LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A local observance of Pregnancy and Early Infant Loss Remembrance Day was held on Oct. 15.

More than a dozen moms and friends gathered to remember their loved ones. Travis Rinker’s gentle guitar wailed as Elizabeth Arnold greeted the small crowd. 

“Thank you everyone for joining us on this special day,” said Arnold. “Today is Oct. 15, Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. Today we remember all the babies born sleeping, those we've carried but never met, those we've held but could not take home, the ones that came home but couldn't stay. Today we break the silence. Today many of us can stand up and say I am a baby loss survivor.”

She continued by telling her personal story since the loss of her newborn daughter, and she was followed by several other parents with their own tender journeys.

The accounts shared common threads of shock, grief, the regaining of life and, most of all, resilience to carry on. A bond was formed between participants letting them know they are not alone.

“Each and every day in communities across America, expecting moms will feel their baby's first kick,  parents will listen to their newborn’s first cry and families will celebrate the birth of a healthy baby, never thinking that this can happen to them. One in every three pregnancies end in loss. An estimated 500,000 miscarriages happen every year. One in every 148 babies are stillborn and three in every 1,000 babies die shortly after birth,” Arnold said.

“Today we reflect on our loss yet embrace the love. I encourage all of you here, whether you've had a loss or know someone that has to remember, there is no foot too small that it cannot leave an imprint on our hearts and in the world,” she said.

Desiree Perez and Jaclyn Ley helped arrange this special remembrance while representing Lake County’s Mother-Wise. 

Ley shared how Arnold opened her agency’s eyes to the scope of fetal and infant loss in our communities and the need for a special event. 

“As far as we know, this is the first public recognition of pregnancy and early infant loss by any Lake County program,” Ley said.

Although October was first declared “National Infant Loss Awareness Month” in Ronald Reagan’s second term 26 years ago, she is probably right. 

Trusting that it’s never too late for healing, Mother-Wise already has plans for next year’s event. 

Ley said that Mother-Wise supports Lake County’s expecting and new moms through all transitions that accompany motherhood, including loss. 

Next, she described a virtual buffet of support through Mother-Wise, with fun upcoming events and even help for moms at home. 

Ley encouraged everyone to learn more about Mother-Wise on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/MotherWiseLakeCounty , or call her at 707-349-1210.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Desiree Todd will demonstrate fermented milk products including clabber cheese, yogurt and buttermilk at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22.

Milk-producing societies around the world have used cultured dairy products for hundreds of years.    

Todd has been working with whole natural fermented dairy products since childhood.

Fermented dairy includes cultured butter, true cultured buttermilk, yogurt, clabber, keifers, whey and many other items that are loaded with beneficial bacterias, usable nutrients and enzymes.

Todd is currently operating StableFood Farm Buyers Club, a farmstead full of old-fashioned, nutrient dense, unadulterated farm foods such as Jersey cattle for both dairy and beef, endangered Pilgrim Geese, heirloom fruits and vegetables.

She is usually found on the farm growing and raising real food.

StableFood has a presence on www.facebook.com/stablefood , contributes to the farm blog www.stablefood.wordpress.com/ and Local Harvest. Email is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Lakeport Library, located at 1425 N. High St., is open Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Wednesday, noon to 8 p.m. The phone number is 707-263-8817.

The library is on the Internet at http://library.lakecountyca.gov and on www.facebook.com/LakeCountyLibrary .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Law Library Board of Trustees will meet Thursday, Nov. 20.

The meeting will begin at noon in the Law Library, 175 Third St., Lakeport.

The trustees will discuss renewal of Allstate Insurance, the Judicial Council of California Civil Jury Instructions 2014 Supplement and a policy regarding document delivery.

Other items on the agenda include a financial report through Oct. 31, approval and ratification of the Oct. 16 meeting minutes and the law librarian's report.

The trustees are next scheduled to meet at noon on Thursday, Dec. 18.

The board of trustees includes Judge Andrew S. Blum, Judge Michael S. Lunas, Deputy County Counsel Shanda Harry, and attorneys Mary Heare Amodio, Mike Ewing and Dennis Fordham.

For more information about the meeting or the Law Library, call 707-263-2205 or visit www.lakecountyca.gov/law .

HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE, Calif. – The public is invited to experience an 1800s Christmas at Stone House Museum, on Saturday, Dec. 6.

The open house will take place from 4:30 to 7 p.m., at 18174 Hidden Valley Road, Hidden Valley Lake.

The event coincides with Hidden Valley Lake Association tree lighting ceremony at Greenview Restaurant on Hartmann Road.

There will be refreshments and hot apple cider. Holiday gift baskets will be available. Music will be provided by locally known guitarist, John Zimmerman.

Built in 1853 as Lake County's first stone house, the museum is a California State Historical Monument.

The house reflects family life of the era, filled with period furnishings and Christmas decorations.

Holiday traditions in the 1800s were much the same as today, except in the Old West.  

Pioneers decorated homes with natural materials, including evergreens, pine cones, holly, berries and nuts.

Christmas trees were a part of the holiday decorations. The trees were adorned with homemade decorations – ribbons, shiny pieces of metal, popcorn or paper strips. Straw or yarn dolls were Christmas gifts.

Other homemade presents included carved wooden toys, knitted scarves, hats, mittens and socks.

For many families, food for Christmas dinner came from the family's livestock. Some food was prepared weeks in advance, as were handmade gifts. Some early settlers ordered from Sears and Roebuck catalogs.

The Stone House Museum was restored and is maintained by the Stone House Historical Society.  Membership is open to the public.

Contact President Don Mancuso at 707-987-9297 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Time Bank of Thrive Lake County will hold a demonstration of its software and of timebanking on Thursday, Nov. 20, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Lakeport Senior Center, 527 Konocti Ave., Lakeport.

Everybody is welcome.

If you're not a time bank member yet, come and find out about time banking and meet those who are already benefiting from this complimentary currency of time.

If you are a time bank member, meet other time bank members and find others with whom you can exchange services.

Time bank members can earn “time credits” for attending this meeting in the following ways: two hours credit for attending the full meet up, one hour credit for each potential member brought, one hour credit for bringing a potluck dish that serves eight.

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

Drop by one of two Time Bank offices. The North Lake office is located at 307 N. Main St., Lakeport and is open Tuesdays to Fridays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The South Lake office for Time Bank is located in the NCO Community Action Agency office at 14832 Lakeshore Drive, Clearlake and is open Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

For more information about Time Bank of Thrive Lake County, visit http://timebanklakeco.org , email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or phone 707-413-0220.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Planning Commission will meet on Thursday, Nov. 20, to discuss a local business' proposal for a car wash.

The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. in the Board of Supervisors chambers on the first floor of the Lake County courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.

At 9:05 a.m., the commission will host a public hearing to consider a previously approved mitigated negative declaration based on an initial study for a minor modification for a use permit sought by Westgate Petroleum, located at 3740 Highland Springs Road, Lakeport.

Westgate Petroleum is proposing modifications to its use permit for a specific plan of development to allow an in-bay automatic car wash.

Commission members include Joseph Sullivan, District I; Bob Malley, District II; Olga Martin Steele, District III; Don Deuchar, District IV; and Gil Schoux, District V.