KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The 20th annual Kelseyville Pear Festival will be held Saturday, Sept. 29, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Main Street in historic downtown Kelseyville.

In the fall of 1993 the first Kelseyville Pear Festival was held.

The Kelseyville Business Association decided to feature one festival per year and to promote the agricultural heritage of the community. The festival has since grown in attendance from 1,500 the first year to 9,000 last year.

“We invite everyone to attend our festival in our friendly country town,” said Marilyn Holdenried, chairman and founder of the 20th annual Kelseyville Pear Festival.

The center point of the Kelseyville Pear Festival is the Pear Pavilion — a large showcase of “everything pear” including historical photos, videos, and agricultural exhibits.

Some of Lake County’s finest “pear products” – jams and jellies, refreshing pear ice cream and delicious pear pies, always sell out.

The event, which is held each year on the last Saturday in September, begins at 9:30 a.m. with a charming hometown parade right down Main Street.

Highlights of the parade this year will be three grand marshals. Longtime festival volunteers Judy Card, John Puccetti and Eric Scholfield will be honored for their years of contribution.

The prince and princess of the festival also will be recognized for their award winning essays.

The parade is chocked full of kids, tractors, horsedrawn wagons, antique cars, marching bands, floats, and groups that walk or march for fun.

For the first time in festival history, the Lake County Horse Council presents a free family event including live equine demonstrations, equestrian exhibitors and a parade of breeds. Learn what horse people in Lake County are doing to promote and preserve the area for the horse industry and recreation. Entrance to this event will be right off Main Street.

Antique tractors, steam engines and all types of farm equipment will be on display as part of the antique tractor and engine exhibit where many local tractor collectors show off their finest, oldest and most unusual models.

Colorful quilts, heirloom, classic and unique designs are exhibited at the Methodist Church social hall.
The lobby of the WestAmerica Bank is transformed into a fine arts show. Eye-popping classic and contemporary art is on display and available for sale.

Lining the streets is an array of fine quality local arts and crafts with a focus on pear inspired creations.
A plethora of food vendors are selected to participate each year.  Barbecue, sandwiches, popcorn, even Pear Margaritas are popular. You name the treat and it can be found.

Performances are held on three different stages throughout the day. Dancers, singers, actors and local musicians are featured.

Daylong activities are planned for the children’s area. The fun spot to be will be at The Hang Out Theatre. This is the place for 10 to 15 year olds to meet up with friends and enjoy all kinds of entertainment.  Music, dancing and a young comedian are on the schedule. The theater will be in the big tent right behind the Catholic Church on Main Street.

On festival day, the top four winners of the Pear Dessert Contest will be announced. Prizes include gift certificates to local restaurants.

To enter a favorite recipe, bring it and an application to the Kelseyville Presbyterian Church Friendship Hall on Friday, Sept. 28, between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Include the recipe and a disposable container.

Event-goers are encouraged to “make a weekend of it” by enjoying a special pre-festival evening concert beginning at 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28.

Singin’ Cowboy Dave Stamey returns to perform at the Wildhurst Tasting Room courtyard. Opening for Stamey are “The Lake Fiddlers” featuring Andi Skelton and Eleanor Cook. Tickets are $40 each and includes a complimentary glass of wine, barbecue dinner and concert under the stars.

Ticket information is at 1-800-595-WINE or may be purchased at the Wildhurst Tasting Room, 3855 Main Street, Kelseyville.

Join the fun and catch the small town magic. Admission to the Kelseyville Pear Festival on Saturday is free.

Parade applications, Pear Dessert Applications and other details can be found at www.kelseyvillepearfestival.com .

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Lake County winegrape growers recently elected two new board members and re-seated two others to the board of the Lake County Winegrape Commission.

Broc Zoller of  Zoller Vineyards and Jonathan Walters of Robinson Lake Vineyard are the newest directors, joining reelected members Randy Krag, Beckstoffer Vineyards, and Jeff Lyon, Robin Hill Vineyard.

Commission President Shannon Gunier announced the results following completion of the election at the end of May.

Incumbent Peter Molnar, Obsidian Ridge Vineyards, will continue to serve as commission chair, and he additionally serves as the marketing chair.

Vice chair is David Weiss, Bella Vista Farming. Lyon is the commission’s secretary-treasurer, and Buz Dereniuk, Catspaw Vineyard, is finance chair.

Krag serves as education chair, while industry relations chair is Bill Brunetti. The two new members, Zoller and Walters, complete the board.

