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Written by: Ken Young

Published: 06 October 2008

Created: 06 October 2008

Last Updated: 06 October 2008

On Sept. 20, several different communities were united in a sense of true spirit to celebrate Lake County’s first-ever AIDSWALK and make it a rousing success.

A universal theme expressed by many volunteers and other participants was a feeling of doing something good for the larger community and a feeling of joy.

Community Care HIV/AIDS Project Drop In Center feels deep appreciation on behalf of our clients and for all those who are living with this chronic illness.

Special thanks go to Special T’s for contributing 250 T-shirts and their great design services and humanity.

Special thanks go to Four Corners for bailing us out at the last minute and donating a power generator.

Special thanks to Shanti Gallon of the youth drop in center, Lake Center for Support, for helping us make this happen and the great kids who helped us set up and made great signs and danced to get the attention of passersby – and they did.

Special thanks go to Jim M, Tom D and Kim W and all the Community Care HIV/AIDS Project Drop In Center clients who physically moved things and made it all happen.

Elizabeth Weiss and her students and Yuba College helped us make it happen on Saturday.

Corporate sponsors Sutter Hospital, D&M Compassion Center, Dr. Marshall Kubota, Bruno’s Management and Special T’s are just some of the folks who helped financially.

Other community business contributors include Piedmont Lumber, Rite-Aid, Foods Etc, Long’s Drugs, Wal-Mart, Sears, Safeway, Grocery Outlet, Rainbow Ag and LL Farmers Stand.

The Clearlake Oaks Community Methodist Church members were instrumental in volunteer support and providing great music featuring gospel artist Phil McAlpin..

Andy Rosoff and “Lefty” provided fun boogie-down music that really lifted things and had folks dancing. “Lefty” had an additional feature on the blues harp by Kim.

Major participants include Hospice Services, Department of Public Health who tested over a dozen folks and Betty Hudson of CLO Methodist Church provided massage therapy for 20 folks.

Lakeside Clinic, Lucerne Medical Clinic, Planned Parenthood, NA, The Medicine Tray, Any Positive Image/Needle Exchange, Bill and Barbara Christwicz, Stonewall Democratic Club, Denise Rockenstein of Observer and Record-Bee, Elizabeth Larson of www.lakeconews.com, “Rainbow Hour” Community Radio, Jan Molini and “Kim and Diana” were all strong presences in making this such a success.

Many folks walked laps in AIDSWALK and we thank you so much. We also want to acknowledge some who raised considerable amounts in sponsors, as well as using their physical efforts, including Margaret Medeiros who walked for four organizations, Peggy Schroder, Sharon Weeks, Irma Rivera, Michelle Clayton, Jeri Spittler, Anita Gordon and Naomi Hewlett.

Our wonderful speakers added so much acknowledgment and “heart,” so, thank you Dr. Marshall Kubota for the great speech and work that you do and to Supervisor Denise Rushing for making this important to you and us, also.

None of this could have happened without the tireless efforts of my co-workers, Michelle White and her amazing children, Marty Ball, Dennis Fay, Sarah Shem and KC Grigsby – and another heads-up to Anita Gordon!

AIDSWALK brought out the best of humanity that abounds among the citizens of Lake County. Lake County exemplifies the true Spirit that is found in Community.

The writer StarHawk said it best when she wrote:

“Community. Somewhere, there are people to whom we can speak with passion without having the words catch in our throats. Somewhere, a circle of hands will open to receive us. Eyes will light up as we enter. Voices will celebrate with us whenever we come into our own power. Community means strength that joins our strength to do the work that needs to be done. Arms to hold us when we falter. A circle of healing. A circle of friends, Someplace, where we can be free.”

Thank you, Lake County!

Love and an attitude of gratitude ...

Ken Young is Community Care HIV/AIDS Project Drop In Center program coordinator. He lives in Clearlake Oaks.

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Written by: JD Baxter

Published: 05 October 2008

Created: 05 October 2008

Last Updated: 05 October 2008

Here's the problem: The cost of Wall Street’s Greed – who should pay, and how much?

OK, we are in a pickle. Yes, we need regulations and oversight to prevent this pickle from happening again. But we also need to dig our way out of this jam.

The solution:

First, we don’t need to spend $700 billion, because we should not think of reimbursing the idiots whose greed and stupidity caused the whole mess.

Our only concern should be to shore up the financial structure in order to:

1. Enable those who are capable of paying their home mortgages to continue to do so;

2. Create a loan/mortgage market that functions in the future; and

3. Protect the retirees and working class whose IRAs or retirement nest eggs are at risk, not through fault of their own, but because their futures were compromised by idiotically bad decisions made by the folks running those investment firms.

For the folks who were in charge – NO BAILOUT. Let them go broke. Better still, send them to jail.

For the wealthy speculators who traded paper back and forth in an ever-escalating orgy of greed and excess – NO BAILOUT. Go get a real job. Stop being blood-sucking parasites and try doing something productive for a change.

But for small-time investors who were used and abused by The Big Boys, I think most of us recognize the wisdom of taking steps to avoid seeing hard-working, contributing Americans lose their retirement savings.

So let’s just suppose the actual amount needed (once the Fat Cats, Pirates, Crooks and Exploiters have been cut loose without two pennies to rub together) is only $350 billion (only!).

Who should pay? Well, to start with, Secretary of Treasury Paulson (whose PERSONAL net worth equals $500,000,000) should pay. Either the guy is a crook who was in on the shenanigans, or (at best) he is an idiot who never saw this slow-motion train-wreck coming, even though warnings were shouted from the rooftops by economic experts for years now.

