LAKEPORT, Calif. – Thrive Lake County and Marymount California University will co-host “Showcase on Happiness” at the Lucerne Senior Center, 3985 Country Club Drive, on Tuesday, March 18.

Lake County residents and community organization participation is currently being sought.

The “Showcase on Happiness” will explore the concept of happiness and its role as a true measure of community prosperity. It is the first step towards considering the economics of happiness within Lake County community-wide planning processes.

“Lake County has so many assets – our deep sense of community, beautiful landscapes, clean air, quality of life, high volunteerism – to name a few,” said Lake County District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing.

“These assets are not considered when assessing our community using the traditional measure of economic measurement,” said Rushing. “Establishing a happiness or well-being index is important, as it would enable us to attract more of what we want, and avoid what we don’t want. Additionally, it would help us assess ahead of time how any proposed action would impact Lake County’s total well-being, not just those attributes measured by dollars and cents.”

A community fair will take place from 6 to 7 p.m. and is open to all. Free table space will be provided to any organization wishing to set up a display on how they are promoting well-being and happiness inn Lake County.

To reserve your space, please contact Carol Cole-Lewis at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Both organizations and community residents are invited to contribute during the town hall meeting to be held from 7 to 8 p.m., where views on what they feel contributes to Lake County community prosperity can be voiced.

For more information about Thrive Lake County, visit http://thrivelakecounty.org .

For more information about Marymount California University, visit http://www.marymountcalifornia.edu/ .

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The next contra dance will be held this Saturday, March 1, at Armstrong Hall (home of Lake County Jazzercise) in Middletown.

This dance will be led by Nick Cuccia, who is traveling to Middletown from Merced just to call this dance.

The live, old-time fiddle music will be provided by “The Ruby Mountain String Band” from Potter Valley. The band is led by Darin Smith, an awardwinning fiddler who also plays cello with the Lake County Symphony.

This is a beginners' dance and is open to anyone. No dancing experience needed.

Contra dancing is a great low pressure and fun way to socialize for people of all ages. If you are unfamiliar with contra dancing, it is somewhat similar to square dancing, but less formal. There is no fancy footwork that you have to learn or memorize; you are led through each dance by the caller.

Because it’s a social dance, you don’t need to arrive with a partner; in fact, most people don’t. When you dance, you dance with a partner, but you also have many neighbors that you dance with too. At the end of a dance, you say goodbye to your partner and get another one.

Armstrong Hall is located at 15642 Armstrong St. in Middletown, two blocks behind the post office.

The dance begins with easier dances at 7 p.m. and gently progresses to more challenging figures until 9:30 p.m. Admission is $5 at the door.

Please wear clean shoes that won’t harm the hardwood floor and bring your own water bottle.

For more information, contact Beth Rudiger, 707-260-2900 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Wine Studio (LCWS) is hosting a wine release party and artist show event with Brassfield Estate Winery and painter, Tamsen Donner with her show titled “Subject to Change” from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, March 7, and 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday, March 8.

March will mark the first month of 2014 that the Saturday event will include an optional progressive three-course winemaker dinner series at the Tallman Hotel following the appetizer course at the studio.

Associate winemaker Jason Moulton and director of hospitality and tasting room manager Cielo Fox will be at the studio and Tallman Hotel for the Saturday reception and special dinner event.

Featuring limited releases from the High Valley Appellation, the $12.50 ($10/per person for studio club members) wine sampler and appetizers designed by Chef Mark Linback and presented at the studio will showcase the 2012 Sauvignon Blanc with creamed Feta and baby tomatoes on crostini, the 2012 Gewürztraminer with house made hummus and pita chips, 2012 Dry Riesling with citrus marinated prawns and the 2005 Monte Sereno Syrah with Linback’s specialty lamb meatballs.

The wines and menu prepared by guest chef Mark Linback at the Tallman Hotel on March 8 will showcase the latest release of Brassfield 2012 Serenity with Dungeness Crab crepes with Basil oil and Frisee salad.

The second course will feature Pinot Noir with spice brined pork rack with cauliflower potato gratin and the dessert course will pair 2008 Late Harvest Johannisberg Riesling with an almond custard tart with apricot glaze.

Reservations for the Saturday tasting at the Studio and dinner at the Tallman are $75 plus tax and may be obtained by calling the Tallman Hotel at 707-275-2244, Extension 0.

Musical guest at during the Friday evening reception will be Bob Culbertson on the Chapman Stick, and during the Saturday reception will be Majide! with Paul Kemp on keyboard and vocals by Machiko.

