LAKEPORT, Calif. – It is that special time of year again. A time for being thankful, spending time with friends and family, and giving.

Every year, Lakeport Grocery Outlet teams up with Evergreen Lakeport Healthcare to help make Christmas special for the Evergreen senior residents.

The store currently has a beautifully decorated Christmas tree in its wine department; the tree is loaded with ornamental tags. Shoppers are asked to stop by and grab a tag from the “angel tree.”

Each tag represents one of the senior residents at Evergreen. On those tags, you will find details such as the gender of the person and a few things they are wishing to receive for Christmas.

If you should find it in your heart to provide a gift for someone on our giving tree, please wrap the gift, attach the ornamental tag to the gift for identification of the recipient and either deliver to the Lakeport Grocery Outlet front office or to Evergreen Lakeport Healthcare no later than Friday, Dec. 21.

Your kindness and generosity will mean the world to a senior at Christmas.

UPPER LAKE, Calif. – The town of Upper Lake will hold its annual holiday celebration in downtown on Saturday, Dec. 8.

The free event will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Main Street.

The tree lighting will take place at 6 p.m., followed by a holiday light parade at 6:30 p.m.

The evening also will feature caroling, a 4-H barbecue and refreshments.

Santa also will arrive to take Christmas wishes and photos.

The event is sponsored by Westamerica Bank and the Upper Lake Community Council, and is a benefit for the Upper Lake Auxiliary Fire Department Toy Drive.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Get ready for Christmas with the help of the Friends of Lake County Library.

The group will have gift bags for sale at the Lakeport Library, 1425 High St.

This is the perfect gift for friends and family members who enjoy reading mysteries, fiction, historical novels, romance, health and animal nature books.

The gift bags also can be designed to your specific taste. You need to allow a week to complete your order. Your purchase will be gift wrapped in a book bag with clear cellophane and nicely decorated.

The cost is $25 per gift bag.

Please stop by and view some of the samples. You will not only be giving a gift to remember, but will also be supporting your local library, which needs your participation and your help.

The library is a wonderful source of entertainment and information for children, groups and individuals. You can find practically anything you can imagine at the library.

The Our library system is designed to allow you to order books from your home base, at http://library.co.lake.ca.us or by visiting the library and browsing to your heart’s content.

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Be sure to bring your kids or grandkids to visit Santa, enjoy Holiday goodies and listen to local musicians at the Saturday, Dec. 8, annual Christmas at the Ranch Open House at the Anderson Marsh State Historic Park near Lower Lake.

The event will take place from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

Santa Claus will be there to greet children and Christmas songs will be performed by local entertainers with the public invited to join in.

Music starts at 10 a.m. with members of the Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association (AMIA) playing, followed by David Neft at 11 a.m. then Harry Lyons, Tom Nixon, Rick McCann, and others playing at noon. Joan Moss will arrive at 1 p.m. to close out the fun day of music and Christmas cheer.

This is a great opportunity to visit the historical ranch house at the park. This event has been a favorite holiday tradition for many years and is continuing this year with the help of many local volunteers and members of the AMIA who sponsor the event.

The public is warmly invited to attend this traditional, relaxed, and fun holiday event. Join the volunteers of the Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association for an old-fashioned Christmas open house at the ranch.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Continuum of Care is looking for volunteers to conduct an annual countywide homeless count on Friday, Jan. 25, 2013.  

Volunteers will work side-by-side with expert homeless service providers.  

They will drive and walk through assigned routes from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The goal is to canvass the entire service territory and seek individuals and families who have challenges securing permanent housing.

The purpose of the homeless count is so that the county can seek grant funding from state and federal agencies.  

This count of the county’s homeless population helps to confirm the need for these funds, and can be used to adjust service needs as appropriate.

For further information or to volunteer please contact Chris Taliaferro at the Employment Development Department, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or 707-262-3111.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The days are shorter, the outside temperature is lower, and in some places, it’s cold, icy and snowy.  

No matter where you live, winter brings a change in weather and a time to think about home-heating safety.  

Improper use or poorly maintained heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fires and home fire deaths across the country.  

In fact, half of all home heating fires are reported during the months of December, January and February.

“The cooler weather means an increase in usage of space heaters, fireplaces and other heating devices,” said State Fire Marshal Tonya Hoover, Cal Fire-Office of the State Fire Marshal. “Sadly, when not used safely, heaters and fireplaces can often lead to fires, injuries and deaths that could have easily been prevented.”

With a few simple safety tips and precautions, you can prevent most heating fires from happening.

Cal Fire offers the following fire safety tips:

• Keep anything that can burn at least 3 feet away from heating equipment such as a furnace, fireplace, woodstove or portable space heater.
• Have a 3-foot “kid-free zone” around open fires and space heaters.
• Always turn portable heaters off when leaving a room or going to bed.
• Make sure the fireplace has a sturdy screen to prevent sparks from escaping.
• Allow fireplace ashes to completely cool before disposing of them. Place in a tightly covered metal container at least 10 feet away from your home and any other nearby buildings. NEVER empty fireplace or woodstove ashes directly into a trash can.
• Never use your oven to heat your home.
• If using fossil fuel heating, install and maintain carbon monoxide (CO) alarms to avoid the risk of CO poisoning. Make sure your home has working smoke alarms as well.

For more information on safe home heating visit the CAL FIRE website at www.fire.ca.gov .