LAKEPORT – Chef Christina Basor will host a raw foods dehydrator class on Sunday, June 27.

The class will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Hartley Lodge, 375 N. Main St., Lakeport.

The cost is $35, which includes lunch.

The class will cover essential dehydrator information, cheesy kale chips, energy cookies, crunchy fruit and nut granola, famous onion bread and all-American vegan burger.

Please RSVP by calling Basor at 707-489-3600 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

LAKE COUNTY – Lake County Fair’s contest program is now open for entry, with a number of new contests offered for 2010.

The contests offer local residents the chance to show off their skills in their hobbies and professions, have their work compared to the work of their friends and neighbors, and win cash prizes for the results.

New contests in 2010 include an open rabbit show, a variety of baking contests using recipes published by the Fair, a contest for “recycled” art made from discarded goods, contests for honey, and an olive oil competition with variety of different olive oil classes.

In addition, the clothing and textiles competitions, which expanded in 2009 to their own building, also have a variety of new categories.

Fair industry professionals often talk about how special the contest programs at county fairs are. Many of the other activities at a fair can be found other places. Amusement parks and family fun centers offer rides, games, and food. Zoos, aquariums, and wild animal parks offer a glimpse at many exotic creatures.

Specialty festivals offer contests that are focused on one product or industry. Live music can be found in many places. But only the county fair offers such a huge diversity of contests that just about everyone can participate in something.

Lake County Fair offered contests in 2,265 classes in 2009, a number which has grown slightly in 2010.

More than $40,000 in prize monies are offered each year, with around 40 percent of that amount actually being won in any given year.

Prize winners took home $16,800.70 in total cash prizes in 2009, an increase of more than 6.5 percent over 2008.

Contests are divided into various categories depending upon the types of items to be exhibited, starting with departments, then divisions, and then classes of goods.

Departments include flowers and plants, fine arts and photography, home arts, agriculture and horticulture, livestock, and horses.

As an example, the agriculture department has a division for vine crops, which further breaks down into twenty classes for different types of cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, and squash. Every class represents a unique contest.

Lake County Fair prints a contest handbook, with details of all departments, divisions and classes, along with all of the rules for entering and the prizes available.

The contest handbook is available from more than twenty outlets around Lake County, and also is available on the fair’s Web site at www.lakecountyfair.com.

Actual entry forms must be filled out online, with the information deposited directly into the contest database. The forms must then be printed and signed. The signed entry forms and payment of entry fees will be accepted anytime in June or July, but must be received before Aug. 13 at 6 p.m.

Contestants can access the entry forms from any computer with Internet access at the fair's Web site, www.lakecountyfair.com. A high speed Internet connection is required.

Computers are available in a variety of places, including schools, libraries, and the fairgrounds office. Fairgrounds staff will be happy to assist contestants who visit the fairgrounds office during regular business hours. Contestants are well advised to avoid the last minute rush and get their entries completed early.

Most classes at the Lake County Fair require an entry fee, usually from $1 to $3, although some classes are free to enter and others cost a bit more, usually in classes where the prize monies are greater as well.

Contestants paid a total of $10,773 in entry fees in 2009. Obviously, these fees don’t cover the costs of the cash prizes, never mind the costs of judges, clerks, ribbons, trophies, and all the other things that go into putting on the contests. But hopefully, the contestants bring their families and friends to visit the Lake County Fair to see if they’ve won a prize, and help to offset all those other costs when they buy admission tickets.

Judges for contests at the Lake County Fair are chosen for their expertise in a given subject, and come from outside of Lake County to provide impartiality.

There are no guidelines for how often a judge may return to the fair, but Lake County Fair tries to follow a policy of a maximum of two years in a row for any given judge. County fairs work together, circulating their lists of judges and giving each other feedback about any given judge.

The Lake County Fair also accepts recommendations from exhibitors, other judges, and the public in order to find and secure judges for all the classes at the fair.

The Lake County Fair Board has chosen "Fun for the Whole Herd!" for the theme of the 2010 Fair. The Lake County Fair traditionally occurs Labor Day weekend each year at the fairgrounds in Lakeport.

