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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN UPDATED WITH A NEW INFORMATIONAL LINK.
LAKEPORT – A regional North Coast Agritourism Conference will be held Nov. 12 at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center in Ukiah.
The conference will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The North Coast Agritourism Conference will include speakers on tourism, evaluating resources, business plans, county regulations, managing risk and marketing.
A panel discussion will feature experienced agritourism operators from across the region, including Anne Austin of Eleven Roses Ranch and Lake County Wine Tours.
Agritourism includes a wide array of farm and farm-related activities states the USDA, including outdoor recreation, educational experiences such as cooking classes and wine tasting, entertainment such as harvest festivals and barn dances, hospitality services including overnight stays and guided tours, and on-farm direct sales that include “u-pick” and roadside stands.
According to a recent USDA report released in December of 2007, farm-based recreation, which includes hunting, fishing, horseback riding, and other on-farm activities, provided income to about 52,000 farms across the country in 2004 and continues to grow.
Local farmers, ranchers, and others who are interested in developing the hidden assets of agricultural businesses are invited to register for this informative conference. An agritourism conference was held in Lake County in 2006 and sold out quickly, so early registrations are encouraged.
Registration fee is $40 for the conference and includes the University of California Agritourism manual, catered lunch, conference packet, and morning refreshments. The deadline to register is Nov. 7.
For more information see https://ucanr.org/sitebuilder/filegroups/calendar26-Sep-08-626/9316.pdf.
The Lake County Marketing and Economic Development program, a member of the North Coast Tourism Council, is sponsoring this conference along with the Mendocino County Promotional Alliance, UC Cooperative Extension Mendocino County, the City of Ukiah, and the Mendocino Wingrape and Wine commission.
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LAKEPORT – The Lakeport Regional Chamber ribbon cutting for Sutton Family Farm's Corn Maze opening took place on Saturday, Oct. 4.
Stephanie, Michael and daughter Samantha Sutton have once again created a delightful fall entertainment experience for all ages.
The maze, which features two miles of trails, is open during October, closing on Oct. 31.
The cost is $6 per person, with ages 4 and under entering for free.
Every Friday and Saturday is Flashlight Night; bring your own flashlights.
On Oct. 18 and 19 there will be a Vintage Tractor Show, with a giant pumpkin weigh-off on Oct. 18 at 1 p.m.
Dutch Draft carriage rides are from noon to 4 p.m. on Oct. 12, 18, 19, 25 and 26; the cost is $3 per person.
On Oct. 25 at 10 a.m. will be Rocktoberfest featuring local bands.
Sutton Family Farms is located at 2405 Scotts Valley Road in Lakeport.
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And if you should see hot air balloons from Calistoga Balloons high in the sky over the shopping center during the week, this is simply a "sign in the sky" that something special this way comes – and you do not want to miss it.
While shopping center grand openings are nothing new, this one may truly be unique. To begin, this shopping center is WiFi enabled. You can bring your laptop and go online at both ends of the shopping center, near the Crave Coffee House and Ting's Thai Kitchen. Freely check email, surf the Web or make VOIP phone calls.
The Crave Coffee house will be providing live entertainment and a jumpy house from Astro Jumps for young children, in addition to food. From the Crave location at 3:30 p.m. New York Life's Linda Fergusson will conduct a raffle of wonderful prizes – including a large, flat-screen HDTV – courtesy of Hardester's Market. It does not cost any money to participate in this raffle. All you need to do is visit each of the participating merchants and have each one sign the special raffle ticket you pick up at the Crave Coffee House. Once the ticket has been properly filled out by all the merchants, you simply deposit it in the large brass raffle drum at Crave.
At this grand opening you will not only be encouraged to eat great food, but learn how to cook it. The new Chic Le Chef store, which is adjacent to Hardester's Market (how convenient), will be conducting chef cooking demonstrations.
When was the last time you were encouraged to dress up your four-legged friend and bring him (or her) to the party? Well, the Hidden Valley Lake Pet Palace wants your pet dressed up for their costume show. The pet store will also provide a little agility course to entertain your pet. For details on how this is going to work, contact the store.
Dream Salon will have a carnival-type setup. It will be giving out free haircare samples and have a drawing for complimentary services. There will be discount coupons on services available. It will be promoting Dreamgirlz birthday parties. There will be a dream makeover photo shoot in addition to free consultations and carnival games for the kids.
For a comprehensive listing of events and raffle prizes, visit www.squidoo.com/HSCGOVLetters.
Please take note that a special "buzz" for this event is being created. Folks – both within Hidden Valley Lake and outside of it – have actually written letters to help alert the news media of this event.
So, in addition to your family (including family pet) and laptop, you might also want to bring your camera. There will likely be some interesting photo opportunities at the party.
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- Written by: Rian Sommerfield
In the stock market, volatility may represent risk. The higher the volatility, the more difficult it may be to trade in the market; that is, it could be more risky. We will not try to buy into this market until volatility declines.
Our clients feel good about our Nestegg Trend Investing strategy and being in our money market funds as the Dow late last month moved down 505 points, up 142, down 449, up 410, up 368 (sourced at Yahoo Finance, Sept. 26, 2008). There are times in the past when this degree of volatility may have indicated that a significant bottom in the market has occurred. Since past performance is not indicative of future results, we’ll have to see if this plays out.
Did you also hear that your money market funds may now be insured by the Federal government similar to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) guarantees for bank accounts? I believe this could increase confidence in the money market funds we are in while we are out of the market. Currently, money market funds are neither insured nor guaranteed by FDIC or any other governmental agency. Although they seek to preserve the value of your investment at $1 per share, it is possible to lose money by investing in the fund.
It's at times like these that we need to stick to our system. Our system needs to see the major indexes rise above their intermediate-term moving averages, and for those moving averages to turn up. More important, our system also needs to see the action of individual stocks and sectors show constructive technical action. And of course, how the large institutions are buying and selling stocks.
Shorter term, I think it is possible that investors will catch a buying fever and feed a rally. It will be important to observe the market relative to what institutions do. The big problems have not been erased. We still have rising unemployment, a credit crunch, a recession, and a weak economy that many analysts expect to weaken further.
All of this points to a high risk market condition that now appears to have band-aids stuck all over it. Solid rallies are all about earnings. Many analysts are not expecting a great earnings picture during the next few months. Earnings will bring reality back to the equation when the exuberance of government band-aids wear off. The Fed and government actions are some of the bigger gambles they have made. If this doesn't work, then what's left in the Fed arsenal?
My point is that if we do get a trend change to the upside, it will still be an up-move in a bear market. The next few months could be laced with dangerous risk levels. But first, we need to see if institutions will back a rally. So, I will carefully scrutinize what institutional investors are doing and keep you appraised if any opportunity arises.
Rian Sommerfield is a registered representative offering securities and advisory services through Independent Financial Group LLC, a registered broker-dealer and investment advisor. Member FINRA/SIPC. IFG and Nestegg are not affiliated. Nestegg Trend Investing program does not guarantee a profit or guarantee protection from a loss.
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