Adult Programs & Special Events

Adult Coloring Book Break
5/11, 18, 25 Wednesdays @ 12-2pm
Available from 12pm to 2pm so stop by for a minute or ten!

5/12 Thursday @ 3:30pm
Library LAB Makerspace
Learn to 3D print and get an intro to digital design in this entry-level workshop.
Seats are limited, registration is required. Please email [email protected] for more information.

Opera Santa Barbara
5/13 Friday @ 12pm
These concerts, featuring members of the Mosher Studio Artist Program, are offered fre to the public,

Spontaneous Chess
5/14 & 24 Saturday & Tuesday @ 1pm
Calling all chess players! Keep your skills sharp with this one-hour, drop-in session of free play.

Art Tales Reception
5/25 Wednesday @ 5:30
Join us to celebrate the winners of the 8th Annual Art Tales Writing Contest.

National Paper Airplane Day
5/26 Thursday @ 3:30pm
Topping Room
Put down your electronics and pick up a sheet of paper—join us in a celebration of the paper airplane!

Spanish Conversation Group
5/28 Saturday 10:30am in the Rentfrow Room
Are you learning Spanish but need some practice speaking? Join this informal group to chat and practice your Español!

Poetry Open Mic Night
5/12, 19, 26 Thursdays 7:30-9pm On these Thursday nights, come join this group of writers as they meet in the Topping Room to share their work.

Ukulele Jam Session
5/23 Mondays 7-10pm
Locals gather to play the ukulele on the first and third Monday of the month.

Early Literacy Class
5/17, 18, 24, 25, & 31
Tuesdays & Wednesdays 10:30am
A great way to introduce your child to early literacy and the library.

TAG Teen Advisory Group
5/18 Wednesdays 4 pm
Active members will get credit towards School Community Services Hours.

Youth Chess Club
5/16, & 23 Mondays 3 pm
Learn to play chess or improve your current ability! Assisted by Class A tournament player Jack Cashman.

Lego LAB: Build, Learn, and Play!
5/24 Tuesdays 3 pm
05/28 Saturday 10 am
Exciting themes every meeting. Children of all ages welcome!

Dance Party!
5/19, and 05/28, Friday, Thursday, Saturday 10-11 am
Enjoy non-stop music and movement for children ages 2-5 and their grownups in the Topping Room!

Party!
3/11, 03/17, and 03/25 Fridays and Thursday 10-11 am
Enjoy non-stop music and movement for children ages 2-5 and their grownups in the Topping Room!

Rubicon Theatre Company presents Noel Paul Stookey (“Paul” of Peter, Paul and Mary)in “At Home: Ventura” Sunday, May 15, at 7:00 p.m.

Returning after last year’s sold-out concert, singer/songwriter Noel Paul Stookey  brings his intimate musicality to the Rubicon Theatre Company stage again. Noel will perform Stookey standards such as “The Wedding Song,” “In These Times,” and “Jean Claude,” and previously unreleased solo songs from the Peter, Paul and Mary albums.

Rubicon Theatre Company, 1006 E. Main St.
Tickets: $69.50/Free to Rubicon Gold Coin Members
Box Office  667-2900
www.rubicontheatre.org

On Friday, May 20th, The Kiwanis Club of Ventura will host their 49th annual Officer of the Year event.

Last year there were 170 guests in attendance, many of them Ventura County peace officers and their families.

Ventura Kiwanis Officer of the Year Awards Dinner
The Tower Club 300 Esplanade Dr., 22nd Floor, Oxnard
5pm Reception / Cash Bar
Dinner – 6pm
Program – 7pm – 9pm

The event is open to the Public and costs  $40 per person.
RSVP via email @ [email protected] or  648-1143.

Footworks Youth Ballet presents Hansel and Gretel in Fairy Tale Land, a whimsical adventure where the famous duo encounter a whole new world straight out of the pages of their favorite bedtime stories. The audience will be delighted as enchanting gnomes and pixies lead them to a land where Nursery Rhymes, Fairy Tales and Willow Trees come to life. Prepare to be dazzled by beloved storybook characters such as Cinderella, The Three Little Pigs, The Cat and the Fiddle, Little Bo Peep, and many more in this charming ballet children will be sure to love. This is new and original ballet in the classical style, choreographed and directed by Kirsten Oakley of Oakley Ballet Center in Ventura.

As a complement to the classical, narrative setting of Hansel and Gretel in Fairy Tale Land, Footworks Youth Ballet also features two one-act ballets—Charles Gounod’s Iand Sergei Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony (a.k.a. Symphony No. 1 in D Major). Choreographed by Oakley’s mentor, Yvonne Mounsey (1904-2012), it showcases a more sleek and modern style that is based in classical ballet but features increased energy and speed, pared-down sets and costumes, and less reliance on a narrative setting.

The broad repertoire that Footworks Youth Ballet presents and exposes to the students of Oakley Ballet Center and to the community in Ventura County is yet another way in which the company provides education in this beautiful art form.

As always, in a Footworks Youth Ballet production, all the roles are filled by the student dancers, ages 6-18 (except, in this production, one male professional guest artist). The production is a hands-on project where director Kirsten Oakley can choreograph to students’ strengths but also extend their knowledge of the art from in a full-scale production.

Footworks Youth Ballet presents each production in an Outreach program to over 3200 elementary and middle school students. These performances are presented through greatly reduced, or free, ticket prices.

Join Footworks Youth Ballet for their Family Educational Hour one hour prior to each show to learn more about the production, costumes, ballet history and music. Footworks Youth Ballet offers family-friendly matinees on both regular performance days (June 4th and June 5th) at 2 p.m. Tickets are $14, $16 and $20 and can be purchased by calling 486-2424 or buying online at
http://www.footworksyouthballet.org.

Footworks Youth Ballet is a nonprofit ballet company whose purpose is to provide educational opportunities to young people through the art of ballet.

Owned and operated by a talented young couple who together with their immediate and extended family have managed to produce some of the most incredible productions in live family entertainment in generations, all under the Big Top!

Every member of the family is involved in the day to day operations of the circus and together they function like a well-oiled machine. From the most veteran member of the family to the youngest child everyone works together.

A small self-contained city on wheels, they travel from town to town, yet always manage to keep some semblance of stability and continuity. Laid out across whatever parking lot or grass field the Big Top calls home that week, the setup is almost always the same. “We are our own little community. We have the same neighbors in each town. The trailers are parked in the exact same spots relative to the Big Top, so the environment is always familiar. You feel at home even in a place you’ve never been to before”  Katya Quiroga, Co- Owner-Producer along with husband Nelson.

The Quiroga family has 4 generations of its own traveling with Circus Vargas. Add to that the many other performers from all over the world along with their families and you’ll understand why no one is ever lonely and certainly never bored. There are more than 20 children and teenagers at Circus Vargas and they have constant supervision. “There is always someone’s grandmother, father, mother, brother or aunt around,” laughs Katya, “so not much chance for anyone to misbehave and we are very big on respecting our elders”

Circus Vargas host, Jon Weiss, who travels with his wife and 3 children says it best. “The circus is a family in the sense that we feel responsible for each other. There is a tremendous respect you have for each other that doesn’t come from any other kind of job. Sometimes you literally have each other’s lives in your hands. We work together. We play together. We have barbeques, birthdays and baby showers. There is a kinship and sense of  community.”

It is only fitting that with so much togetherness, these friendships foster a deep respect and camaraderie that cultivates into sincere affection that is felt under the big top. They care about each other. Not only while they are performing but behind the scenes, as well.