NICE, Calif. – The North Lake Garden Club will host its inaugural Holiday Gardening, Craft Bazaar & Boutique Faire on Saturday, Nov. 27.

The event will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Sons of Italy building, located at 2817 E. Highway 20, in Nice.

The event will include two demonstrations, flower arranging by Wil Gonzales and garden art tripping stones by Jackie Hodges and Marie Ulvila.

There will be other gardening-related activities. Arts and crafts vendors also will be available, selling holiday gifts.

Admission is free and there will be door prizes, and a 50/50 drawing.

Come enjoy tea and homemade goodies at the Tea House. Luncheon will be Coney Island hot dogs, chili and corn bread.

Come by and learn about various plants, nurseries, flower arranging plus supplies and garden-related crafts.

Three booths providing information about garden clubs will be Willits Garden Club, Mendo-Lake District and North Lake Garden Club.

The Veggie Gardening 101 students will teach healthy snack eating for kids, and Kids Growing Strong, a California Garden Clubs Inc. program will provide hands on fun crafts for kids.

The purpose of Kids Growing Strong is to inspire children and their families to adopt a healthy lifestyle through garden-based education, proper nutrition and active living.

As a donation to the Sons of Italy, Marc Giberson, tree chairman, and Don Smith, president of North Lake Garden Club, planted two Blue Italian Cypress, Cupressus sempervirens Glauca.

Proceeds from this event will help the North Lake Garden Club work toward providing a scholarship for students, and other club sponsor gardening related events for the community throughout the year.

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – The Lower Lake Historical School Preservation Committee will present its annual Christmas tree lighting and holiday open house on Friday, Dec. 10, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The tree lighting ceremony will be at 6 p.m.

There will be an old-fashioned sing-a-long around the player piano, refreshments and merriment.

The museum is located at 16435 Main St. in Lower Lake.

For more information please call 707-995-3565 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – The Lake County Stonewall Democratic Club will sponsor a Thanksgiving dinner for all members and their friends and allies.

The dinner will be held at the Friendship Hall of the United Methodist Clearlake Oaks Church at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 22.

There will be no meeting.

The church is located at 12487 The Plaza, Clearlake Oaks, next door to the Live Oak Senior Center and behind the Red & White Market.

For information call 707-993-4125.

The boutique will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Greenview Room on Hartmann Road.

This fun-filled event is free and open to the public. Everyone is welcome.

Handcrafted items available for sale include jewelry, hand-painted items, paper crafts, totes and purses, table runners and pillows, clever gourds, Christmas ornaments and candy, children’s items, knitted scarves and throws, bookmarks and phone charms, and other wearable art and so much more.

All the crafters have worked very hard and are anxious for you to see their holiday wares.

The Greenview Café and Mulligan’s Bar will be open to satisfy your dining and refreshment needs.

Proceeds from booth fees and general cash donations will help support the Hidden Valley Lake Fireworks Show.

Come enjoy the start of the season, get into the holiday spirit and do some holiday shopping.

For more information call 707-987-3991.

A past Umpqua Wish Tree loaded up with Christmas gifts. Courtesy photo.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Take the opportunity to make a child’s dream come true.

Umpqua Bank is once again promoting the Christmas Wish Tree for children under the care of Child Protective Services in Lake County.

These children range in ages from 2 months to 17 years. There are approximately 160 names on the trees located at the Lakeport and Kelseyville branches of Umpqua Bank. Hurry in to get your choice of tags!

The bank is reaching out to the community with the hope that community members can help achieve the goal of giving a child their wish this Christmas season.

What a great way to teach your kids the gift of giving by getting them involved. It is so easy to do and very rewarding.

Simply come into either of the banks, pick a child’s tag and sign the register. Then return your gift by Dec. 9, wrapped and with the tag on it. If you don’t have the time to purchase a gift, you can make a monetary donation and the bank will be happy to do the shopping for you.

Umpqua Bank is located in Lakeport at 805 11th St. and in Kelseyville at 4280 Main St.

For more information call 707-262-3342.

The lecture, planetarium experience and astronomical viewing will take place from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the observatory, 5725 Oak Hills Lane.

Observatory staffer Janis Traub will lead the event.

The suggested donation is $3.

For more information, visit http://www.taylorobservatory.org or call 707-262-4121.