There are thousands of people whose assets equal Paulson’s in this country, and most of them multiplied their net worth many times over by exploiting the mortgage industry. And THERE you have it. Those are the folks who should be paying.

And don’t worry, there is no conflict in the idea of cutting the mortgage/investment Robber Barons off without another penny, and simultaneously expecting them to pay for the bailout with their own personal assets – those Big Boys have been socking away profits by the hundreds of millions for many years, now. THEY HAVE THE MONEY. Don’t believe anyone who tries to con you into believing they don’t. What was lost during the past few months is just a dip in the barrel. Those crooks have been siphoning off the cream into Swiss Bank Accounts for years.

All it takes is 700 people with personal assets worth as much as those of our Secretary of the Treasury. 700 Paulsons x 500 Million in personal assets = $350 billion.

No one expects people like Paulson to offer more than half their assets, no matter how patriotic they may be. Half the assets would do. (Would Paulson and his ilk be able to survive on a mere $250 million each? I think so. All it takes is a little tightening of the belt. Suck it up, Paulson – we know you want to do it for your country. You know, the country you LET DOWN with your unbelievably inept incompetence. That country.)

Are there 700 people worth as much as Paulson? Oh, yeah. The past eight years have been very, very lucrative for crooks, pirates and robber barons. Eleven thousand households have annual incomes exceeding $5,500,000. The 400 highest taxpayers in the nation have gross annual household incomes exceeding $87,000,000 (household incomes for this group have risen more dramatically than for any other group).

So, $350 billion divided among the Paulsons of the USA is not only fair, but it’s quite doable. And quite painless, so far as the other 99.9 percent of Americans goes.

So there you have it – problem solved. And this patriot won’t even charge Congress a consulting fee.

JD Baxter enjoys sustainable farming in Upper Lake, and is willing to give pro-bono financial advice to Congress any time they need it (i.e., often).

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Written by: Susie Wiloth

Published: 04 October 2008

Created: 02 October 2008

Last Updated: 02 October 2008

Once again a great time was had by all at another Wiloth Fundraising Trail Ride on Aug. 9! It was a beautiful day at the Shannon Ridge Vineyard and Winery, the food was great, and live music provided by Kitty Rose finished off the ride with just the right touch.

There were many great prizes for the silent auction generously donated by several local merchants and friends. These rides continue to afford the Wiloth Equine Therapy and Riding Center the opportunity to provide our unique form of therapy to many of Lake County's Special Education children.

 

We will continue to expand our fundraising efforts so that we can provide our therapeutic riding program to as many of Lake County's children as possible, free of charge. It is with heartfelt appreciation that we say "thank you" to everyone that attended our ride, as well as those that helped sponsor and put this event together.

 

As part of our services, we would like to update you monthly on stories of our students, volunteers and staff members who make our organization a reality.

This month we are showcasing Kimberly Walker. Kimberly is one of our 16-year old volunteers who resides in Lower Lake.

As part of Kimberly's 4-H All Star project, she is starting a 4-H chapter at our ranch specifically designed for children with special needs. Her goal is to teach children the responsibility of caring for a horse, subsequently rescue a local horse in need, rehabilitate him/her back to health, and then train him/her for the therapeutic program. The students will be able to see how their work can improve the life of an animal in need, and then work with that horse during their individual therapy sessions.

We are honored to have had Kimberly working with us for nearly one year now, and are humbled that she chose our ranch to facilitate her project. Please look for updates on Wiloth Ridge 4-H, and how the members will progress through their rescue project.

 

Our family and staff would like to thank Hospice Services of Lake County for allowing us to take part in their family retreat at Saratoga Springs, and Sutter Health for inviting us to participate in Camp Watta Watta held at both MSquare Farms and Highland Springs. We met such amazing adults and children that our lives will forever be touched by the warm welcome that was extended to us at each event.

 

We would also like to extend our heart-felt appreciation to our neighbors in close proximity who are supporting or expansion efforts. As the need for equine-facilitated therapy continues to grow in Lake County, we are dedicated to meeting this demand. Many of our close neighbors assist in daily volunteering activities, and our ranch simply could not function without them.

If you would like a tour of our facility, or would be interested in volunteering to help out at the ranch, please feel free to give us a call at (707) 994-5997 or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Thank you again to all of our sponsors who supported our Aug. 9 ride ... we couldn't do it without your support!

 

Shannon Ridge Vineyard and Winery

Chernoh Excavating

Lincoln-Leavitt Insurance

Highlands Nursery

Hidden Valley Auto Body

Middletown Automotive

Elegant Touch

Cal-Tech Pump

Lake County Home Repair

Clover Hydroponics

Hidden Valley Storage

Spruce Grove Storage

Bekins Moving & Storage

Calistoga Beverage Company

UCC Rentals

Adams Family Pots & Septic

Kitty Rose

Avanti Appraisals

Freedom Heating & Air

Devin Milano

Five Star Towing

TFC General Contractors

TnT Storage

Twin Pine Casino

Reynolds Truck & Crane

Chateau Montelena

North American Cinemas

Anna Seidel

Jill Pitsenbarger

The Luis Family

Affordable Signs & Tees

Six Sigma Winery

Lake County 4-H

First Five of Lake County

Safeway

Foods Etc.

Walmart

 

 

Thank you for allowing us to continue doing what we do ...

 

Susie Wiloth and the Wiloth Equine family and staff are located in Lower Lake.

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