Upper Lake artist Tamsen Donner grew up “in the hullabaloo of a large family,” she said, and came to art at an early age having been born to creative parents. Her father was a sculptor and a professor at Stanford where he taught radio, television and film. Her mother was a writer, gardener and a chef.

Donner's childhood was spent in the then-rural Los Altos, Calif. “Chickens, ducks, horses and dogs were part of the family,” she said, and indeed, these animals find their way into her paintings now.

She later moved to Austin, Texas, with years abroad in England and France where she attended the Leo Marchutz School of Painting and Drawing in Aix-en-Provence. Eventually she received a humanities degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

Of her art making, Donner explained, “Any array of jobs have dovetailed my painting career – from designing debutante party decorations to teaching French.  Life's little comedies continue to inspire me.”

Influenced by Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Marisot, Caillebotte, Diebenkorn and Bischoff, her current body of work focuses on birds and animals in oils on small scale canvases. Her colorful subjects are wage to transmit whimsical personalities and chimerical expressions.

Brassfield Estate Winery and Vineyard is located in the High Valley AVA of Lake County with vineyard blocks ranging from 1800 feet on the valley floor to nearly 3000 feet elevation up on the surrounding volcanic ridges.

The varying microclimates, soils and temperature changes among the vineyard sites provide remarkable growing conditions for well over a dozen varietals.

In 2009, renowned winemaker David Ramey became the consulting winemaker for Brassfield Estate, working closely with Moulton and staff to take the exceptional estate-grown fruit from harvest to the best expression in wine.

Affirmation was sweetly offered earlier this month, when Brassfield Estate’s entries of Sauvignon Blanc and proprietary red blend Eruption won gold medals and their Pinot Noir, Pinot Grigio and proprietary white blend Serenity swept up silver medals at the 2014 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.

Lake County Wine Studio is a gallery for display of arts and a tasting room, wine bar and retail shop for the fine wines of Lake County.  Artist’s shows are held on a monthly basis with art and wine receptions held the first Friday and subsequent Saturday of each month.

The gallery is located at 9505 Main St. in Upper Lake. It is open Mondays, 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; 1 to 7 p.m. Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays; and 1 to 8 p.m. Fridays.

The Donner art show will be on display for the full month of March.

For more information call Lake County Wine Studio at 707-275-8030 or 707-293-8752.

For further information about the dinner check www.TallmanHotel.com or call 707-275-2244.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – State Assembly Candidate Dan Wolk will meet constituents during his “office hours” from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, March 1, at Mugshots Espresso, 21159 Calistoga Road in Middletown.

Community members are invited to stop by and meet Wolk, share ideas or ask questions.

Wolk serves as deputy county counsel for Solano County, handling public finance, public contracting and water issues.

He has served on the Davis City Council since 2011 and is currently mayor pro tem. Wolk also is the founder of the Legal Clinic of Yolo County, a legal services provider for low-income families.

Assembly District 4 consists of Napa and Lake counties, most of Yolo County, as well as portions of Sonoma, Solano and Colusa counties.

For more information visit Wolk's Web site at http://danwolk.org/ .

NORTH COAST, Calif. – “Women's Voices” on KZYX will host discussions on North Coast water issues, Women's History Month and women in power on Monday, March 3.

The show will air at 7 p.m. on 90.7 FM Philo, 88.1 FM Fort Bragg, 91.5 FM Willits and streaming live at www.kzyx.org. The show also will be archived at http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/contributor/4206 .

Is Mendocino in a drought? Listen to Willits Mayor Holly Madrigal talk about what Willits has done and how its efforts have made a statewide splash.

March is Women's History Month. How did that all start? Listen to Molly McGregor tell about the origins of Women's History Month and how it has grown.

Why aren't there more elected women? Betsey Cotton of Close the Gap will tell of her group's effort to bring more women to the tables of power.

There also will be music and much more on the March 3 show.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Parish of St. Mary Immaculate in Lakeport will hold a crab feed fundraiser on Saturday, March 1.

The event will be held at the church, located at 801 N. Main St.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m., with the dinner beginning at 6 p.m.

There will be a no host bar, silent auction and dessert auction.

Tickets are $45 per person.

The crab feed will raise funds for the church's youth programs, specifically, religious education.

For tickets call Pat Lambert at 707-245-7280 or come by the Farmers Insurance office in the Bruno's Shopping Center on Lakeport Boulevard.