TEXTILE SKILL SHARING in the Little Lake Grange - 291 School St, Willits - Room 10.

Little Lake Grange is offering a Textile and Craft "Maker Studio". There are sewing machines and some materials available in Room 10.   We are offering an open studio to the community at the following schedule on Tuesday nights and Thursday afternoons. 

Do you have a sewing machine that needs help? Want to learn how to use one? Thursday afternoon "Fix-it" mentors Betty and Carey will help you take a look at the marvels of sewing. This sewing machine class is during the Farmer's Market until end of April on Thursday afternoons 3-5pm.  Tuesday Nights we are having themed sessions as noted below.   Donations for materials and use of space is appreciated, thank you.

GRANGE TEXTILE STUDIO SPRING SCHEDULE - Room 10

April 4 - Sewing Machine "Fix-it" - Mentors: Betty and Carey
April 11 - Sewing Machine "Fix-it" - Mentors: Betty and Carey
April 16 - 7pm - "Tea and Socks" - Repairing socks and hand sewing your favorite stuff - Mentor: Annie Waters
    Bring your favorite mug, tea blend and some socks to darn, or clothing you have been throwing into the "Fix it" pile. Bring yarn or thread too if you want it to "match". Sewing Notion donations appreciated.

April 18 - Sewing Machine "Fix-it" - Mentors: Betty and Carey
April 25 - Sewing Machine "Fix-it" - Mentors: Betty and Carey
April 30 - 7pm - Beginner Pattern cutting & making - Mentor: Lara Eventide
    Bring Fabric and a pattern that you want to make up.

May 14 - 7pm - Making Period Costumes from Clothing and Collected Trims - Mentor: Chelsea Rule
    Bring your bag of goodies that you have been saving for a costume or altering.

May 21 - 7pm - Mini-Maker Faire Playday - Glue Gun Secrets -Purse & Mask Making - Mentor: Annie Waters
    Bring a $10 Materials fee or a purse/mask and your trims. Please bring feathers & goodies if you have.

May 28 - 7pm - MOUNTAIN OF CLOTHES - Mentors: Annie Waters and Lucy Shido
    Bring a bag of clothing and accessories that you have been saving for giveaway or to be altered.

Please bring materials and donations to share with the community. We need all kinds of craft and sewing supplies!

“I believe we are all makers. We can find all kinds of makers in our communities. Yet we also want to help create more makers. Through education and community outreach, we can offer the opportunity to make things to more people, but particularly children. They might find these opportunities at school but also at community centers, summer camps and science centers, or even at home. My goal is that all people, young and old, come to see themselves as makers, creators and doers because I know that the people who have the skills and knowledge to make things have the power to make the world a better place.”
From the founder of the Maker Movement, Dale Dougherty

The Friends of the Willits Library is having their Memorial Day Booksale on May 24, 25 & 26 from 10:00 to 4:00.  Sunday will be $3 a bag day.

The sale will be in the Willits Library Meeting Room as 390 E. Commercial St.

Please join us as we Spring Into Summer With a Book!

The Harrah Senior Center Memorial Day BBQ & Parking Lot Sale is May 25, 2013 from 8am to 11am at the Harrah Senior Center, 1501 Baechtel Rd., Willits.  Come by and check out the great bargains, and of course, the yummy hot dogs and root beer floats! 

For more information call 707.459.6826.

Our next 10,000-step (approximately 5 miles) Willits Community Walk for Personal, Community, and Planetary Health will be Saturday, May 25, 2013. Mark it on your calendar.

The walk will be much fun with new happenings. Everyone is welcome to "Walk Willits!"

The walk begins at 10am at J.D. Redhouse, 212 S. Main Street in downtown Willits. Bring your family, friends and well-behaved pets (on a leash).

Dance the night away, 7pm to midnight, at the Maker Masquerade Dance, a festive and creative ball with lively entertainment including bands, a special dance performance, and a chance to make your own mask.  The dance will be held in the newly remodeled Little Lake Grange, 291 School Street in downtown Willits.

Advance purchase tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for youth; tickets at the door are $25.  Appetizers, beer and wine will be for sale at the event.  All proceeds benefit the Mendocino County Museum Exhibits and Education Fund.