The 2010 fair dates are Sept. 2 through Sept. 5. More than 37,000 people visit the Lake County Fair each year. For more information please call the fair office at 263-6181, or visit the Fair on the Internet at www.lakecountyfair.com.

LAKEPORT – The 81^st annual Lake County Rodeo is just around the corner, with fun expected for the whole family, including children.

The event will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, July 9, and Saturday, July 10, at the Lake County Fairgrounds, 401 Martin St. in Lakeport.

The rodeo will include a variety of contests and activities for children. The following are just a few of what the event has to offer.

To sign up call the Lake County Rodeo at 707-245-7431. Applications may be picked up at the Lake County Chamber office, 875 Lakeport Blvd. at Vista Point, in Lakeport, telephone 707-263-5092.

Mutton bustin'

On Friday and Saturday nights at the rodeo, a handful of excited children under the age of 8, will climb aboard wily, woolly sheep and hang on for the ride of their lives in the mutton bustin' competition.

The object is to stay on as the sheep, take off across the arena at a gallop. The contestants are judged on the length of the ride and their “style” much the same way a bull rider is judged.

Each contestant will receive a free T-shirt and the winners receive a silver belt buckle courtesy of CJS Ranch Supply.

Signups for this event are taken until there are eight contestants for each night.

Thank you to sponsor CJS Ranch Supply in Middletown, Fred Robinson who supplies the sheep and all the rodeo directors who bring the event to the arena each night.

Cutest cowpoke

Each year several youngsters, ages 4 to 8 years, enter this contest. One boy and one girl will be chosen as the winners.

The contest will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the Soper Reese Theater, Main Street in Lakeport on Friday, June 25.

The children are usually dressed in their “cowpoke” garb and they are interviewed as to their favorite animals, hobbies and such.

Interviews of the 2010 contestants will be conducted by the 2009 Lake County Rodeo Princess, Jocelyn Bennett.

The 2010 winners will be announced on Friday evening, July 9, at the opening night of the 81st Annual Lake County Rodeo at the fairgrounds in Lakeport.

They are driven into the Grand Arena in the Official Rodeo Truck. The winner’s official buckles will be presented by the 2010 sponsors, Clear Lake Junior Horsemen and Scotts Valley 4H Horse Group.

The Lake County Rodeo Association wishes to thank its sponsors mentioned above for their support of this contest and the 81st Annual Lake County Rodeo.

LAKEPORT – The next HazMobile event will be held on Friday, June 18, and Saturday, June 19, at Kmart, 2019 S. Main St., in Lakeport.

Hours will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Events may be canceled due to rain.

Households can bring up to fifteen gallons of toxic items free of charge. A charge will be made for amounts above 15 gallons.

Items that are accepted include paint, solvents, fuels, 5-gallon propane tanks, pool chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, dry cell batteries, fluorescent light tubes (up to 60 feet for free) and other toxins that cannot be put in the trash.

Excluded items that cannot be accepted are televisions, computer monitors, ammunition, explosives, radioactive materials or infectious wastes.

To learn how and where to properly dispose these items, please contact the Public Services office at

707-263-1980.

This is a residential service. Charges apply to businesses; phone 707-468-9786 for more information and business appointments.

Free recycled paint is available at Lake County Waste Solution Transfer Station at 230 Soda Bay Road in Lakeport on a first-come, first-serve basis in 5-gallon containers of tan, brown, gray and pink.

Used oil can be recycled year round at a number of sites in the county.

The HazMobile program is subsidized by the Lake County Public Services Department Solid Waste Division.

If you have any questions regarding this or any of Lake County’s Solid Waste programs, please call 707-262-1760 or the Hot Line number at 707-263-1980.

LAKEPORT – If you want to learn more about the equestrian art and sport of dressage, then come hear USDF Gold Medalist Sharon Marshall talk about how to be your own dressage trainer at her free lecture.

Marshall will speak at 6:30 p.m. Friday, June 18, at the Lakeport English Inn, 675 N. Main St.

Then, join the group on Saturday, June 19, for Marshall's dressage clinic in Scotts Valley.

The cost is $50 per rider with free auditing.

Marshall is an outstanding teacher who you don't want to miss.

For more information, call Winnie at 707-994-3756, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..