CLEARLAKE OAKS— The Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce held their annual Luau on the Creek this Saturday at the Cache Creek Vineyards and Winery. Bringing the food and fun from Hawaii to Clearlake Oaks with a full pig roast dinner catered by Biasotti Barbecue, desserts baked and auctioned by the Lower Lake FFA, a silent auction and raffle, as well as entertainment provided by Pyrophoria Fire Troupe and also musical guest Angie Maserati.
Over 160 people attended the Luau this year with the Lower Lake FFA volunteering their time providing hospitality services. The dinner was in traditional Hawaiian style with whole-roasted pigs, pineapple, pasta salad and vegetable fried rice catered by Biasotti Barbecue. Owner Tim Biasotti grew up in Lake County and is also a member of the Chamber. Having taught for 16 years Biasotti also spent time coaching basketball at Lower Lake and is always looking for ways to engage with students and give back to the community stating “How cool that the (FFA) students just raised thousands of dollars for their project.”
According to Ariana Covarrubias, Reporter for the Lower Lake FFA, via e-mail “17 Lower Lake students volunteered to set up tables, decorate, serve appetizers and dinner, and clean up afterwards. The Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce generously allowed us to hold a dessert auction after dinner. There were 18 desserts all homemade by students, in which Lower Lake FFA raised $5,735 for the chapter.” The desserts included brownies, cheesecake, and 10 pounds of banana cream pudding all auctioned to the highest bidder going from $100 to $2,000 dollars. The funds will be used for their new barn as Covarrubias further shared “On September 22 construction began on Lower Lake FFA’s new barn. L.L. FFA has been pushing for five years to begin construction. Finally, Lower Lake students’ dreams have come true as they will be able to keep animals in the new barn for next years’ county fair. Thank you to all of our community members who continuously show their support to our chapter!”
The Pyrophoria Fire Troupe utterly amazed attendees with their choreographed performance during dinner, dancing with various props lit on fire. Crew member Sarah Dutra shared, “We love it as much as the crowd does.” The troupe is a Lake County based group of entertainers whose side hustle is dancing with fire. They book both community and private events ranging from dinners to weddings and any other opportunity to showcase the aesthetics of fire as Dura stated “We love making fire beautiful. We hope to help people see that fire is not always scary, which can be understandably hard for residents of Lake County.” They are a 10 person crew, having eight performers and two crew members designated for safety and assisting in both lighting and putting out props.
Hosting such an event allows an opportunity for the community to connect on a neighborly level and come together for a charitable cause, raising funds for both the Lower Lake FFA and Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce. The chamber assists local businesses in achieving success through the help of their many partners and hosts monthly events to promote business and establish local networking connections. Chamber member Coleen Yorba Lee shared “When everyone says that dinner, music, fire dancers were good, it makes you feel like we did a good job! We want people to have a great time! With a new web page coming and this Luau behind us we now can start helping businesses grow.”
