UPPER LAKE, Calif. – With Lincoln's reelection 150 years ago this November, the Civil War began to grind to a bitter and tragic end. But the South was not ready to give up.

On Monday, Nov. 3, at 6:15 p.m. at the Tallman Hotel in historic Upper Lake, local historian Zane Jensen will do a presentation on the Nashville Campaign, the South's last desperate attempt at changing the course of the war.

Jensen will cover the Battle of Franklin, where in just few hours, five Confederate generals perished along with nearly 2,000 of their men, along with another 4,500 wounded and missing.

“It wasn't war; it was murder,” Jensen said.

An additional review of the results of the election of 1860 will be covered, with a look at the electoral map, and how the parties fared in Congress.

“The anti-war movement peaked in August of 1864, but with a series of major Union victories, the pro-war movement took new life and swept Lincoln back for a second term with a mandate to finish the war to it's bloody conclusion,” according to Phil Smoley, Civil War Roundtable co-founder. “Few people realize that Lincoln was on his way to be defeated up until just a few months prior to the election, and if Atlanta did not fall, we may have had a President McClellan negotiate a peaceful settlement to the war.”

The Civil War Roundtable meets once a month to discuss topics related to that war, and is attempting to review the war month by month.

The group was founded to coincide with the sesquicentennial of the conflict.

Admission is free and everyone is welcome.

For more information, contact Phil Smoley, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 707-264-4905, or Zane Jensen, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 707-349-6390.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The University of California Master Gardeners of Lake County will host a workshop called “Seed Saving for the Home Vegetable Gardener” on Saturday, Nov. 1.

The workshop will be held from 10 a.m. to noon at the Lake County Agricultural Center, 883 Lakeport Blvd. in Lakeport, a wheelchair-accessible facility.

Whether you are motivated by the rising prices of heirloom vegetable seeds, are into breeding your own locally-adapted cultivars or are worried about whether your favorite variety of vegetable will be available for purchase in the years to come, saving your own seeds is a good idea for many reasons.

This workshop will introduce you to how to save seeds, which seeds are realistically worth saving for home vegetable gardeners of varying skills and determination, and the advantages to coordinating efforts with others.

You also may have the opportunity to network with like-minded gardeners to possibly team up with to make your seed saving efforts more practical and complete.

Preregistration is required for this workshop as space is limited.

A $5 materials fee is requested.

To register for the workshop, or for more information, contact the University of California Cooperative Extension at 707-263-6838 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Lake County's Window to the Universe presents “The Rosetta Probe – Landing on a Comet.”

The speaker is Dr. Bill Haddon, president of Friends of the Taylor Observatory.   

Admission for the talk, a planetarium show and night sky viewing through the Taylor telescope is $5 for adults, $3 for 12 and under.  

On Nov. 11 the Rosetta Space Probe will launch its landing craft Philae toward the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.

The Rosetta Probe, launched by the European Space Agency over 10 years ago, had its rendezvous with the comet on Aug. 14.

Twenty-one on-board scientific instruments will provide data to support or disprove theories suggesting that comet impacts laid down the framework for the origin of life on planet Earth.  

Join the Taylor Observatory for a discussion of this historic event, an important first in the exploration of our Solar System.  

In the talk, Haddon, who is a research chemist, will describe this odyssey of solar system exploration, one of the most challenging experiments conducted so far in our efforts to understand our existence on Earth.  

On its journey through the solar system Rosetta has flown by two asteroids, providing photograph with unprecedented detail.

Now, its close encounter with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has brought the space probe within a few kilometers of the comet – a distance about equal to that between Kelseyville and Lakeport, but 200 million miles from earth.

The location is 5725 Oak Hills Lane in Kelseyville.

For further information visit www.taylorobservatory.org or call 707-262-4121.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Hospice Services of Lake County will host a special remembrance ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 1.

“Light Up A Life” is a candle-lighting ceremony of remembrance that celebrates the memories of family, friends and loved ones who have gone before us.

The celebration will take place at the administrative office of Hospice Services of Lake County at 1862 Parallel Drive in Lakeport at 5:30 p.m.

The brief ceremony will include music, poetry and song accompanied by the lighting of candles.

Keepsake candles will be available at the event for a suggested donation of $10.

For more information call 707-263-6222.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The Konocti Lioness Club's annual fall fashion show is being held on Sunday, Oct. 26.

It will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Buckingham Homeowners Association Building across from the golf course on Eastlake Drive.

Fashions from Anna's Boutique will be shown.

The proceeds from this fundraiser fashion show will benefit in-need and disadvantaged children of Lake County.

Tickets are $30 which includes appetizers and one glass of wine.

There will be door prizes, raffles and a silent auction.

Tickets can be purchased at Anna's Boutique on Soda Bay Road in Clear Lake Riviera. For further information, call President Anna Jones at 707-277-0867.

FORT BRAGG, Calif. – The Cal Fire Mendocino Unit is closing the “Trestle Trail” between Camp 8 and JDSF Road 1070 on Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF) to mushroom gathering and other recreational activities, effective immediately. 

This trail will be closed annually, during the wet season (October – May) as a precautionary measure in an attempt to slow the spread of Phytophthora ramorum, the invasive pathogen that causes sudden oak death.

Year-round access will resume once the threat of spreading sudden oak death has been abated.

While the drought may have reduced the rate of infestation, ongoing efforts will continue by JDSF to monitor and mitigate the effects of sudden oak death.

No new sites have been discovered on JDSF this year.

Information regarding sudden oak death and recreational activities such as mushroom gathering on JDSF is available at the Cal Fire Fort Bragg office located at 802 North Main St., or by calling 707-964-5674 during the following hours: Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to noon, and 1 to 5 p.m.

The Web site is http://calfire.ca.gov/resource_mgt/resource_mgt_stateforests_jackson.php .

Multiple uses of JDSF for a wide variety of activities that benefit the public, the economy and natural resources are what demonstration forests are all about.