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Real Stars Of Lake County

 

Regular readers of the Record-Bee are certain to be familiar with the

paper's sponsorship of the Stars of Lake County awards, the annual event

that supposedly recognizes the best and brightest people and services Lake

County has to offer. This upscale shindig is the way the well-to-do of our

community take turns publicly acknowledging their fellow upper-crusters

wonderfulness, with a crumb or two tossed to the common folk just to give

the show a fig leaf of credibility. If you are pals with people like R-B

publisher Judi Pollace and car dealer Kathy Fowler, you can get up on the

stage with presenter Mike Thompson, who won't have any idea of who you are

or what you've done unless you've cut him a fat contribution check recently.

So what would a "Stars" show look like if it wasn't a rigged narcissist

convention? This is how it could, and probably should appear:

 

#1. Man Of The Year :Eddie Lepp. Upper Lake's Eddie Lepp handed law

enforcement yet another embarrassing setback last year when the CHP was

forced to return his marijuana to him, the second time he's had the

government give him back his dope. Harassed by the DEA, CHP and our own

chickenshit Sheriff, Lepp has gone about his business of supplying Lake

County's enormous number of chronically ill and suffering citizens with what

is in some cases life-saving dope for years, with little financial reward

and no official thanks.

 

#2. Woman Of The Year: Cynthia Parkhill. Yes, the meek, mousy editor of the

Clearlake Observer deserves this award, in spite of her paper's abysmal

reporting on local news events. While not gusty enough to tackle local

matters in a meaningful way, Cynthia puts people like Jim Hightower and Greg

Palast on the editorial page, and attended the big peace rallies as a

participant-something many would not do for fear of losing their jobs. She's

made the local right-wing bully boys howl, which means she must be doing

something right.

 

#3. Large Business Of The Year: Grocery Outlet. Bruno's competes with

Safeway, but both charge outrageous prices, Grocery Outlet is for the rest

of us who can't afford the yuppie life-style. It takes some real consumer

savvy to get the most from a store that features different merchandise every

week, but once you get the hang of it you can save a bundle, oftentimes

cutting you grocery bill by 30% or more.

 

#4. Small Business Of The Year: A lot of contenders here, and many deserve a

medal for their perseverance and optimism. Gotta go with the Fast Stop

market in Lakeport, for having the most courteous and friendly staff in the

county, and how can you not love a place that sells live minnows AND disc

golfing accessories? Run by Fast Stop before you head to the theater down

the street and you'll save enough to buy the popcorn, and miss the lines at

the show.

 

#5. Youth Advocate Of The Year: Herb Gura. In a hotly contested race Herb

was re-elected to the Konocti school board, and gave the district a fighting

chance to get back on it's feet after the Jim Johnson debacle. Herb has

already served two terms and brings the board it's most open-minded and

honest member (Caroline Jarrett runs a close second), in addition to

devoting an enormous amount of unpaid time and energy to the job over the

years.

 

#6. Student Of The Year. Tons of runner-ups in this category, but no winner.

This kind of award can be a curse, as it could be all down-hill from here.

Any kid who gets far enough to be a contender has likely had plenty of help

getting there, and probably doesn't need a shove to speed things along on

the fast-track.

 

#7. Agriculture Award: Danny Goff. Smart enough to figure out that Lake

County's pear packing sheds were for the most part run by cutthroats and

back-stabbers, Goff does his own packing and marketing, and does it well.

When the rest of the county's pear growers have all gone under Goff will

still be there, because he was able to recognize the enemy and did something

about it.

 

#8. Arts Person Of The Year: Christian Yeagan. When the Lake County Arts

Council hit it's lowest point and was in shambles, Christian stepped forward

and picked up the pieces, a job no sane person would have attempted. Always

upbeat and ready to help, Yeagan has to deal with cash problems, the

Soper-Reese theater disaster and all the huge egos and weirdness found in

the arts community. It's time for the county and city of Lakeport to

acknowledge his work and give him some cash so the Soper-Reese can be

something more than a hard to ignore monument to good intentions gone wrong.

 

#9. Volunteer Of The Year: Andy Weiss. Banned by the FCC from being on

KPFZ's license because he ran pirate station "Radio Clandestino" out of his

laundry room, Weiss worked behind the scenes to make community radio in Lake

County a reality. KPFZ 104.5 owes it's existence more to Weiss than any

other of it's fine staff of volunteers, and Andy can proudly claim to be the

father of this marvelous asset to the entire community.

 

#10. Humanitarian Of The Year: Andy Rossoff. When the IHSS advisory

committee was being gutted by our county supervisors one man stood-up and

fought back with determination, intelligence and a calm demeanor. Every one

of the thousands of elderly and disabled locals benefiting from the IHSS

program has Andy to thank in part, and we should all be grateful that

someone had the courage to challenge the cold-hearted and myopic

supervisors.

 

#11. Senior Of The Year: Every local elderly person who donates their time

and energy on behalf of their fellow citizens deserves this award,

especially those who work to see that our seniors don't run short of food,

companionship and care.

 

#12: Best Idea Of The Year: OK, OK, I'll admit it, the round-a-bout in

Lakeport is a practical success, but does it have to be so tall you can't

see the traffic on the other side? The good news is that there's no waiting

and no expensive traffic lights to buy and maintain, and it's another spot

that isn't covered with pavement that will look nice come Spring when the

vegetation blooms.

 

#13. Organization Of The Year: KPFZ 104.5 FM. Easily the best thing that's

happened to Lake County in years, this community radio station is as diverse

as it gets. Republicans, Democrats, Greens and everyone else gets into the

act, and where else can you get the local Native American viewpoint straight

from the horse's mouth? Non-stop entertainment and information from ALL

angles, and all without underwriting or commercials-what a deal!

 

#14. Lifetime Achievement: James Kovacs. Having fled the Nazi annihilation

of his fellow Hungarian Jews, Kovacs wound up in Lake County after leading

an extraordinarily successful life in the legal profession, where he

personally wrote groundbreaking California state laws in the area of women's

and children's rights. Senator Barbara Boxer got her start working for

Kovacs and he was an ardent and vocal supporter of environmental causes

right up until the day he died early last year -we all miss you Jim!

 

#15. Local Hero Of The Year: Art Gotisar, Diane Codding and Kelly Bates. Two

days before Christmas these three brave people lost their lives trying to

save a man who tried to take his own, when their REACH helicopter crashed

into a hillside near Redwood Valley. This crew had come to Lake County many

times before, flying through hazardous terrain in some of the worst weather

imaginable, putting their lives on the line far more often than even cops or

firemen. Your bravery and selflessness will be remembered every time the we

hear that familiar whop-whop-whop in the middle of some dark and stormy

night-thank you heroes!

 

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