COBB MOUNTAIN – Plan to do some holiday shopping at the Holiday in the Pines Galleria, presented by the Cobb Mountain Artists at the Haute Spot, located in Meadow Springs Village in Hardester’s Shopping Center in Cobb.

The Holiday in the Pines Galleria will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, and from noon to 7 p.m. on weekdays from Nov. 7 through Nov. 15.

Both visiting and local artists and craftspeople will offer beautiful, original handmade fine art and gift items in an attractive gallery boutique setting.

The nonprofit benefits local elementary school art programs. Visit the Holiday in the Pines Galleria for the art of it!

For more information about this unique holiday shopping extravaganza, please contact Alana at 707-928-8565 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

LAKEPORT – Faded At Four will host its own Halloween Eve Frightfest on Friday, Oct. 30.

The event will take place at TJ's Downtown Bar and Grill at 370 S. Main St. in Lakeport.

Halloween isn't just for kids, and there will be Halloween treats the night before the ghosts and goblins come knocking at your door.

Get out your costume, dress up and come rock with us at TJ's in Lakeport.

There will be a costume contest, drawings and great music.

The fun will start at 9:30 p.m. The event is limited to those aged 21 and over.

There will be a $5 cover charge.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – The 100-year-old California Writers Club invites everyone to submit predictions on the future of print media, for inclusion in a time capsule to be opened in 2035 on the occasion of Mark Twain’s bicentennial.

What will we be reading in 2035? Will we still have conventional newspapers, magazines and books? Will we still have e-books, or will something have come along to replace them? What impact will state-of-the-art technology have on news reporting? On fiction and nonfiction? Short stories and poems? Reference works and other resources? Memoirs and love letters? What collateral effect will it have on the various aspects of daily life?

“It seems hard to believe, but that year will just about mark the mid-century point for the Internet,” said California Writers Club president Casey Wilson. “This isn’t a contest. We’re not holding our breath for deathless prose. We just want to collect people’s thoughts now and, in 2035, see how accurately they predicted what it would actually be like.”

The CWC will receive submissions through Aug. 25, 2010 (174th birthday of Bret Harte, one of California’s first great storytellers).

Anyone interested in participating should mail his or her essay to California Writers Club, P.O. Box 484, Ridgecrest, CA 93556, and include the author’s name, age, address, and permission to publish all or part of the essay when the capsule is opened.

California had only been a state for about 50 years when Jack London and some of his friends started their informal get-togethers. These gatherings became the California Writers Club, the oldest professional writing organization in the West. Today the CWC has more than 1200 members in 18 branches throughout the state.

The organization encourages everyone to check www.calwriters.org periodically for membership information and updates on branch and centennial activities.

LAKE COUNTY – October is a big month for the Lake County Arts Council.

On Wednesday, Oct. 28 we will hold our 28th annual meeting, and once again Tulip Hill will graciously host the meeting from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the winery.

Lake County Poet Laureate Mary McMillan will open the meeting with a reading of one of her poems, and we will be entertained by that maestro of the keyboard, David Neft. The arts council will provide a ham so bring whatever goodies you think will complement this evening's potluck celebration.

The auction of Joan Holman's photography brought in some additional dollars to the coffers, but not what we had anticipated in spite of the hours that Xian Yeagan and Bert Hutt put into organizing the event and the presence of Joan's stepdaughter, Heidi Holman at the auction.

Compliments to the Soper-Reese Committee on the fine job that they did in orchestrating the first dinner-dance fundraiser at the Soper-Reese. The atmosphere was out of the ordinary and conducive to dancing to the big band sounds of John Parkinson. It was a delightful evening, due to the hard work and dedication of this well directed committee. Thank you!

Carol Dobusch's acting class 200 from Mendocino College is progressing well with 20 plus aspiring actors/actresses in attendance. We are fortunate to have this opportunity to partner with the college in this educational effort in promoting the arts.

Mendocino College is a big plus to our community, providing us with many avenues for expressions in dance, theater, education and ultimately dollars to the community. I personally support the college remaining and expanding in Lakeport and would encourage that commitment from this board.

The gallery continues to grow and offer better shows each month. Richard Seisser's pastel class continues to draw in new students along with the faithful who have been taking the class for 18 months. Visitors to the gallery are always interested and curious in the goings-on. Diana Liebe is also offering a watercolor class on Monday mornings.

With the aid of the technical grant awarded us by the California Arts Council, Ginger Ingersoll and I will be attending a professional grant development workshop in Portland in November. We look forward to coming back with new skills and new ideas on how to further the efforts of the arts council.

The gallery also participated in a sidewalk sale with other downtown merchants and sponsored by the Main Street Association and continue to work with them in other avenues of development in Lakeport.

Halloween is around the corner and the gallery will remain open late, along with other merchants, to provide goodies and surprises to trick or treaters. Come in costume and enjoy the fun.

My thanks to so many who make the Lake County Arts Council such a special association to many people in so many avenues. It's your energy and spirit that continue moving us forward. Now onward to even more successes in our upcoming 29th year.

Shelby Posada is executive director of the Lake County Arts Council.

 

 

 

UPPER LAKE – A music CD release party will be held on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 25, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Lake County Wine Studio on Main Street Upper Lake for the Lake County band Paris & Frindt & Friends.

The album is entitled “Blues Moon” and contains 10 original songs written by Janis Paris and Paul Frindt.

The CD will be played at the event, along with background music compiled by music connoisseur Morrie Powazek.

Hors d’oeuvres, coffee and tea will be furnished, and wine tastings are available at $1 apiece (glasses of wine are available at varying prices).

 

“Blues Moon” was recorded in Paris and Frindt’s home studio and mixed/mastered by Bobby Cochran at Laughing Coyote Productions in Potter Valley.

The album features many talented local artists – the friends in “Paris & Frindt & Friends” – and the music is a combination of light rock and blues.

Paris and Frindt freely admit to being influenced by music from the 70s, and in live performance do more than a few classics from this era – a sound the couple laughingly calls “geezer pop.” The public is invited to this event; for more information, phone 707-998-0249.

 

The street on the block First to Second is scheduled to be dug up Wednesday through Friday. Folks should plan on parking on First Street and previous block of Main Street between Washington and First as they come up from Highway 20.

For those that want to avoid Main Street altogether, they should turn North up Mendenhall and make a right onto First street and park on First or Sabini (west of Main Street, Sabini wraps from First back down to Mendenhall).

 

If Main Street parking on the Washington Street to First looks full, folks can turn right onto Washington which then curves left up to First Street on the east side of Main.