To purchase advance tickets for the Maker Masquerade Dance and for more information on all Mendocino County Museum events, please go to:  MendocinoMuseum.org.

The 32nd Annual Community Festival & Car Show will be held in Recreation Grove Park (corner of E. Commercial & S. Lenore Streets) on Sunday, May 26, 2013 from 10am to 4pm. 

More information to follow.

TEXTILE SKILL SHARING in the Little Lake Grange - 291 School St, Willits - Room 10.

Little Lake Grange is offering a Textile and Craft "Maker Studio". There are sewing machines and some materials available in Room 10.   We are offering an open studio to the community at the following schedule on Tuesday nights and Thursday afternoons. 

Do you have a sewing machine that needs help? Want to learn how to use one? Thursday afternoon "Fix-it" mentors Betty and Carey will help you take a look at the marvels of sewing. This sewing machine class is during the Farmer's Market until end of April on Thursday afternoons 3-5pm.  Tuesday Nights we are having themed sessions as noted below.   Donations for materials and use of space is appreciated, thank you.

GRANGE TEXTILE STUDIO SPRING SCHEDULE - Room 10

April 4 - Sewing Machine "Fix-it" - Mentors: Betty and Carey
April 11 - Sewing Machine "Fix-it" - Mentors: Betty and Carey
April 16 - 7pm - "Tea and Socks" - Repairing socks and hand sewing your favorite stuff - Mentor: Annie Waters
    Bring your favorite mug, tea blend and some socks to darn, or clothing you have been throwing into the "Fix it" pile. Bring yarn or thread too if you want it to "match". Sewing Notion donations appreciated.

April 18 - Sewing Machine "Fix-it" - Mentors: Betty and Carey
April 25 - Sewing Machine "Fix-it" - Mentors: Betty and Carey
April 30 - 7pm - Beginner Pattern cutting & making - Mentor: Lara Eventide
    Bring Fabric and a pattern that you want to make up.

May 14 - 7pm - Making Period Costumes from Clothing and Collected Trims - Mentor: Chelsea Rule
    Bring your bag of goodies that you have been saving for a costume or altering.

May 21 - 7pm - Mini-Maker Faire Playday - Glue Gun Secrets -Purse & Mask Making - Mentor: Annie Waters
    Bring a $10 Materials fee or a purse/mask and your trims. Please bring feathers & goodies if you have.

May 28 - 7pm - MOUNTAIN OF CLOTHES - Mentors: Annie Waters and Lucy Shido
    Bring a bag of clothing and accessories that you have been saving for giveaway or to be altered.

Please bring materials and donations to share with the community. We need all kinds of craft and sewing supplies!

“I believe we are all makers. We can find all kinds of makers in our communities. Yet we also want to help create more makers. Through education and community outreach, we can offer the opportunity to make things to more people, but particularly children. They might find these opportunities at school but also at community centers, summer camps and science centers, or even at home. My goal is that all people, young and old, come to see themselves as makers, creators and doers because I know that the people who have the skills and knowledge to make things have the power to make the world a better place.”
From the founder of the Maker Movement, Dale Dougherty

2013 Summer Tour Schedule
Walking Tours of Ridgewood Ranch ~ Home of Seabiscuit

Visit the special place that Seabiscuit called home...the small racehorse with a great heart that captured the imagination of an entire nation!

With the destruction and development of Glenn Riddle Farm, home of Seabiscuit's greatest rival, War Admiral, and his great grandsire the legendary Man O War, Ridgewood Ranch becomes one of the few existing sites that can depict the time in our history when a small racehorse with a great heart captured an entire nation.

Ridgewood Ranch Tour Features:

• View film footage of Ridgewood Ranch, including scenes of Seabiscuit’s 1940 homecoming, Red Pollard’s wedding and breathtaking horse racing scenes.
• View Seabiscuit memorabilia, hear historical facts, fun stories and poignant memories.
• Tour Seabiscuit’s Stud Barn and Mare Barn, once part of Charles Howard’s first class Thoroughbred breeding operation.
• Visit the historic craftsman-style ranch house built by William Van Arsdale in 1905.
• Receive a commemorative souvenir, and
• See the Lil’ Biscuits...Seabiscuit’s descendants.

