UPPER LAKE, Calif. – The Lake County Land Trust hosted more than 100 people for its annual dinner on Saturday, Oct. 12 at The Lodge at Blue Lakes.

The event is held every year and offers land trust members, as well as the general public, a chance to learn about projects the trust is involved with, along with enjoying great music, food, fun and a fabulous silent auction.

Guest speaker at this year’s event was fisheries specialist, Charlotte Ambrose, who works as a Salmon Recovery coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Ambrose discussed the federal Endangered Species Act, including its successes and failures, and talked about the alarming decline in salmon over just the space of a lifetime.

Also discussed was the Lake County Land Trust’s effort to protect wetlands on the shores of Clear Lake, including its current drive to raise funds to purchase a 31-acre parcel near Kelseyville.

The land features beautiful native wetland and shoreline forest as well as upland wet meadow, pasture, and oaks. The trust has been successful in raising more than $50,000 to go towards the purchase price of the land, set at $225,000. The land trust has an option to buy the property valid until March 2014.

Val Nixon, a retired California state parks ranger and avid volunteer for the Land Trust was honored as the trust’s 2013 “Supporter of the Year.”

Nixon received a plaque from the trust and a proclamation from Congressman Mike Thompson. She was honored for her work on creating interpretive signs at the land trust’s Rodman Preserve near Upper Lake, as well as other volunteer work.

Sponsoring this year’s dinner were Homestake Mining of California, the Law Office of Dennis Fordham, Brad and Kathy Barnwell, John Wise and Evelyn Wachtel and the North Coast Winegrape Brokers.

A beautiful venue and delicious dinner was provided by Maryann and Peter Schmid with several dinner attendees opting to spend the night at the Lodge and enjoy a lovely morning on Blue Lakes.

The Lake County Land Trust is a local, nongovernmental nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the natural habitats and open spaces in Lake County.

For more information about the organization go to www.lakecountylandtrust.org and “like” the trust’s page on Facebook.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – A tire amnesty event will take place on Monday, Oct. 28, and Tuesday, Oct. 29.

The event, which is open to the community, will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days at Konocti Vista Casino, 2755 Mission Rancheria Road, Lakeport.

There will be free drop off of passenger, truck and light truck tires with or without rims from anywhere in Lake County or prior approval from tribal lands. No off road tires will be accepted (tractor, earthmover, solid, etc). No tires from tire businesses will be accepted.

Only nine tires per transport will be accepted unless you have an exemption from the Lake County Environmental Health Division, which will allow you to bring up to 20 tires. For an exemption, please contact Environmental Health at 707-263-1164.

All participants will receive a $10 match play for Konocti Vista Casino.

The event is funded by the Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians and CalRecycle.

For more information contact Environmental Director Sarah Ryan at 707-349-4040 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeside Family Fun Center in Lakeport will host an event named “Bass Bowling” on Sunday, Oct. 20, as part of Bass Bowl Week, according to Bass Bowl Executive Director Phil Smoley.

“For the third year in a row, the Lakeside Family Fun Center has offered to host Bass Bowling as an event leading up to this year’s Bass Bowl,” Smoley said. “The Family Fun Center has been a big supporter our community events, and we are grateful for their support for this event that will involve students from Clear Lake High and Kelseyville High in a series of fun competitions during Bass Bowl Week.”

The Bass Bowl is the big rivalry varsity football game between Kelseyville High and Clear Lake, which will be Friday night, Oct. 25.

The Bass Bowl was created to help increase attendance to the game, and thus raise funds for the school’s athletic departments which have seen very limited public funding.

Bass Bowling will pit the two schools against each other at the Lakeside Family Fun Center in three competitions: Bowling, laser tag and dodge ball.

Each school will field three squads of 12 students each. One squad will be made up of the cheer squads, one from the JV football teams, and one from the varsity football teams, a total of 36 students from each school.

In round one, the cheer squads will compete against each other in bowling, the JV in laser tag, and the varsity players in dodge ball. Once these activities are complete, the squads will rotate, allowing each set of squads to compete in each of the three activities.

A point will be awarded to each school whenever one of their squads wins an event. With three squads from each school and three events, a total of nine points are at play, and the first team to win 5 points shall win $500 for their school.

Students who are not on one of these teams can still participate in two ways. They can cheer on their respective teams, and they can register as supporters of any school approved group, and the money won will be distributed based on how many people support each group.