“We are excited to welcome Broc (Zoller) and Jonathan (Walters) to the commission board and look forward to working with them, our re-elected directors, and the rest of the board on our goals for this year,” said Gunier. “Our board is doing some terrific work, and I know this group will continue important ongoing and new projects to assist the Lake County growers. I welcome comments from our member growers and invite them to meet and speak with the board members at workshops and meetings presented by the commission.”

Zoller said he expects to serve the commission well. “I hope to support the successful efforts made by others in furthering recognition of our unique and beautiful growing region and the quality grapes and wine produced.”

Upon his election to the board, Walters echoed the desire to expand awareness of Lake County’s wine industry.

“I am proud to be able to serve on the Winegrape Commission board,” he said. “The commission does so much for Lake County and the winegrape growers, myself included. I firmly believe that the winegrapes grown in Lake County are of the highest quality, and we have gone too long unrecognized for our outstanding product and prices.”

Winegrape growers were urged to cast their ballots, which were mailed to all eligible Lake County voters in May, to fill four seats and help the commission continue its work “to implement effective marketing, education, and research programs on behalf of Lake County winegrape growers.”

Information about the Lake County Winegrape Commission and upcoming events may be found on the commission’s Web site, www.lakecountywinegrape.org , or may be obtained by calling the office, 707-995-3421.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – As Ruth Darling held her last meeting as Lakeport Rotary president on Wednesday, June 27, she oversaw the receipt by her organization of a large check that will help ensure that the sacrifices of American heroes at Pearl Harbor are not forgotten.

Members of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association’s local chapter were on hand at the luncheon, held in Lakeport’s Library Park, to give Darling and the Rotary a $10,000 check.

The check is to assist with the future upkeep of the Pearl Harbor Survivors’ Memorial Mast, which sits near the Library Park shoreline.

The monument – which features a blinking beacon at night – is called a mast, not a flagpole, as it symbolizes an actual ship, in honor of the men and women of the U.S. Navy and the other branches of the military who served at Pearl Harbor during the attack on Dec. 7, 1941.

The memorial mast is a project that is at the heart of an existing collaboration between the Rotary and Pearl Harbor Survivors Association. In fact, the Lakeport Rotary built the monument under the leadership of past president, Dave Meek, to honor the survivors.

During special ceremonies the U.S. and California flags are flown on the mast, along with the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association’s flag and the flags representing the branches of the U.S. military.

Ronnie Bogner – who along with wife Janeane are honorary members of the group, hosting special events and organizing the annual Dec. 7 remembrance ceremony – said the mast may be the only monument of its kind in California.

Keeping an eye on its future preservation is important to the local Pearl Harbor Survivors’ group, whose members are dwindling in number.

Since November 2011 four of the local Pearl Harbor survivors have died – Chuck Bower, Jim Harris, Floyd Eddy and, in April, Walter Urmann.

Lakeport resident Bill Slater, the president of the group and its youngest member at age 87, said there are now only three local men left who served during the attack.

He joked that he had become president by default, and that the group was “down to the bottom of the barrel. They don’t have any choice now.”

He was accompanied at the Wednesday lunch by one of the other two local survivors, Henry Anderson, 93, of Lakeport, who was aboard the U.S.S. Tennessee.

Anderson jokingly gave Slater a hard time, adding, “They gotta dig deep” in coming up with their new president.

Unable to attend was Clarence “Bud” Boner, who like Anderson, also served on the U.S.S. Tennessee at the time of the attack.

Also attending were several Pearl Harbor “sweethearts” – the honorific used for the widows of servicemen who served.

They included Vanya Leighton, whose husband Fred was aboard the U.S.S. Ramsay; Alice Darrow, whose husband Dean was aboard the U.S.S. West Virginia, and who also had been a longtime companion of Urmann’s; and Charlotte Bower, whose husband, Chuck, was stationed at the U.S. Sub Base at Pearl Harbor.

With an eye to the future, Slater said the hope is that the Rotary can help preserve the memorial to Pearl Harbor and not let his generation’s efforts be forgotten.

That’s a sentiment echoed in a plaque on the memorial mast’s base, which reads, “The Lake County survivors ask that you remember kindly those of us who have passed on and dedicate our memories to the future generations, who will defend our flag.”

Slater credited the Bogners with coming up with the idea of working with the Rotary to make sure the memorial is preserved.

“Janeane and Ronnie are the driving force,” said Slater, adding they had helped keep the group going.

Janeane Bogner said the money that the association gave to Rotary came from selling Pearl Harbor pins and postcards, yard sales, raffles and memorial donations made by the community when members died.

Ronnie Bogner said the group believes the Rotary has a long future ahead of it, and can help keep the memorial and its purpose alive.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .