LAKE COUNTY
Lake County Fair welcomed new chapter this year
This year’s Lake County Fair welcomed a new 4H chapter, the Xa-Ben-Na-Po group meaning “Peaople of/by the Water” located in Upper Lake, and also saw rain for the first time in years.
The rain came pouring down right before the Farm Auction began, around 11a.m. Saturday, forcing everyone under the agriculture Buildings to examine the market animals ready for purchase. The Xa-Ben-Na-Po 4H group had a number of market hogs available as well as two goats and a sheep.
Rachel Fred, member of the Xa-Ben-Na-Po 4H group, was excited to get her pig sold sharing, “My first year has been good.” Fred said she was looking forward to raising next years’ market animal. “It depends on which animal,” she said, after seeing all of the different options at the auction. Liz Lincoln, who helped organize the new chapter explained how the process went and how hard the kids have worked, sharing, “The community has really come together and been so supportive of this.”
Several of the group’s market hogs were overweight and sold for $17 plus per pound. Fred’s market hog fetched a whopping $17.50 per pound. This year’s Grand Champions were awarded as follows, with Cecilia Knight’s rabbits selling for $2500, Riley Hanson’s steer for eight dollars per pound, Daniel Hunt’s chickens for $2500, Madison Renfro’s lamb sold for $64 per pound, Chase Schuster’s turkey sold for $2900, Jayme Zimmerschied’s goat went for $60 per pound and Brody Petrie’s trailer ag project auctioned for $7000.
—Nikki Carboni
UKIAH
Former jihadis tell their own tales at NorCal documentary film premiere
“Nothing is easier than to denounce the evildoer. Nothing is more difficult than to understand him.”
With these words, award-winning documentary filmmaker Meg Smaker set out to understand the humanity and motivations of al-Qaeda-trained fighters, recently released from Guantanamo. “The Unredacted” is their own story, in their own words: why they made the choices they did, and how they grew into middle-aged men in one of the highest security prisons in the world. The L.A. Times calls the film “a moving portrait of souls damaged and destroyed by war.”
Smaker was a firefighter the day that hijacked planes flew into the twin towers at the World Trade Center. “When the towers came down, my understanding of the world came crumbling down with them,” she recalls. “The world presented to me by popular media – a simplistic world of good and evil, us vs them –seemed to answer none of the questions burning inside of me, raised by the events of that day and its aftermath.”
So she traveled to Afghanistan and Yemen, learning Dari and Arabic and teaching firefighting techniques to Afghan firefighters.
Filmmaker Meg Smaker will be available for an in-person interview and Q&A after a viewing of her latest film, “The Unredacted,” on Friday, September 29 at 6:30 pm at Mendocino College Center Theater in Ukiah. This is a benefit for KZYX Mendocino County Public Broadcasting Ukiah Building Fund. Tickets are $25, available at Mendocino Book Company in Ukiah, Mazahar in Willits, Harvest Market in Fort Bragg and online at Eventbrite.com. Tickets are on sale at Eventbrite.com (Search for KZYX and/or The UnRedacted); Mendocino Book Company, Ukiah; Mazahar Boutique, Willits; and Harvest Market, Ft. Bragg.
—Submitted
LAKE COUNTY
4-H Youth Receive Local Scholarship
Two long time Scotts Valley 4-Hers were awarded $850 scholarships recently. Emma Mertle and Abby Mertle, were honored with the 2023 Paul and Otha Alexander Memorial Scholarship at the 2023 Lake County Fair.
Both Abby and Emma were active in the Scotts Valley 4-H club for 12 years, serving as officers and raising a variety of livestock for auction at the Lake County Fair. Both young women graduated Clear Lake High School in 2023.
Abby proved to be an exceptional student, played basketball and volleyball, worked summers at a local business, raised quality market animals including a champion market hog and turkey, and volunteered at community events. Her plans for the future include study at Butte College and then Montana State.
Emma earned straight As in school and enjoyed being involved in sports and student leadership. One of her proudest achievements was to have been selected to raise an auction hog to benefit the Lake County Fair Foundation which garnered over $25,000 in donations in 2022. A passionate advocate for agriculture, Emma plans to attend Chico State to study Agriculture Education.
The twin sisters both expressed appreciation for the opportunities they had in school and 4-H. “The Alexander Family is proud to recognize the character, leadership, and community involvement of Emma and Abby Mertle,” commented Peggy Alexander, Coordinator of the Paul and Otha Alexander Memorial Scholarship. The young women are the daughters of Jeff and Brite Mertle of Lakeport. This year marks the 23st year of scholarship awards to local graduates, awards sponsored by the Lake County 4-H Council, the Falge family, and the Alexander family.
—Submitted
