CLEARLAKE, Calif. – On Saturday, Dec. 8, at Burns Valley School in Clearlake, the Rotary Club of Clearlake presented its annual free Christmas dinner.

Nine hundred meals were served with an additional 80 delivered to Meals on Wheels.

The event was possible thanks to the major support of the Rotary Club of Clearlake along with generous donations from WestAmerica Bank, Mendo Lake Credit Union and Foods, Etc.

Ginger Kite, longtime Clearlake Rotarian, and husband Ron worked tirelessly coordinating the event and collecting presents for the children.

Each of more than 500 children visited with a most authentic Santa Claus, received their photo with Santa, a candy cane and a toy.

An hour-plus power outage at the school tested Rotarians creativity cooking at multiple locations and delivering the food on schedule.

The Warm for the Winter clothing exchange occurred on the same day at Burns Valley School. Winter clothing, donated from around Lake County, is selected at no charge by those in need. Rotarians from the Clearlake Club were joined by volunteers.

Rotary International was founded in 1905 in Chicago, Illinois, by a businessman who realized that he should use some of his profits to help support the local community. Gathering together with three friends, he formed a club.

From humble beginnings, Rotary now has over 34,000 clubs with over 1.2 million members worldwide. Rotary International and its local clubs have been instrumental in the fight to eradicate polio, along with local and internationals humanitarian projects.

Locally there are four Rotary clubs in Lake County: Clearlake, Middletown, Kelseyville and Lakeport.

The Clearlake club offers various services to the local community, to mention a few, work on the sports fields, community dinners, service projects at the youth and senior centers, donations to St. Helena Hospital emergency room expansion, and dictionaries distributed each year to the third graders in all the Konocti Unified School District’s schools.

The club is supported by donations from members, local businesses and an annual fundraiser, the Seafood Boil, which will be take place Feb. 23 at the Clearlake Senior Center.

The Clearlake Rotary meets every Tuesday at 12:15 p.m. at Howard’s Grotto.

The club welcomes donations from individuals and businesses to help our worthwhile programs.

For further information, contact Club President William McDougall, P.O. Box 549, Clearlake, CA 95422.

NORTH COAST – Caltrans reports that the following road projects will be taking place around the North Coast this week.

In observance of the Christmas holiday, Caltrans crews and contractors will not be performing any activity on state highways that would include lane closures on Monday, Dec. 24, and Tuesday, Dec. 25.

However, Caltrans will respond to emergency situations with traffic control as required. Have a happy, healthy, and safe holiday season.

MENDOCINO COUNTY

Highway 1

– Replacement of the Greenwood Creek Bridge will continue. One-way traffic control with a temporary signal will be in effect 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Motorists should anticipate five-minute delays. Contractor – Golden State Bridge Inc. of Martinez.

Highway 20

– A pavement repair project from 1.4 miles west of Little Lake Road to Three Chop Road will continue. Work hours are 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., weekdays. One-way traffic control will be in effect. Motorists should anticipate 10-minute delays. Contractor – Argonaut Constructors of Santa Rosa.

Highway 101

– Caltrans will perform slide repairs near the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge (near Frog Woman Rock). Northbound traffic will be restricted to one lane 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Motorists may experience minor traffic slowdowns.

– NRC Environmental Services of Eureka has been issued a Caltrans Encroachment permit for hazardous material cleanup just north of the Empire Camp Rest resuming on Wednesday, Dec. 26. Work hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., weekdays. Southbound traffic will be restricted to one lane. Motorists may experience minor traffic slowdowns.

Highway 128

– Pavement repairs from 0.4 mile east of the Robinson Creek Bridge to the Mendocino/Sonoma County line will continue. Work hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., weekdays. One-way traffic control will be in effect. Motorists should anticipate 15-minute delays. Contractor – OC Jones and Sons of Berkeley.

Work on all these projects is weather permitting and subject to change. Caltrans advises motorists to drive with caution when approaching work areas and to be prepared to stop at traffic control stations.

The Caltrans Traffic Operations Office has reviewed each project and determined that individual project delays are expected to be less than the statewide policy maximum of 30 minutes, unless noted otherwise above.

For information pertaining to emergency roadwork or for updates to scheduled roadwork, please contact the California Highway Information Network (CHIN) at 1-800-GAS-ROAD (1-800-427-7623).

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – James Blanton, a wheelchair-bound Vietnam veteran, has not been able to leave his home without assistance for many years.  