As Smoley explained, “If 100 people showed up and registered from the winning school, each person could direct $5 to their choice of group. So if 10 people out of the hundred registered under the Drama Club, the Drama Club would receive $100.”

In addition to helping their chosen group, they would receive one free game of bowling, courtesy of Lakeside Family Fun Center.

“We are excited about having this event at our location,” owner Charlie Richardson said. “We are trying to make this into a real family fun center, and this event fits that goal perfectly. And it will help keep local athletics going, which is so important to our community.”

For more information about Bass Bowling, contact Lakeside Family Fun Center at 707-263-4828 or go to www.BassBowl.com .

LAKEPORT, Calif. SERVPRO of Lake and Mendocino Counties has agreed to be the primary sponsor of the 2013 Bass Bowl, according to Bass Bowl executive director Phil Smoley.

This is the second year of Bass Bowl sponsorship by SERVPRO.

The SERVPRO Bass Bowl is the name given to the longstanding, historic rivalry football game between Clear Lake High of Lakeport, and Kelseyville High.

This year's game is to be held on Friday, Oct. 25, at Clear Lake High, when the Kelseyville Knights will attempt to win back the Bass Bowl trophy from the defending champion Clear Lake Cardinals.

Since the inception of the Bass Bowl in 2011, Clear Lake High leads the series 2 to 1.

Because high school athletic funding has all but disappeared, the Bass Bowl Committee was formed to help by leveraging the rivalry game into a fundraiser for the two schools.

“Our primary mission is to make the game more memorable so to drive more people to the game and buy a ticket, and give sponsors an opportunity to show the community they are helping with local athletics,” Smoley said. “It is great when local companies like SERVPRO step up to make things like this happen for our community.”

SERVPRO specializes in the cleanup and restoration of residential and commercial property after a fire, smoke or water damage according to company Chief Executive Officer Doug Bridges.

“We see this as an opportunity to support our schools while getting the word out about what we do,” Bridges said. “This relationship is a win-win-win for us, the kids and the Bass Bowl.”

Having a primary sponsor is critical to the success of the Bass Bowl. “We are thrilled to have SERVPRO on board as our primary sponsor,” according to Smoley. “The owners have deep roots in Lake County. By virtue of their generous donation, this year’s game will be known at the 2013 SERVPRO Bass Bowl.”

The SERVPRO Bass Bowl is preceded by Bass Bowling, a fundraising event held at Lakeside Family Fun Center in Lakeport on Oct. 20. This event pits students from each school against each other in various competitions (bowling, lazer tag, dodge ball) with overall winning school earning $500 for their school.

The big event of course, is the SERVPRO Bass Bowl itself, and both communities are encouraged to attend the game and by doing so, support local athletics.

For more information, contact Phil Smoley at 707-264-4905.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The Redbud Audubon Society will present John Muir Laws on Thursday, Oct. 24.

The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at the Glebe Social Hall, St. Peter’s Catholic Church, 4085 Main Street, Kelseyville.

Laws will present a program on “Thinking like a Naturalist: Reclaiming the Art of Natural History.”

The program focuses on simple and fun techniques you can incorporate into your own recreational nature study to share with others.

“This will be a perfect experience for teachers, home school parents, and anyone interested in taking their birding and nature study to the next level,” noted Redbud Audubon Society President Marilyn Waits.

According to Laws, developments in neuropsychology have opened doors in our understanding of the brain and how you can train yourself to see more and to be more curious about what you discover.

Laws trained as a wildlife biologist and is a research associate of the California Academy of Sciences.

He has taught nature education since 1984 in California, Wyoming, and Alaska. He has written and illustrated books about art and natural history.

As part of his visit to this area, Laws also will hold a workshop on speed drawing birds. The workshop is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 23, at 2:30 p.m. at the Ukiah High School Cafetorium.

The cost is $45, $15 for students and free for teachers. Registration in advance is required, go to www.johnmuirlaws.com , click on “Events,” then “Speed Drawing Birds.”

For more information about the Redbud Audubon Society, go to www.redbudaudubon.org .

NICE, Calif. – Come be a vendor at the Sons of Italy Holiday Faire on Saturday, Dec. 7.

The faire will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Sons of Italy Hall, located at 2817 E. Highway 20 in Nice.

The club also will be having a bake sale, selling sodas, hot dogs or Italian sausage sandwiches with peppers and onions.

If you are interested call Henrietta at 707-262-1452 and reserve a table for $20.

Items sold can be holiday or craft related.

Everyone is welcome.