MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Middletown Youth Football and Cheer program will hold a fundraising dinner and dance on Friday, Aug. 12.

The event will take place from 6 p.m. to midnight at the Twin Pine Casino Event Center, 22223 Highway 29 at Rancheria Road.

There will be a barbecue dinner with chicken, ribs and all the fixings, then dance to music with a live DJ.

Other event features will include a photo booth, games and a raffle including prizes like a motorcycle, gym membership and more.

The cost for the dinner is $25 per person.

Have a great night and support our community's children.

Tickets are available at Middletown Florist, through any of the board members, or by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The LC Diamonds will be headlining at the Paint the Town Sock Hop on Saturday, Aug. 13.

The event will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Lakeport Senior Activity Center, located at 527 Konocti Ave.

The $20 advance tickets include a three-course tri-tip dinner and will be $25 at the door.

There will be a bar and raffles held for various gifts. Contests will be held for the best dressed and best dressed couple with the 1950s sock hop theme.

Proceeds from this event will go towards the Meals on Wheels Thrift Store projects that include painting the exterior of the building, paving the parking lot and installation of the corner sign.

With the many improvements to the downtown area the store needs a facelift. The total needed for these projects is $5,500 and will only be possible through fundraising.

Tickets are available at the Thrift Store and Lakeport Senior Activity Center. Sponsors for the event are needed and will have their business prominently displayed in thanks at the store and newsletter.

For more information, or to become a sponsor call center Executive Director Jonathan Crooks at 707-263-4218 or Sandy at 707-263-6174.

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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Chapter of California Women for Agriculture is pleased to announce its 2016 AgVenture class.

Twelve community leaders from a range of positions were selected to participate in the seventh year of this popular program, which got under way this past week.

Selection into the AgVenture program is based upon an invitation and on the applicant’s interest in the program, their professional position in the community, and their ability to help maintain a viable agricultural industry in Lake County.

Members of the 2016 class include Robert Massarelli, Lake County Community Development director; Katherine “Kat” McDowell, real estate broker, Real Estate Alliance and Lease; Andy Lucas, business representative, Community Development; Will Evans, deputy Water Resources director, county of Lake; Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, property management, community mitigation and consulting; Roberta Lyons, conservation chair, Redbud Audubon Society; Morgen Wells, public relations and philanthropy, Sutter Lakeside Hospital; Genevieve V. Jopanda, chief of staff, State Board of Equalization; Brian Martin, Lake County sheriff; Mark Melendez, Agriculture Department, county of Lake; Courtney Van Leuven, adjunct agricultural instructor, Lake County Campus of Woodland College; and Victoria Brandon, Lake County Sierra Club.

AgVenture is an innovative concept in agricultural education designed for non-farming community leaders and others who wish to understand the vital role that local agriculture plays in Lake County’s economy.

Class members gain a broad knowledge about agriculture and farming in general, and more specifically about the heritage, culture, economy, and business of local agriculture.

AgVenture sessions cover topics including labor, history, marketing, water and land use, agro-tourism, and sustainability.
   
“This program has grown exponentially in popularity over the past seven years. We had so many stellar applicants this year that our selection process was truly challenging. We feel fortunate that we’ve created something that people find valuable,” said longtime AgVenture Steering Committee member and event creator, Annette Hopkins.

The first session was Aug. 5, with future sessions planned for Sept. 9, Oct. 14 and Nov. 4.

The first session focused on the pear industry; the second session looks at the winegrape industry; the third concentrates on walnuts; and the last session spotlights olives and labor.

Class members will hear from a wide range of specialists including “The Pear Doctor” Broc Zoller, PhD, PCA; Bruce Houdesheldt of the Sacramento Valley Water Quality Coalition; and Cecilia Chi-Ham, PhD, leader of Public Property Resource for Agriculture’s Biotechnology Resources Program, among many others.

AgVenture participants also have opportunities to tour local a pear orchard, an olive mill, a walnut orchard and several wineries.

Generous sponsors for the 2016 series of seminars include the following people and businesses: Sutter Lakeside Hospital, Scully Packing, Bella Vista Farming, Weed Tech, Wilda Shock, Kenny Parlet, Umpqua Bank, Rainbow Ag, Monica Rosenthal, Mary O’Meara and Lois Suchan, American AgCredit, Lake County Farm Bureau, Groody River Films, Lucerne Roofing and Lisa Wilson.
   
Additional support has been provided by Tallman Hotel, Gregory Graham Winery, Chacewater Wine and Olive Mill, the Lake County Winegrape Commission and the Lake County Winery Association, Boatique Winery, Suchan Farm and Nursery, Beckstoffer Vineyards and Henderson Orchards.     

The AgVenture program Steering Committee, all CWA members, are Annette Hopkins, Paula Bryant, Toni Scully, Diane Henderson, Terry Dereniuk, Debra Sommerfield and Brenna Sullivan.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – On July 22, Mendocino Land Trust accepted a gift from The Conservation Fund, a beautiful 49-acre property at Ten Mile River.

