floor after exercising at the gym,” saidWight. “I can’t imagine life without Neo. He watches over me wherever I go, whatever I do. Neo is the perfect wingman, he has my back.”

UPPER LAKE, Calif. – Upper Lake's “A Country Christmas” will take place on Saturday, Dec. 3.

The event starts at 6 p.m. on Main Street.

The holiday light parade takes place at 6:30 p.m., with Santa set to arrive on his sleigh.

Children will have a chance to visit with Santa during the event.

Come light up the Christmas tree and enjoy hot food and drinks.

For information or parade entries contact Sara at 707-900-8585 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Debbie at 707-275-2000.