The deadline to enter the Lake County Fair's clothing and textile division for 2009 is Aug. 7, 2009. Courtesy photo.

LAKE COUNTY – Textile and fiber art entries at the Lake County Fair will have a new venue this year.

This year they'll be featured in the Theater Building, which will house clothing and textiles, knitting, crocheting, quilting, needle art and handspun yarns.

In addition to the regular cash awards, $400 in special awards will be given to select winning entries.

Fiber artists and sewing/quilting enthusiasts are encouraged to submit their entries before the Aug. 7 deadline.

Volunteers also are being sought to help staff this exciting new exhibit area.

Entries must be submitted electronically at www.lakecountyfair.com/competitions.html ; for those who don't have access to a computer, computers are available at the Lake County Fairgrounds, 401 Martin St., Lakeport.

Please contact either Kerrie Hershey, 707-263-8555, or Jane Alameda, 707-263-3831, for information and details about this year's textile and fiber arts exhibition.

The information gathered in the events will become a key part of the organization’s re-direction and strategic plan for the foreseeable future.

Called “Aspiration Events,” the sessions give various parts of the community – government, schools, agencies, service organizations and businesses – an opportunity to work together toward outcomes that are important to the community.

“More than 100 people participated in our first session and we are working diligently to involve more people,” said Walter Collins, president and CEO of United Way of the Wine Country. “An ongoing, broader community engagement is critical to the success of communities achieving their goals. We need the community’s voice as we strive to address serious issues in our community. We need people to share their opinions on complex community problems, give input on their aspirations and share how they believe community solutions can be developed. This has to happen through shared ownership, focused actions and accountability for outcomes,” Collins added.

The meetings will be interactive and the public will be asked to provide feedback and input. Information from the community aspiration sessions will be collected and combined with key needs assessment and other key reports that have been recently released by other community organizations.

A steering committee of up to 12 community participants will work to synthesize the information to create a comprehensive community aspiration that will be widely distributed this fall.

United Way’s aspiration sessions are open to the public.

Lake County's session will be held from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thursday, July 23, at the Big Valley Grange Hall in Finley.

Sessions also will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in Mendocino County on Thursday, July 23, and from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Friday, July 24, in Sonoma County.

For specific location information and to RSVP for the events and, participants are asked to contact Jenny Chamberlain at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by calling 707-528-4485, Extension 136.

CLEARLAKE – The Lake County Community Co-op celebrates its one-year anniversary for the group’s Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) boxes with a model revision.

The co-op’s new model will more reflect a traditional CSA model with one box provided weekly for members who pay for a subscription on a monthly basis.

The new single box will be $15 and provide a combination of local, regional and distributor-supplied organic vegetables and fruits.

The members pay for boxes by the month and receive boxes weekly. In a typical four-week month, members will pay $60 for the subscription.

Members can purchase multiple boxes, depending on their needs, and can also purchase a “bread share” for $5 each week and receive a loaf of freshly baked organic bread from Kelseyville’s Main Street Bakery.

Community supported agriculture is one of myriad options for small farmers to market their product in the local community.

The co-op's CSA is currently featuring organic produce from Barber's Country Farm and Leonardis Organics. Farmers’ markets and direct from the farm sales are two other opportunities.

“The co-op is committed to making the connections for locally produced and organic food to the local community,” a spokesperson added.

For more information call 707-993-4270 or see the co-op’s Web site at www.lakeco-op.org .

The presentation will take place at the Clear Lake Riviera Homeowner’s Association's Community Room, 9689 Soda Bay Road, Kelseyville (at Highway 29 south, turn right at Kit's Corner and go to Fairway Drive).

Be informed by attending this informational seminar by attorney Dennis A. Fordham. It will be followed by a 20-minute question and answer discussion. Refreshments will be provided.

Reserve your seat by calling the Law Office of Dennis A. Fordham, 707-263-3235.

The party will be held at the Boathouse in Nice from 3 p.m. until whenever.

Anyone who would like to welcome Cleveland home is invited.

There will be live music and children are welcome.

The Cleveland family also thanks their blog followers for their support.