LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Time Bank of Thrive Lake County reached its 400th member on Sunday, April 13, 2014.

“It’s taken us less than nine months to go from 300 to 400 members,” said John Saare, North Lake and technical coordinator for the Time Bank of Thrive Lake County. “Time Banking is starting to really become an alternative currency in this county, as it already is in many other parts of the country and abroad.”

Carol Cole-Lewis, Thrive Lake County coordinator and Time Bank project coordinator, explained why this number is so important.

“We have met a critical mass where the momentum we’ve established can sustain itself,” she said. “This gives us the energy we need to being work on an exciting project that uses time bankers to support the effort of local farmers in order to make local food more affordable to our community. ”

Time Banking is a community currency based on hours where members exchange time instead of cash. Every person’s hour is equal without regard to the service provided.

The Time Bank is open to any Lake County resident, business or organization.

The next free meetup for new and prospective members is on Saturday, May 10, from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Clearlake Youth Center at 4750 Golf Ave., Clearlake. A social event will follow the meetup.

The Time Bank Lakeport office on 307 N. Main St. is open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

The Clearlake office at the Clearlake Food Pantry, 14832 Lakeshore in Clearlake, is open 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursdays.

For more information about Time Banking and the Time Bank of Thrive Lake County, visit http://timebanklakeco.org or call 707-413-0220.

LUCERNE, Calif. – A caregiver support group for families dealing with memory loss or other cognitive impairments will meet on Thursday, April 17.

The group meets at the First Lutheran Church, 3863 Country Club Drive across from the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center, from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Social worker Jenny Johnson is the facilitator.

The group is sponsored by Redwood Caregiver Resource Center (1-800-834-1636) and the Social Day Programs in Lake County.

For more information call Jenny Johnson at 707-350-3030 or Caroline Denny at 707-263-9481.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Senior Activity Center needs volunteers to join its Meals on Wheels team to deliver meals to senior citizens.

Routes are in Lakeport through Soda Bay, Kelseyville and Kelseyville Riviera.  

Drivers must have a currant driver's license and proof of auto insurance.  

There will be a $20 per day gas reimbursement.

Call 707-263-4218 for more information.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The grand opening ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Gibson Museum & Cultural Center in Middletown is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, May 3.

Some think of Middletown as “way over there.” But during its heyday from the 1870s until after World War II, Middletown’s quicksilver mines and resorts were a major part of Lake County's economy. The Geysers operations there continue to pour money into Lake County coffers.

Gibson Museum will focus on that vibrant history and creativity of the south Lake County area.

Beyond Middletown, the area includes Anderson Springs, Whispering Pines, Loch Lomond, Hobergs and other Cobb Mountain communities, as well as Hidden Valley Lake and developments along Butts Canyon Road to Langtry Vineyards.

The museum will be the second under the auspices of the Lake County Historical Society. Its sibling Ely Stage Stop & Country Museum in Kelseyville opened almost three years ago.

Gibson Museum’s executive committee has invited Harry Gibson, great-grand-nephew of Chauncey W. Gibson – original funder of the building as home for Middletown’s first public library in 1930, to cut the ribbon.

Harry Gibson has contributed generously to the renovation of the building. The Hardester family, owners of three supermarkets in south Lake County, have likewise been generous in funding the creation of Gibson Museum.

In 1930, the opening of the library warranted a two-day celebration. Heavy rains forced some events indoors but crowds attended the ceremonies, and a concert and a grand ball in Middletown’s pavilion.

This year, merchants and organizations in Middletown are participating in a Revisit the 1930s jubilee to celebrate the opening of the museum.

Residents and visitors are asked to don 1930s style garb for the weekend. The music and  radio shows of the era will be played throughout town, and advertisements and news items of the era posted on shop windows.

A double feature – “It Happened One Night” (Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable) and “Hopalong Cassidy” — with cartoons and newsreel will be offered at 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon in the Community Center.

The volunteer firefighters of the 1930s, and a vintage fire truck, will be honored at the firehouse relinquished in the 1990s when the new building on Highway 175 was completed and the California Forestry Service took over not long after.

Lake County International Charter School, the Girl Scouts and other youth groups will host old-time children’s games in Community Park.

The Friends of Middletown Library will extend their quarterly book sale there to include both Friday and Saturday. A newly formed south county artists’ group will display their works in the park.