2013 Bi-Monthly Guided Tour Schedule
June 1 - June 15 - July 6 - July 20 - August 3 - August 17
September 7 - September 21 - October 5 - October 19

Price: $20.00 per person - Children under 11 are FREE

Tour Details:

• All tours are docent led and reservations are preferred.
• Individual tours start promptly at 9:30am and last until approximately noon. Rain or shine!
• Only disability assistance pets, please. Buildings are handicap-accessible.

Reservations/Information: Call 707-459-5992, Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or online http://seabiscuitheritage.org/tourschedule.php

Group Tours
Group Tours of 8 or more may be arranged for bus tour companies or private parties.

Proceeds from the tours benefit ongoing historic preservation efforts of the Seabiscuit Heritage Foundation.

Seabiscuit Heritage Foundation
16200 N. Highway 101, Willits, CA 95490
707.459.5992 - www.seabiscuitheritage.org - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

"Esencia" pays homage to the essence of the art of flamenco, journeying to the core of this soulful art.

After three decades on stages around the world in eclectic performances ranging in style from traditional to modern, flamenco dancer La Tania returns to traditional flamenco in an intimate setting, focusing on the art form's fundamental elements. The deep and passionate cante (singing), the cry of the evocative guitar, and the solo dancer moved by spontaneous emotion will pay humble homage to the essence of flamenco.

La Tania will perform at the Willits Community Theatre Playhouse, 37 W. Van Lane in downtown Willits on June 1, 2013 at 8pm.  The cost is $20 per person. Reservations may be made by calling the WCT office 707.459.0895 or online at BrownPaperTickets.com.

This program reunites critically acclaimed flamenco dancer La Tania, Roberto Aguilar on the guitar, and iconic gypsy singer from Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, Kina Mendez. La Tania will perform a series of solos with varying moods, ranging from the deep Soleares to the lively and vibrant Alegrias where La Tania uses a white shawl and bata de cola (a train dress). Solo guitar and cante (song) will be the evening's highlight as well to complete the program.

Kina Mendez was born into the Mendez clan of Gypsy artists hailing from Jerez de La Frontera. She was mentored by her famous aunt La Paquera de Jerez from an early age. She has toured extensively and shared the stages with many renowned flamenco artists including Manuel Agujetas, La Macanita, and Mario Maya.

Kina was a featured artist at the prestigious XIV Festival de Jerez in "Los Conciertos de Palacio" in 2010. In the Bay Area's "Festival Gitano," Kina performed with Diego del Morao at San Francisco's Brava Theater in 2011.

Roberto Aguilar studied classical guitar at City College of San Francisco. His interest in flamenco began in 1996. He has spent time in Madrid and Seville studying guitar with El Entri, Jesus Torres, and Juan Antonio "Cano" Suarez. In 1998, 1999 and 2000 he was invited to participate in the International Culture and Tourism Festival in Beijing, China. He has performed with Juan Siddi Flamenco Company, Theatre Flamenco of San Francisco and is currently a member of La Tania Baile Flamenco.  

La Tania is an internationally acclaimed flamenco dancer and choreographer. She grew up in Andalucía, Spain and started her professional career in Madrid. La Tania performed in many "tablaos," or traditional flamenco venues, and with the prestigious companies of Mario Maya and Paco Pena. She shared the stage with the likes of El Cigala, Javier Baron, Juana Maya, Alejandro Granados and Belen Maya. In 1993, La Tania moved to the United States and toured with her own company, earning many awards such as the Guggenheim Fellowship and the James Irvine Fellowship in Dance. Currently, she is the director of Bay Area-based La Tania Baile Flamenco Company and School. In a recent review, the San Francisco Chronicle described her stage presence as "larger than life"

Come one come all to the Sunday Bingo Bash at the Harrah Senior Center, 1501 Baechtel Road. The Sunday Bingo Bash is held the 1st Sunday of the month. Note there is no Bingo Bash in September.

Doors Open 10:30 am and lunch is served at 11:00 am. The games 11:30 am

Cost: Buy in $10.00 for 10 Game Pack. Also available Blackout, 3 Specials

There are door prizes, different lunch choices each month and lots of fun!