As he put it, he was “unable to go anywhere, am isolated inside (my home)…”  

That all changed recently when Habitat for Humanity Lake County installed a wheelchair lift for him.  

Now Blanton says, “You have set an old veteran free from near imprisonment.”

His wife Gloria said “This will give him the will to live.”

Habitat for Humanity’s president Richard Birk stated, “All of us are honored to have helped James.  His grace and gratitude is truly inspiring.”  

Habitat for Humanity’s Brush of Kindness program has completed repairs and modifications on forty-seven homes in Lake County to date.

As a volunteer-based organization, Habitat needs the support of local citizens, businesses, and churches to give their time and donations to allow this program to continue.  

For further information regarding ways to help, telephone 707-994-1100.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Public Service Director Caroline C. Chavez announced that the Public Services Office and the Eastlake landfill will be closed Tuesday, Jan. 1, for the New Year’s holiday.  

The landfill and the Public Services Office will reopen Wednesday, Jan. 2.
        
Normal operating hours at the landfill are 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. The Public Services office is normally open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Christmas trees can be dropped off at Lake County Waste Solution, 230 Soda Bay Road in Lakeport, and at the Southlake Refuse Recycling drop off, located at the Eastlake Landfill, 16015 Davis St. in Clearlake and Quackenbush at 16520 Davis St., starting Dec. 26, and running through Jan. 19.

Both buyback/drop off centers are open from 7:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. daily except New Year’s Day and accept many other recyclable materials.

Lake County Waste Solutions and South Lake Refuse & Recycling will be providing for their customers, free curbside Christmas tree recycling.

Place your tree in to your green waste container on your regular pick up day. Please remove all ornaments, lights and tinsel for all Christmas tree recycling,  no flocked trees will be accepted.

If you have any questions regarding this subject or any of the solid waste issues in Lake County, please call 707-262-1760.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – The American Red Cross has received a $5,000 donation from Steve Eazell, president of the Western State Acquirers Association (WSAA), to help those affected by Superstorm Sandy.

The donation was given to American Red Cross, Sonoma, Mendocino & Lake Counties, for support of the national Sandy relief effort.

Eazell, who is national sales and marketing director for SECURE Payment Systems, is based in Windsor, Calif., close to the headquarters for the Red Cross in Sonoma County.

“This is a challenge to others in our industry,” Eazell said. “We here at the Western States Acquirers Association were touched deeply by the devastation caused by Superstorm Sandy and wanted to do what we could to help in the relief efforts.”  He continued,” The Red Cross has always provided an outstanding response to communities facing situations like these and we can think of no better way to spend this small token of our support.”

WSAA is a nonprofit association of acquirers, which are financial institutions that provide credit card services to merchants. The association serves the acquiring business community through education, training, and networking events.

Thanks to public support, the American Red Cross has provided food, shelter, relief supplies and comfort to thousands of people impacted by Sandy. This has included:

• Serving more than 8.8 million meals and snacks.
• Handing out more than 6.6 million relief items, including cold weather items and clean-up supplies.
• Providing more than 101,000 health services and emotional support contacts for people who have been living in very difficult conditions.
• Connecting with more than 93,000 families and individuals to determine recovery needs and provide access to resources.
• Mobilizing more than 15,800 trained workers to help people affected by Sandy. About 90 percent of them are volunteers from all over the country.
• Overall, a range of groups has provided more than 158,000 shelter stays for Sandy, and the Red Cross has provided more than 81,000 of those stays.

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families.

The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission.

For more information, please visit www.redcross.org or join the blog at http://blog.redcross.org .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The UC Master Gardeners of Lake County will host a workshop on bareroot fruit trees on Wednesday, Jan. 2.

“Buying Bareroot Fruit Trees: What you need to know to make the right choice” will be held beginning at 1 p.m. at the Lake County Agricultural Center, 883 Lakeport Blvd., Lakeport.

Growing fruit successfully in Lake County starts with knowing what to look for when buying a fruit tree.

There are many things to consider, starting with your specific microclimate and growing conditions, to general knowledge about what constitutes a healthy, desirable tree.

Learn about all that and more with Jim Harrell, veteran UC Master Gardener.  

Harrell comes from a family of orchardists and is intimately familiar with what it takes to get you off to a good start.

Please RSVP to 707-263-6838. A $5 donation is suggested.