The Model A clubs from both Lake County and Sonoma County are planning to attend, so Callayomi Street, alongside Gibson Museum, will be closed to afford them parking space.

David Neft and AJ Franks will be playing the hit songs of the ‘30s at Gibson Museum and broadcasting it into Callayomi street (dancing in the street allowed).

The Brewery, no longer a brewery but a popular pizza place, will become a speakeasy. You’ll have to know the secret password to enter (we’re guessing it will be ‘Gibson sent me’). Those inside around 5:30 will be treated to a high-kicking performance by Junior Rockettes trained by Jazzercise leader Beth Rudiger.

And at 8 p.m. pizza tables will move to the sidelines and the floor will be cleared for dancing to live swing music until 10.

Middletown’s monthly barn dance, renamed Contra Dance for contemporary audiences, is slated for Saturday night, 7 to 9:30 p.m. at Armstrong Hall. All comers welcomed. Dance master Patricia Jekel says it’s easy for young and old, even people who’ve never tried such a thing before.

A street music group will perform on various corners. And, we’ve heard Betty Boop may appear at Star Gardens nursery.

All weekend, shoppers at Hardester’s Market and other local shops will find employees garbed ‘30s style. The Spot Juice Bar will feature drinks that were popular 80+ years ago — Hawaiian Punch, for example, was invented in 1934. There’ll be car hops at the Jolly Kone.

At Middletown High School, some of the participants in the Relay for Life 24-hour Walk-a-thon will sport ‘30s fashions.

To get ready for the event, Two Women Traders and the Bunk House are offering hats suited to the period. Hospice and other thrift shops are setting aside appropriate items of clothing to make it easy for shoppers.

Farther north, in Hidden Valley Lake, the oldest building in Lake County will be celebrating its 160th birthday. Visitors to the Stone House, built over the winter of 1853-54, will be feted with live entertainment, goodies, raffles and fun along with tours of the historic house.

South of town a few miles, visitors can find fascinating historical displays at the Calpine Visitors Center, and an equal distance eastward at Langtry Vineyards.

More events are yet aborning. Stay tuned.

For further information, email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or call Nina at 707-987-2349 or Voris at 707-295-7174. 

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – The Redbud Audubon Society will host a program on scrub jays and acorn woodpeckers on Thursday, April 17, at the Lower Lake School House Museum, 16435 Main St., in Lower Lake.

The program starts with refreshments at 7 p.m. and the public is warmly invited.

Kate Marianchild, who lives near Ukiah will present her illustrated lecture entitled: “Western Scrub-jays and Acorn Woodpeckers: Eccentric Characters of California’s Oak Woodlands.”

She will review up-to-the-minute scientific research in a fun and accessible style, regaling the audience with little known and intimate glimpses into the lives of these two species.

You will learn about scrub-jay marriages and divorces, their “liberated,” relationships, and their phenomenal intelligence – a level of intelligence that some researchers believe exceeds that of the non-human primates.

You’ll also hear about the “neighborhood watch patrols,” “funerals,” scrub-jay love of mischief, and the keystone role this species plays in oak ecosystems, among other things.

Living on property belonging to a large clan of acorn woodpeckers, Marianchild has lively stories to tell about these birds as well, based on her own observations as well as the research of Walt Koenig, the world authority on acorn woodpeckers.

Acorn Woodpeckers have a complex social structure and engage in “polygynandrous,” communal marriages.

“Marianchild’s presentations, which are known for their marvelous slides, are knowledgeable, engaging, entertaining and inspiring,” notes Redbud Audubon Society’s president, Marilyn Waits, “You won’t want to miss the great program.”

For more information about the Redbud Audubon Society go to www.redbudaudubon.org .

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Konocti Senior Support is planning a series of “Second Tuesdays Public Forums.”

Starting this month, April, Barbara Nuckols, a licensed clinical therapist who leads volunteer senior peer counselors in taking on the role of creatively walking along side elders with compassion and respect, will be presenting the drop-in forums.

The forums are open to everyone and held at 11 a.m. the second Tuesday of each month in St. John's Lutheran Church Classroom, 14310 Memory Lane, Clearlake, off Olympic Boulevard and left of the church parking lot.

The topics will be announced each month. www.konoctiseniorsupport.com or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .