Ruth Angst, luncheon chairman for the Fire Sirens, has a delicious menu prepared consisting of vegetarian lasagna, salad, rolls, coffee/tea, and dessert.

The featured speaker during lunch is Dr. Korby Olson, superintendent of the Middletown Unified School District.

The cost at the door is $5 per person, which is retained by the organization serving lunch.

The Fire Sirens raise funds to purchase emergency equipment for the South Lake County Fire Protection District.

The band Without a Net will provide live music at the Little League fundraiser on Saturday, January 23, 2010. Courtesy photo.

CLEARLAKE – This Saturday, Jan. 23, South Shore Little League will hold a benefit dinner and dance at the Clearlake Community Center on Bowers Avenue.

Tickets are only $15 and include a tri-tip dinner, auction and music by local rock band “Without a Net.”

All funds will go to help the league recover from last year’s burglary in which $3,000 worth of equipment was stolen and vandalized.

The dinner starts at 5:30 p.m.

Tickets are available at Wild About Books on Olympic Drive or at the door.

Lake County has many circumstances that require special interpretation of "mainstream" gardening information. Soil texture, structure and fertility receive attention. Irrigation water quality is a concern for many gardeners. Wildlife pests (critters) are also an issue for some gardeners.

Utilizing 25 years of small farm and nursery experience in Lake County, as well as 12 years of nursery experience in Sonoma County, Hoyt attempts to integrate scientific agricultural information with common everyday gardeners' observations and intuition.

Students will be encouraged to observe and respond to landscapes. A recurring question in this class is "How does this landscape make YOU feel?" There are no right or wrong landscapes in this class. A gardener's landscape is their personal choice! This class will help you make that an informed choice!

Learn about hundreds of types of trees, shrubs, vines, flowering plants and food plants adapted to Lake County conditions. An important aspect of this class is learning about science based methods to estimate garden water use. This combined with basic irrigation management will allow gardeners to optimally water their landscapes while reducing waste, thus conserving their precious water resources.

Students will learn 20 different aspects of their garden environment and will be encouraged to consider thirty different types of "wants" for their garden. Students will evaluate their own resources for landscaping.

AGR 54-Home Landscaping class begins Feb. 2 and ends April 27. It runs Tuesdays 5:30 p.m. to 8:20 p.m., and the following five Saturdays: 9 a.m. to noon, Feb. 3, Feb. 20, March 6, March 20 and April 17.

Call the Mendocino College Lake Center at 707-263-4944 for more information.

Enjoy a buffet dinner of three different pasta sauces white, green and red, Italian marinated baked chicken breasts with green salad, garlic bread then topped off with yummy cake for dessert.

The bar is open for socializing at 5 p.m. then dinner will be served at 6 p.m.

Enjoy dancing to music of the Jim Williams Band right after the meal.

All tickets cost $15 at the door. Everyone is welcome.

For information about this event or renting the hall for your own, call 707-274-9952.

MIDDLETOWN – The South Lake County Fire Sirens is a group of volunteers who raise money for emergency equipment for the South Lake County Fire Protection District.

The group holds periodic rummage/bake sales and an annual Christmas boutique. They also sponsor the File of Life Program and monthly blood drives in conjunction with the Blood Bank of the Redwoods.

Members meet the first Monday of each month at 9:30 a.m. for coffee and 10 a.m. for their business meeting. They usually have a community service person as their guest speaker prior to the business meeting. The group meets in the conference room of the Middletown Fire Station on Highway 175.

Mark your calendars for our upcoming featured speakers:

– Feb. 1: District 1 Supervisor Jim Comstock, “What’s happening in Lake County”;

– March 1: Pat Plank, district director of the American Red Cross.

Come join the Fire Sirens and make new friends, too!