The property lies east of the Ten Mile Dunes, on the southern bank of Ten Mile River estuary near the Ten Mile River Bridge, ten miles north of Fort Bragg, on the Mendocino Coast. 

The Land Trust will eventually provide public access along the south side of Ten Mile River and under the highway bridge, into MacKerricher State Park’s Ten Mile Dunes Reserve.

This acquisition marks the successful completion of a six year effort to permanently protect the 1,340 acre Smith Ranch.

“We’ve been working for several years with The Conservation Fund, landowners Maggie Perry and Susan Smith Lampman, the State Coastal Conservancy, and the Nature Conservancy to complete the acquisition of this beautiful property, and we are grateful for the generous land donation and the landowners’ patience through all the project’s twists and turns,” said Mendocino Land Trust’s Executive Director Ann Cole. “We are pleased to add this gorgeous property to the portfolio of lands we are protecting forever.   It’s been great to work with such incredible partners and to be part of a larger conservation effort in the Ten Mile watershed.”

The property includes sand dunes, grasslands, fir forest, riverside habitats and of course, a portion of the gorgeous Ten Mile River estuary. 

The Land Trust has already started work to obtain necessary permits for a new trail, a parking area and a small picnic/viewing area. 

Funding for the Conservation Fund’s purchase of the property was provided in part by the State Coastal Conservancy.

The State Coastal Conservancy has provided the land trust with funding for the planning and permitting for the public access areas as well.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Jobe Watersports is bringing the fun of stand up paddle boarding to Clear Lake on Aug. 15 in Lakeport.

Jobe Watersports recently announced the details of its “SUP 2 The People” demo tour.

The tour launched on July 17 and includes stops in Colorado, California, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Washington and Oregon before finishing on Aug. 21 in Santa Barbara, Calif.

The Netherlands-based company makes stand up paddleboards, wakeboards, water skis, wetsuits, life jackets and other watersports gear.

Visitors at each of the tour’s 25 stops will have the chance to try Jobe stand up paddleboards (SUPs) and experience products from tour co-sponsors Johnnie-O clothing, Bai Beverages, Eagle Eyes, CLIF Bar, JoFit, Eagles Nest Outfitters, GU Energy Gel and Rockview Farms.

The tour is scheduled to be in Lake County on Monday, Aug. 15, from 2 to 6 p.m. at Library Park’s Third Street Boat Launch in Lakeport.

Numerous Jobe stand up paddle boards and gear will be available for free tryouts.

Local SUP groups, paddling clubs and dealers will support nearly all of the tour’s stops.

“We want to get more people on the water,” said Maud Broekmeulen, marketing manager for Jobe Watersports. “Whether they’re trying the sport for the first time, or trying out the latest technology, we want them out there having fun.”

Two Jobe brand ambassadors, Stephanie Lynn Martin and Taylor Reed Newton, will lead the tour. Martin and Newton were selected as part of a contest leading up to the tour.

“Spending the summer introducing people to a sport I love is a dream come true,” said Newton. “Add in the chance to see some of the most beautiful places in the country, and it’s hard to imagine a better summer ‘job.’”

Martin and Newton will share their experiences through Jobe’s social media channels, including @jobewatersports on Twitter, @jobesup on Instagram, Jobe SUP on Facebook and JobeSports  on Snapchat.

The complete tour schedule is available at www.jobesports.com/sup2thepeople .

HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE, Calif. – The Hidden Valley Lake Ladies 40-9ers Golf Club rounded out July with two nine-hole events.

The first was a low net score game on July 21.

The results were:

– Flight one: First place, Joy Ryan, net 33; second place (tie), Barbara Harris and Bonnie Eagleton.

– Flight two: First place, Mariana Bendinelli, 33; second place, Gwen DeRosa, 38; third place, Kit Hoss, 40.

– Flight three: First place, Liz Cummesky, 28; second place (tie), Floydean Greenlow and Diana Schneider, 35.

– Flight four: First place, Denyse McCracken, 36; second place, Linda Millard, 39; third place (tie), Barbara Carver and Pat Bright, 48.

The club also honored Toni Stratton for being the most improved golfer from June 1 to July 1.

Then the group held another low net score game on July 28.

The results were:

– Flight one: First place, Joy Ryan, 33; second place (tie), Barbara Harris    and Mariana Bendinelli, 35.

– Flight two: First place, Gwen DeRosa, 37; second place, Julia Yamashita, 39.

– Flight three: First place, Floydean Greenlow, 37; second place, Marla Peterson, 40; third place, Toni Stratton, 44.

– Flight four: First place, Denyse McCracken, 37; second place, Linda Millard, 41.

Readers of this column have probably noticed how much I love poems that give us new ways of looking at things, and in this example Faith Shearin does just that.

I especially like "four-legged relative / of the moon," which so perfectly describes the coat of a possum in partial light.

Shearin lives in West Virginia and her most recent book is Orpheus, Turning, from The Broadkill River Press.

Possum in the Garbage

He was a surprise of white: his teeth
like knives, his face a triangle
of albino dislike. I had seen him before,
 
on our back porch, where my father
sometimes left watermelon rinds,
and he dipped his tongue into them,
 
his skin glowing beneath our lights,
like some four-legged relative
of the moon. I knew him
as a citizen of the night:
 
a fainting, ghostly presence
with a tail so naked it was
embarrassed to drag behind him.
 
But that morning, terrified and violent,
he was different: a hissing fury
at the bottom of the garbage can,
a vampire bathed in light.
 
American Life in Poetry 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. They do not accept unsolicited submissions. Poem copyright ©2015 by Faith Shearin, “Possum in the Garbage,” from Orpheus, Turning, (The Broadkill River Press, 2015). Poem reprinted by permission of Faith Shearin 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.

With the warmest months of the year upon it, it's important to make sure your air conditioning system is in good condition and can take the heat.

Parts of California have already seen record-breaking temperatures in 2016. If you don’t currently have an A/C unit, you may be thinking about getting one.

For those who already have one, there’s no time like the present to schedule a check-up. Regular check-ups and maintenance can help ward off future problems and costly repairs.

More than 11,200 complaints about heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) companies and contractors were filed with Better Business Bureau, or BBB, in 2015, up about one percent from 2014.

Complaints involve being charged up front for a service that was never done, difficulties with getting refunds, and misleading estimates.

Whether you’re installing a new system, scheduling a check-up, or repairing a broken unit, the following advice will help you hire a trustworthy HVAC contractor:

· Do your research. Ask family and friends for recommendations, and make sure to research companies for free at www.bbb.org . BBB Business Reviews will give you access to customer reviews, history of complaints, and any ad concerns. You can even use BBB’s Online Directory to search for a BBB Accredited Business by industry and location.

· Get multiple estimates. Try to obtain at least three estimates for the work being done. This will give you an idea of the price range of the service you need. Make sure you understand the reasoning for each estimate and the work to be performed – get all of this in writing. Use the free, online BBB Request-a-Quote to receive estimates from BBB Accredited Businesses online.

· Verify credentials and licenses. Make sure the company or contractor is licensed and insured, and ask for proof of the appropriate documents. California law requires an HVAC Contractor License (C-20) through California’s Contractor’s State License Board (CLSB) for projects that exceed $500. When installing a new HVAC system, you may have to obtain a building permit. Make sure you have the appropriate permits to avoid future fines or issues, and have your city or county perform a final inspection if necessary to ensure you’re meeting all regulations and codes.

· Request a price breakdown. Are there any trip or service charges or additional equipment costs not included in the quote? Make sure you know what you’re paying for and get this in writing.

· Get everything in writing! Make sure your contract is in writing and you’ve reviewed it carefully before signing. Information about warranties and guarantees should be clearly stated and understood. Check your current warranty to see if any repairs or replacements could be covered.

· Pay wisely. Use a credit card as it can offer more protection than other forms of payments. You shouldn’t have to pay in full until the work is completed and you’re satisfied. Any scheduled payments or payment plans should be clearly outlined in your contract. “

Rebecca Harpster is public relations specialist with your Better Business Bureau, serving the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern Coastal California.

An unusually complete opportunity has arisen for the community to participate in the review of a development project.

The Lake County Planning Commission has announced its intention of conducting a series of four meetings on the proposed Wild Diamond vineyards, winery, tasting room and visitor center, with the first to be held at the courthouse in Lakeport (255 N. Forbes St.) at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 11.

Several individuals have expressed concerns that this project, to be constructed just off Spruce Grove Road on the northeastern edge of Hidden Valley Lake, will have untenable impacts on the environment and on the quality of life of nearby residents.

Although the Community Development Department was apparently willing to base project approvals on a mitigated negative declaration, the applicants very commendably decided to engage in the more rigorous evaluation and broader public process provided by an environmental impact report, or EIR, and by doing so have possibly set a precedent that will apply to projects of a similar complexity in the future.

After careful review of the EIR, the Sierra Club Lake Group has concluded that few if any of the sometimes dramatically expressed concerns are warranted, and that all potentially negative impacts can be mitigated to a level that will allow this fundamentally beneficial project to move forward.

On the other hand we also identified several ways to reduce environmental damage and possible negative effects on nearby residents. Suggestions for improvement are included in the detailed comments we submitted in July.

Lake Group intends to participate in the planning commission discussion to make the case for our recommendations, and urges all concerned members of the community to do so as well.

These hearings provide a priceless opportunity to find out the truth about what Wild Diamond really is and how it will (and will not) affect its neighbors, and also to simultaneously improve the outcome, learn about sustainable viticultural practices and relieve rumor-fed anxieties.
 
Victoria Brandon is conservation chair for the Sierra Club Lake Group. She lives in Lower Lake, Calif.