Whiskeytown Saloon will serve up house specialties – classic margaritas, Texas tea and your choice of champagne-juice concoctions – on New Year's Eve, according to bartenders. And if you still crave a drink with a kick on New Year's Day, you can try Whiskeytown's Next Morning Bloody Mary. If you like what you sip, check out Whiskeytown's own recipes for margaritas and Texas tea below. The Thornton Avenue tavern will be open until 2 a.m., ringing in the New Year. Patrons can enjoy big-screen TVs, pool tables, an internet jukebox and games along with their drinks. At this Newark bar, pool …

All dressed up and need somewhere to go? Our community offers plenty of New Year's Eve festivities to ring in 2011. So book a sitter, polish those dancing shoes and reserve your spot now for one of these holiday bashes. New Year's Eve Celebrations: New Year's Eve Ball Dec. 31 Newark Pavilion New Year's Eve Gala Dec. 31 Swiss Park Free Champagne Toast at Midnight Dec. 31Whiskeytown Saloon New Year's Eve Dinner and Gala PartyDec. 31 Essanay Cafe, Fremont New Year's Eve Black and White Ball Dec. 31 Saint Anne's Catholic Parish, Union City New Year's Eve PartyDec. 31Federico's Tapas and Wine …

The 2010 calender might be coming to a close, but the year's biggest party is about to get started. Patch reporter Monique Soltani heads to one of Livermore's oldest wineries and finds out how it is celebrating the season in style. If you are still looking for a way to ring in the new year, The Restaurant at Wente Vineyards will be hosting a New Year's Eve celebration serving up Wine Country cuisine.

1. Alameda County Community Food Bank: Organize a food drive at your local church, community center or school, with help from theFood Bank, or opt to staff the bank's food helpline that refers residents in need to food providers in their neighborhoods. The Food Bank especially needs people who are bilingual (Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese). Volunteers can also help in sorting, screening, boxing, and shelving food items and fresh produce for distribution to the Food Bank's partner agencies. 7900 Edgewater Drive, Oakland, CA 94621. (510) 635-3663 ext. 308. 2. East Bay Center for the Blind: Do you…

It's that time again! Dust off your Christmas CDs, tapes and albums, create new holiday playlists on your iPods and browse at your favorite music store for the perfect jingle. (Incidentally, I'm dating myself by referring to Christmas "albums," but I do still have my parents' "Christmas with Ray Conniff" on vinyl.) For me, there is always a perfect album for every special Christmas moment – and here are a few of my favorites: For listening with your children A Christmas Together: John Denver and the Muppets Best Track: "The Twelve Days of Christmas" Second Best: "A Baby Just Like You" Not …

'Twas the morning of Christmas, all presents unwrapped, Aunt Bertha was settling in for her long winter nap. When what to my wondering eyes should appear, But Uncle Henry drinking our very last beer. And then in a twinkling, I heard the next scene: The grumbling and bickering of each bored pre-teen. I sprang off the couch and announced to the crowd, "Happy Christmas to all, now it's time we go out." It's Christmas morning, the presents are unwrapped and everyone is getting just a tad antsy. But with most places in town closed for the holiday, what's a stir-crazy family to do? Patch dug around…

The Newark branch of the Salvation Army says more than 900 people will be able to celebrate Christmas tomorrow with a turkey, side dishes and kids' gifts thanks to donations from residents and businesses. This week, the Salvation Army transformed community rooms into toy stores for families who can't afford to shop at malls. On Wednesday, at least 40 people were waiting outside of the office on Newark Boulevard before volunteers opened the doors at 9 a.m. Volunteer Mary Smyser says parents were grateful when they saw tables full of Barbie dolls, Tron action figures, SpongeBob SquarePants …

Santa Claus and volunteers from Viola Blythe Community Services Center celebrated Christmas early with nearly 400 children who enjoyed gifts, snacks and entertainment. Santa made sure every child who attended Saturday's party at Schilling Elementary received a coloring book, crayons, a stuffed animal, a stocking full of goodies and a wrapped toy, according to the center's executive director, Debbie Caravalho. Volunteers asked the kids to wait until Dec. 25 before they unwrapped their big presents. "Sometimes what they get from us may be all they get for Christmas," Caravalho said.  According …

