Artist Marcie Long's painting of the Marsh at Beltramo Ranch, located outside of Lakeport, Calif. The work will be featured at the Lake County Wine Studio in Upper Lake, Calif., on Friday, July 2, and Saturday, July 3, 2010.

UPPER LAKE – Lake County Wine Studio is hosting a wine tasting event with Red Lava Vineyards and plein air painter Marcie Ann Long on Friday, July 2, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday, July 3, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The musical guest during Friday’s reception is acoustic guitarist, Travis Rinker.

Lake County Wine Studio is delighted to host the paintings of Marcie Ann Long for the month of July.

Long arrived to Lake County 20 years ago from the San Francisco Bay Area, where she went to high school, college and spent her early career years, first in commodities trading and then freelancing for advertising agencies and design studios.

Exposure to the culture, museums and galleries of San Francisco wakened and inspired her to explore her artistic abilities further.

The creations of Georgia O'Keefe and Vincent Van Gogh, the soft gradations in O'Keefe's work and the wild mixtures of color in Van Gogh's, their waves of color and unique view of the world delighted and sang to her, and she knew that she had to be a painter.

A member of Konocti Plein Air Painters, the San Francisco Artist's Guild and Lake County Arts Council, Long’s work has been shown in a number of in-state and out of state solo and shared showings. For more information about her art and ventures, visit www.obiville.com/Mpg.html.

Bud and Kristi Lawson own Red Lava Vineyards. Kristi Lawson hails from generations of wine enthusiasts. Her Uncle “Shine” was known for fortifying the families during Prohibition, and she was told that he might have done a little jail time.

She grew up in the Napa Valley in an environment where a small amount of red wine with Sunday supper was traditional and not considered illegal.

Her family tree includes ancestors from the wine growing regions of France and Germany, and her foray into sensory wine evaluation classes led to a keen ability to “smell” rock and dirt for classification, consistent with the mineralogy of Red Lava Vineyards and their wines.

Bud Lawson also knows soil. From many generations of farmers, he began his informal training as a child through observation and involvement with his family.

Through his career as a land surveyor and work with construction companies he increased his knowledge, and now concentrates his efforts on developing the unique characteristics of the soil in his vineyard and alchemy of Red Lava wines.

Located on the south side of Mt. Konocti at 1,600 feet elevation, the Red Lava Vineyard slopes holding the densely planted Syrah clone from the Rhone Valley of Southern France occasionally get winter snow.

Hot summer days and cool nights, ideally modified by breezes from the nearby lakes, provide optimum growing conditions for producing complex wine.

The $10 appetizer and wine tasting sampler includes Red Lava Sauvignon Blanc and a vertical of Syrahs: 2005 Reserve Syrah (Bronze Medal, S.F. Chronicle Wine Competition 2010), 2006 Syrah (Gold Medal, S.F. Chronicle Wine Competition 2009) and newly released 2007 Syrah (Silver Medal,

S.F. International Wine Competition 2010).

For more information visit www.redlavavineyards.com.

Lake County Wine Studio is located on the corner of First and Main Streets in historic Upper Lake, across from the famous Tallman Hotel and Blue Wing Saloon & Café.

For more information, call Susan Feiler at 707-275-8030 or 707-293-8752.

NICE – The Sons of Italy flea market is canceled for Saturday, July 3, but come down for their spaghetti feed on Sunday, July 4, from noon to 6 p.m.

Enjoy pasta, sausages, meatballs, garlic bread and salad. There is always a tasty dessert.

The hall is air-conditioned and they have a bar, too.

You can get your meal to go and forget the barbecue in the heat.

The cost is $8 for spaghetti only and $10 with meatballs or sausages.

Call 707-274-2244 the day of the event for take out.

The Sons of Italy Club hall is located at 2817 Highway 20 in Nice.

LAKEPORT – Miss Lake County Scholarship Program will hold a fireworks fundraiser beginning this Thursday, July 1, and running through Sunday, July 4.

The booth will be located at Hillside Honda, 460 S. Main St., Lakeport.

Safe and sane fireworks only are allowed within Lakeport's city limits.

To receive a $10 coupon, visit www.tntfireworks.com/coupon-hp.php.

The booth will be open from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. those days. All of the proceeds from the sale of

fireworks will go to the scholarship fund.

For more information email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., join their Facebook page for Miss Lake County, or call 707-533-0441.

LAKEPORT – The Lakeport Planning Commission has issued a notice of adjournment until August.

The regularly meeting set for 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 14, has been adjourned.

The next regularly scheduled meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 16.

LUCERNE – The Lake County Democratic Club meets Saturday, July 10, at noon in the Rose Room at the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center in Lucerne.

The senior center is located at 3985 Country Club Drive (corner of 10th and Country Club) in Lucerne.

The center serves a full breakfast on Saturdays from 9 a.m. until noon at a very reasonable cost.

The public is invited to the meeting, although membership in the Lake County Democratic Club is open only to registered members of the Democratic Party.

Contact the Democratic Party of Lake County at 707-277-0713 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The Democratic Party of Lake County's website is www.lakecountydemocrats.org.