The fun will take place from 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Jan. 1.

The Southern Comfort Band – which includes Jerry Toler, Dennis Miliken and Terry Terrant – plays a wide variety of country and old time rock & roll music.

Tickets cost $20 in advance, $25 at the door.

For more information call 707-274-8779 or 707-995-9602.

The show will air premiere at 10:05 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 31, as well as several additional times during January.

For the first time on National television, American Indian comedians come together to bring the healing power of humor to all people throughout the Four Directions.

Yaffee (www.trailoflaughs.com), joins six other Indian comedians for the show. A Kelseyville resident, Yaffee has toured professionally since 1999.

A co-star of the Pow Wow Comedy Jam, Yaffee is a former writer for the late George Carlin’s laugh.com and he has performed overseas five times entertaining US troops.

Yaffee’s previous television credits include Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen, The Latino Laugh Festival and the PBS Special and Crossing the Line.

For information on additional airings in January, visit www.sho.com .

This year’s theme, “State of the Art,” invites young people ages 5–15 with and without disabilities to create art that shows the role they play within their communities.

All artwork submitted before the Feb. 5, 2010, deadline will be included in an online art gallery and considered for a national touring exhibition that will debut in Washington, D.C. in June 2010.

“Kids of all abilities can participate side by side in the process of creating art. This is a truly inclusive activity that invites young artists to express their engagement with their communities, and then to share their artwork in the online gallery,” said Soula Antoniou, president of VSA arts. “The focus of this program is on creativity and inclusivity.”

The submissions received for the “State of the Art” call will be included within this exhibition in an interactive kiosk. In addition, teachers who submit their students’ artwork are eligible to receive one of five $1,000 cash awards for use in their classroom.

This exhibition will feature artwork selected from every state and the District of Columbia. The 51 featured artists will be invited to an opening reception in Washington, D.C. and will have a chance to join in the largest celebration of the arts and disability in the world: the 2010 International VSA arts Festival.

“Each year our partnership with VSA arts gets better and better as we engage more and more young people on the value of creative expression. Now in its third year, our ‘State of the Art’ program’s promotion of inclusion in our classrooms and communities has helped thousands of children of all abilities reach their goal of creating and expressing their artistic vision,” says Eileen Howard Dunn, senior vice president of Community Relations for CVS Caremark. “We continue to be passionate advocates for this program and are thrilled to be a part of the enthusiasm and excitement the children bring to the process each year.”

This call for art is part of VSA arts’ and CVS Caremark’s yearlong campaign, All Kids Can…CREATE!, which promotes inclusive learning and community engagement through artist-in-residence programs in schools and through community volunteer activities with CVS Caremark employees.

To find out more, please visit www.vsarts.org/allkidscancreate or call 202-628-2800.

Music director and conductor John Parkinson had his orchestra fine tuned for an extravagant presentation of Christmas favorites, both secular and religious, and its members delivered.

As an example Kelseyville keyboardist Tom Ganoung took the lead on "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and played the riffs laid down originally by Vince Guaraldi, to perfection.

"I practiced this for 40 hours to make sure I got it right," he later confessed. And get it right he did.

Earlier the nearly three-score members of the symphony had presented a medley of popular holiday tunes ending with all seven themes from the "Nutcracker Suite" by Tchaikovsky, followed by a series of holiday favorites ending with Victor Herbert's timeless "March of the Toys" from "Babes in Toyland."

A tradition at CLPA concerts is an intermission snack of homemade cookies served by members of the group's auxiliary, but in this instance the size of the audience nearly overwhelmed the service. However, most attendees were able to get fortified and back into their seats in time to enjoy a medley by Laura Smith on fiddle and her younger brother Darin on cello, who proved to be audience favorites.

Then more than a dozen gifted young musicians making up the CLPA Youth Orchestra, directed by Wes Follett, played another holiday medley, followed by a set arranged specifically for the orchestra by conductor Parkinson.

Paula Samonte, a jazz solist from Ukiah who has become a hallmark with the symphony's Christmas concert, was back after missing a year while in Rome on a singing sabbatical, and won applause with her four number set, after which the members of the orchestra donned red Santa hats for another four-number medley, except for Parkinson whose Christmas hat was, appropriately, royal purple.

Individual musicians recognized by Parkinson and the audience included flutist Catherine Hall, Clarinetist Matt Rothstein and trombonist Cory Cunningham, although most listeners would probably award ribbons to all 57 members of the orchestra.

Carl Stewart, a Lake County school administrator and Kelseyville resident, led a sing along, and then – following the orchestra's adaptation of Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride," complete with clopping hoofbeats, whipcracks and a final whinny – joined a group of talented vocalists in leading the audience in singing Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus."

They included Gail Dyne, who usually sings with the Sweet Adelines; Carol Cole Lewis, a member of Eareverance; Sue Condit; Bill Bordisso; and Clovice Lewis. Stewart sings with the group "Blue Collar." The audience rose to their feet to join in singing the Christmas classic.

At the concert's conclusion the audience appeared reluctant to let the musicians go home. Protracted applause drew conductor Parkinson back for a curtain call. and eventually he was permitted to leave. Vocalist Samonte had earlier saluted Lake County music lovers for keeping its symphony going.

"Across the country orchestras like this are failing," she noted "So I give thanks to all of you here today for keeping this wonderful music alive in Lake County."

Clear Lake Performing Arts is the sole sponsor of the Lake County Symphony, as well as the CLPA Youth Orchestra, and several other local music support activities.

Paul Brewer, president of CLPA said that more than 400 people attended the concert generating the largest gross of any show ever presented by his group.

The discussion and book signing begins at 2 p.m.

Fuller's new book, “Meth Monster,” takes a look into the abyss of an American drug pandemic.

A reader comment on the book notes, “This book is a must read for anyone that meth has crossed their path in any way. I'm reading it for the second time and still can't put it down.”

Wild About Books is located at 14290 Olympic Drive, Clearlake, telephone 707-994-9453. Visit the store online at www.wildaboutbooks.net .