In return for the donation, all accepted artists will receive a chance to win one of five monetary awards: $200 Best of Show and four $100 Merit in Show.

Artists will also be invited to a field trip in late spring to create art at Montesol, a family-owned ranch on the slopes of Mt. St. Helena, which is managed by Pete McGee, president of the Land Trust.

In addition, artists will be featured on the Lake County Land Trust Web site, www.lakecountylandtrust.org .

The donated art work will be displayed at the annual benefit “Spring Dinner” for the Land Trust on Tuesday, May 11, at the Saw Shop Gallery Bistro in Kelseyville.

All donated and juried pieces will be hung at the Saw Shop and will be for sale the evening of the dinner. Those pieces that aren’t sold will be auctioned at the annual Land Trust dinner in October.

All proceeds from the art sales go to the Land Trust, a nonprofit organization that among other things operates the Rodman Slough Preserve, which is a favorite painting area for many of the county’s plein air artists.

Artwork must be no smaller than 5 inches by 7 inches, and should be matted and framed. Art must be received by the Land Trust no later than May 7.

The judging committee is made up of well-known local artists. There will be several “drop off” places for artwork in both the north and south areas of the county.

If you are interested in donating artwork to this cause, call Roberta Lyons at 707-994-2024 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

The annual Spring Dinner on May 11, is an enjoyable evening for Land Trust supporters. Tickets are $60 each and include a four course dinner served with local premium wines. Social hour is 6 p.m. with dinner served at 7 p.m.

A whimsical basket raffle is planned, and those attending always enjoy perusing the art that is for sale. Services, food and wine are graciously donated by the Saw Shop Gallery Bistro owner Marie Beery.

All proceeds go towards projects of the Lake County Land Trust. Please call the Saw Shop at 707-278-0129 for reservations. Payment can be made on the night of the dinner.

For more information call Roberta Lyons at 707-994-2024.

MIDDLETOWN – Middletown Florist & Gifts will host its fourth annual arts reception this Thursday, March 25.

The reception will take place from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 21037 Calistoga St., No. 8, in Middletown.

Meet local artists and view their work.

On hand will be painters, jewelry creators, photographers and more.

This event is held annually as a “thank you” to the shop's consignors.

Light refreshments and local wines will be served.

For more information call 707-987-9500.

The event begins at 7 p.m.

Soto has written more than 50 books and continues to be prolific. He will be reading some new material from the upcoming collection “Partly Cloudy: Poems of Love and Longing” as well as a variety of other material.

The event is free. It is sponsored by the Friends of the Mendocino College Library, an affiliate group of the Mendocino College Foundation.

Born and raised in Fresno, Calif., Soto is the author of 11 poetry collections for adults, most notably “New and Selected Poems,” a 1995 finalist for both the Los Angeles Times Award and the National Book Award.

His poems have appeared in Ploughshares, The Iowa Review, Ontario Review and, most frequently, Poetry, which has honored him with the Bess Hokin Prize and the Levinson Award and by featuring him in the Poets in Person Series.

He has received the Discovery-The Nation Prize, the California Library Association’s John and Patricia Award, a Recognition of Merit from the Claremont Graduate School (for “Baseball in April”), and the Silver Medal from the Commonwealth Club of California, in addition to fellowships from the California Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Guggenheim Foundation.

For ITVS, he produced the film “The Pool Party,” which received the 1993 Andrew Carnegie Medal.

In 1995, for his work with young people, he was selected NBC Person of the Week.

In 1999 he was honored with the Human and Civil Rights Award from the American Education Association, the Literature Award from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, and the PEN Center West Book Award for his young-adult short story collection “Petty Crimes.”

For the Los Angeles Opera, he wrote the libretto to the opera “Nerdlandia.” In all, sales of his books total nearly 4 million copies.

Soto was keynote speaker at Mendocino College’s Literary Festival in 2007, and his March 25 reading will act as a launching point for this year’s Mendocino College LitFest scheduled for Saturday, April 24, also at the Ukiah campus.

For more information about the reading and other Mendocino College Library events, call 707-468-3051 or visit www.mendocino.edu .

LAKEPORT – On Tuesday April 6 the Board of Supervisors will inaugurate Russell Gonzaga, the newly selected Lake County Poet Laureate, at 9:25 a.m.

The Board of Supervisors meet at the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.

During the ceremony, the board will give Gonzaga authority to represent the county at literary functions and encourage poetry and writing among county residents.

Gonzaga, one of three finalists in the poet laureate selection process, was chosen by the current and former poets laureate at the “Select and Celebrate” event on Sunday, March 14.

He facilitates a weekly writers workshop at Harbin Hot Springs near Middletown.