LAKEPORT
Winefest supports local symphony, businesses, artists
It’s time to mark your calendars for this year’s annual Lake County Home Wine and Beer Makers’ Festival at Lakeport’s Library Park taking place from noon to 5p.m. on Saturday, June 10. General admission is free. Wine and beer tasters will pay $30 in advance or $35 at the gate to taste samples from home wine and beer makers. There will also be some of Lake County’s finest commercial wines available for tasting this year from Six Sigma, Smiling Dogs and Rosa D’Oro.
As it has over the past several decades, the Winefest features wine and beer tasting, along with a large variety of booths with artwork, crafts, clothing, and agricultural products for folks to wander through. Music will be provided by The Hip Replacements, and several musicians from the Lake County Symphony will also be on hand to entertain during the day. Attendees to this year’s event can expect a variety of delicious food choices from local vendors: La Catrina Food Truck offers a selection of Mexican favorites; The Noodle Bowl will provide their popular ramen bowls with grilled meat and vegetables; and Bing’s Kitchen again brings their tasty Filipino food (lumpia). Ripe Choice Farm and Catering, Villa’s Snow Cones, and Danae’s Desserts will also be there.
Volunteers of the LCSA Wine Club organize this yearly event to benefit the Lake County Symphony Association (LCSA). Proceeds are used to support LCSA’s activities, including in-school music programs for students, scholarships, concerts, and underwriting of the Lake County Symphony and the Community and Youth Orchestra. John Parkinson, music director and conductor for the last 43 years, will again be manning the symphony’s booth.
Now in its 21st year, the Winefest was started by the late Connel Murray (with other amateur winemakers who were supporters of the symphony) to raise funds for the Lake County Symphony. As the Winefest expanded over the years, amateur and commercial beer makers were included—a welcome addition for beer lovers.
All amateur participants are eligible to win gold, silver and bronze ribbons given for a wide range of varietals and brews in the popular “Peoples’ Choice” awards voted on by attendees. Home winemakers also have the chance to enter their creations for blind judging by experts the evening before the Winefest. Local participating commercial wineries and breweries are not eligible for prizes, which only go to the amateurs.
Visitors to the Winefest who choose not to indulge in wine tasting, can show support for the LCSA by placing bids on Silent Auction items or buying tickets for the Barrel of Wine Raffle. The Silent Auction includes items like original artwork, trips, hotel stays, and gift items donated by local businesses. Congressman Mike Thompson has regularly donated a U.S. flag from the Capitol, along with products from his Lake County vineyard. The popular “Barrel of Wine” raffle goes on all day long and gives the lucky winner approximately 36 bottles of assorted Lake County wines. The actual barrel used for the wines in the raffle will be available for bidders in the Silent Auction.
More details and can be found online at lakecountywinefest.com. Advance tickets are available at several Lakeport locations: Watershed Books, Wine in the Willows, and the Lake County Chamber of Commerce; tickets can also be found at Laujor Estate Winery in Kelseyville, and online, through Eventbrite. See Lake County Winefest on Facebook for the latest information.
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LAKE COUNTY
New program launches to develop coordinated County Action Plan for extreme heat events and harmful algal blooms in Lake County
A new program – Climate Health Adaptation and Resilience Mobilizing (CHARM) – recently launched in Lake County to establish the first county-wide and coordinated action plan for addressing the impact of extreme heat events and harmful algal blooms (HABs) in communities.
Severe heat events increase the chance of illness and death, especially among vulnerable populations. A warming climate may also be related to the local increase in HABs, which produce a toxin called microcystin that can affect the water supply and impact community health.
“We found that homes that rely on private drinking water supplied by Clear Lake have been contaminated with microcystin during harmful algal blooms. We know HABs are increasing in Lake County, and we’re concerned that more people will be at risk,” says Paul English, Principal Investigator of CHARM, referring to a recent study from Cal-WATCH, a program that he leads in collaboration with Big Valley and which prompted the development of the CHARM project.
“Within the Tribal community and seemingly throughout Lake County, people of this area are not fully prepared to face increasing heat waves and HABs. While it’s critical to continue monitoring these issues, we know there needs to be a plan in place to protect the sensitive populations from these impacts. There’s a lot to do – for example there aren’t any established cooling centers in the area. This project will help build resiliency for our communities,” explained Sarah Ryan, Environmental Director at Big Valley and Co-Investigator for the CHARM project.
To guide the project and the development of the action plan, the CHARM project is establishing a working group of representatives from local Tribes, county government, and community-based organizations that are engaged in emergency response.
“This project is an opportunity to begin addressing these critical issues in a collaborative way, and I’m honored to participate in this effort on behalf of the Lake County community,” said Terre Logsdon, Chief Climate Resiliency Officer for the County of Lake.
The 2-year project will also include an information-gathering phase, including data analysis, review of other emergency response plans, and collecting input from local residents about their knowledge, beliefs, and experiences related to extreme heat and HABs in Lake County. Results will be used by the working group to develop the action plan.
For more information about the project, please contact: Susan.Paulukonis@trackingcalifornia.org or visit www.CHARMLakeCounty.org.
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