If you look at my bookshelves, you'll know that I'm obsessed with children's books. I love them. I love reading them to my children, I love having my children read them to me, I (secretly) love reading them myself and, perhaps most importantly, I love giving them as gifts, particularly around the holidays. As such, I'm always on the lookout for the best children's books around, be they picture books, chapter books or all-time classics. Someone once said that a book is a present you can open again and again. Here is a list of books to give (or read) this holiday season that you and your loved …

Highways will bustle as many local residents drive to holiday destinations this year – and if you overindulge, the American Automobile Association will offer both members and non-members a free Tipsy Tow on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.  A recent AAA survey predicts 11.6 million people in the Golden State to travel for the holidays, a 3 percent increase over last year, said AAA Northern California Spokesman Cynthia Harris.  More than 478,000 Californians are expected to be in and out of airports, but AAA projects over 10 million people will drive to holiday festivities. NewPark Mall …

NewPark Mall officials want to help everyone keep an eye on their toys, clothes and presents as well as their personal items as they navigate the holiday shopping season. If news reports are any indication, officers around the Bay Area have been especially busy in the past week investigating shoplifting reports and a number of armed robberies, several of which occurred in daylight hours in busy shopping districts. The Newark Police Department reported at least seven arrests linked to attempted thefts at Sears, the Burlington Coat Factory and other department stores between Dec. 4 and Monday…

The U.S. Commerce Department shows retail sales around the country rose by 0.8 percent in November, a sign that more people are heading back to the mall as department stores slash prices. According to the report released last week, November retail sales exceeded analysts' expectations. Even though holiday shoppers are busy taking advantage of the best deals, sometimes they end up buying generic items that their loved ones don't necessarily want.  Some of those gifts end up unused, re-gifted or thrown away. Patch.com reporter Richgail Enriquez shows us five gifts that anyone can create and …

Newark community groups say they will continue to accept donations and volunteers during the holiday season because the challenging economy has more people reaching out for help. Workers at the League of Volunteers are stocking up on clothes, toys and other gifts inside a store that doesn't accept cash, credit cards or checks. LOV's Christmas Store allows low-income families to pick up everything they need to celebrate the holidays without spending a dime. LOV Program Director Joanne Paletta says she expects to have at least 250 families enrolled in the Adopt-A-Family program by Dec. 23. …

With your kids off from school for winter break soon, you might be looking for something fun and creative for them to do one afternoon. How about having them build a gingerbread house? These days, building your own gingerbread house doesn't need to be a multiday project. You can buy affordable kits with pre-baked gingerbread pieces designed to fit together. Some kits even come with the houses assembled. To varying degrees, these kits also contain the other main components for gingerbread houses: candy and the icing — or the ingredients for icing. But which store-bought house kits are the …

Giving is the essence of Christmas. Every year, children get presents from Santa Claus and their parents to celebrate the holidays, but in these economic times not all families can afford to give their children gifts. But in Newark, the Viola Blythe organization is striving to change that.  The Viola Blythe Community Services Center expects it will help bring Christmas this year to 350 to 400 children from Newark and surrounding areas, said officials. "Holidays are a time for sharing and a time for children to experience the joy of giving and being given to," said Debbie Caravalho, Executive …

The auditorium at MacGregor Alternative Education Center was transformed into a concert hall Sunday as the Newark Symphonic Winds took the stage for its Holiday Pops Concert. The admission price for the concert was a new unwrapped toy donation for the League of Volunteers' Toys for Tots Drive. Mayor David Smith plays trombone for the Newark Symphonic Winds. He says he is happy to be a part of this annual music tradition. "This is a neat event because the League of Volunteers works with the U.S. Marine Corps to collect Toys For Tots," Smith said. "So we get a lot of community support for this …

Newark Patch wants to celebrate the people who produced bright, imaginative displays for the holidays. Newark City Hall kicked off the season with its annual tree lighting ceremony. On December 6, city leaders and community members lit the Carl Pierce Memorial Tree. During the annual lighting ceremony, some residents nicknamed the tree "Carl Jr.", since its lofty predecessor dwarfed it. According to City Manager John Becker, the original Carl Pierce Memorial Tree now stands at least six stories high and it had its last lighting ceremony in 2008. When drivers head down Newark Boulevard, they …