Party brightens holiday season for fire-ravaged Lower Lake

Four months after wildfire tore through their tiny town, residents of Lower Lake gathered Sunday for some welcome cheer with gifts, good food and a visit from St. Nick.

The old “Brick House,” a community gathering hall on Main Street, was turned into Holiday Central with twinkling lights, garlands of greenery and a Christmas tree for the all-town party, which drew more than 200 people whose lives were upended by the devastating Clayton fire in August.

The event was made possible by the people from around the county and country who donated to The Lake County Fire Victims Fund created by Redwood Credit Union, the Press Democrat and State Sen. Mike McGuire, a Healdsburg Democrat whose sprawling second district includes Lake County. McGuire watched the fire unfold from the scene.

More than $265,000 has flooded into the fund, 90 percent of which has already been distributed in $1,000 grants to people who lost their homes, $20,000 in assistance for struggling businesses and $20,000 in gift cards for students, teachers and staff at Lower Lake schools who lost everything and needed new clothing and supplies.

Spirits were lifted, especially when Santa Claus appeared at the end of a lunch of pasta and polenta served up by Sonoma County’s Pasta King, 90-year-old Art Ibleto. Kids lined up to greet Santa and then were led behind a latticework backdrop to behold a treasure of unwrapped presents. Each child was given a giant gift bag and allowed to fill it with a toy, a book, a pair of pajamas and a tree ornament of choice from piles arrayed on tables. There was something for every age group, from Legos and baby dolls to Tonka trucks and push toys. They each also received a $250 VISA gift card.

There were also gift cards for food and raffle prizes for adults like See’s Candy, poinsettias and artificial Christmas trees.

McGuire said volunteers with Redwood Credit Union did most of the shopping, making an effort to buy as much as possible from Lake County merchants to boost the local economy, already struggling even before the fires.

The warm pajamas will be appreciated by fire victims like 15-year-old Grace Matthies, who is living inside her family’s auto repair shop on Main Street after their home and nine rental units they owned behind it went up in flames. Theirs were among 300 structures, 189 of them residential dwellings, lost when the wildfire tore through the heart of Lower Lake on a rampage that ultimately blackened nearly 4,000 acres in southern Lake County.

Matthies, who attends the Konocti Education Center magnet school in Clearlake, said her family has filled the shop with space heaters to fend off the December cold. The party, she said, was a nice distraction.

“It’s kind of cool being here,” she said. “Everybody is happy and enthusiastic. Sen it’s nice to know we’re not alone.”

But behind the smiles were a few tears.

“I feel like I’m pushed away from my home,” said Monique Santerno, whose eyes welled as she talked about losing the house she grew up in and where she had hoped to raise her own children. Now she and her husband, Samuel, and their four kids ranging from 8 years to 17 months, are living in Clearlake Riviera for the time being.

“I don’t have enough to rebuild and I don’t have enough support to stay around,” she said.

Among the fire survivors who showed up was Lightning, a pony who spent 21/2 months at U.C. Davis after being treated for burns to his face and back.

Kids lined up to greet the pony, who belongs to Tarin Benson, the principal of Lower Lake Elementary. Benson is grieving the loss of another horse lost in the fire and loss of the house where she grew up. Her family lost a total of five homes on land that has been in her family for several generations.

Benson fought tears talking about her family’s loss and the impact on her school, where some kids were grappling with the loss of their home and their classroom.

“Kids are resilient,” she said. “But it’s been up and down for all of us.”

You can reach Staff Writer Meg McConahey at meg.mcconahey@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5204. On Twitter @megmcconahey.