One of Ventura County’s favorite family events is returning to the streets of Ventura and CAPS Media will cover the festivities. As the Irish saying tells us: “May The Road Rise Up to Meet You.” The road is rising on Saturday, March 12th when the County of Ventura St. Patrick’s Day Parade will once again be rolling on Main Street in Ventura. This year’s theme is “One World, One Air, We All Share” – A Salute to Our Environment, with 2022 Grand Marshal Nan Drake leading the merriment. Marching bands, drill teams, festive floats, classic cars, the 2022 Irish Belle and her court, and much more will all join in the celebration.

CAPS Media crews will cover the Saturday morning extravaganza and premiere the complete St. Patrick’s Day Parade the same evening at 6pm on CAPS Media Channel 6 and stream on capsmedia.org.

In other news, Podcasting is growing rapidly in Ventura. CAPS Media’s KPPQ Radio expertise is expanding to include Podcast production by CAPS Members, the public and students throughout the City and the County. El Camino High School students in the ECTV program are adding podcasting skills to their ever-expanding individual tool kits that include all aspects of media production: writing, directing, camera and audio recording, hosting and more. Recently CAPS Media staff members Elizabeth Rodeno, KPPQ director, Evan Carpenter, chief engineer, and Phil Taggart, ECTV director, guided the ECTV crew members through the skills needed to create effective and engaging podcasts.

At the same time Ventura County Sheriff’s Department is utilizing CAPS Media resources by producing a series of informative podcasts in the studio under the direction and expertise of Elizabeth. The county podcast series, titled “On The Line” is hosted by County Sheriff Commander Eric Buschow and includes engaging discussions with County Sheriff Bill Ayub and others in the department. The podcasts will air on the VCSO website at VenturaSheriff.org, on KPPQ on 104.1fm radio and will stream worldwide on myTuner Radio. For more information contact Elizabeth Rodeno, at [email protected] for information on release dates.

Recently in the CAPS Media television studio the ECTV crew produced a special series of programs in celebration of Black History Month with a Black Culture Show that included interviews with various local dignitaries including Ventura City Councilmember Lorrie Brown.

In January CAPS Media crews covered the arrival of the spectacular Mystic Cruzar to the Channel Islands Harbor adjoining the Ventura County Maritime Museum. The 83-foot-long, 110-foot-tall schooner is relocating from the east coast to its new permanent home in Ventura County. The ship will be part of the Maritime Museum’s education and outreach program allowing the public and especially young people the opportunity to tour the ship and learn about the history and science of sea trade. CAPS Media produced a special arrival video complete with interviews of museum educators, the programs generous benefactors and more.

All of us at CAPS Media encourage everyone to get vaccinated and remain vigilant. The sooner we are all vaccinated the sooner we can fully enjoy our beautiful community, and the sooner we can reopen the CAPS Media Center to our Members and the public. Our thanks to everyone for continuing to Stay Safe and Stay Strong during these challenging times.

Dimitri Poulos celebrates after winning the Rincon Classic. Photo by Cristy Poulos

by Amy Brown

Dimitri Poulos waited until the ripe old age of four to start surfing. However, he made up for lost time when he began surfing in local competitions at age ten. Since then, he has gone on to become a professional surfer, earning two gold medals at the Junior world championship level at age 17, and more recently, taking his first Pro title at the 40^th annual Rincon Classic with a total score of 15.43. 

The 19 year old Ventura native is sponsored by O’Neill, Red Bull, Roberts Surfboards, Pro-Lite, and Futures Fins, and his future looks exceptionally bright. He stays humble, however, and is focused on honing his craft and encouraging other young surfers. He is grateful for the folks that were there to encourage him when he was just starting out. “There wasn’t a huge surf culture of younger kids when I was young,” said Poulos. “There were obviously people who helped me, and I know some kids who’ve gotten some other help from older people, but I want really to be there for the younger kids. I just try to be nice to everyone and encourage them to be more psyched for surfing.”

Poulos shared that the best advice he ever received was to just have fun and not take it too seriously. He said that he is inspired by many, but that he really looks up to his father Peter and his coach Mike Lamm. “They just inspire me and have both taught me so much. I owe my surfing career to both of them, and my family obviously, since they got me into it and taught me what I know. Those two guys have pushed me the most, and of course I’m inspired by a lot of other professionals, the guys on the world tour.” Surfing is a family affair—in addition to his dad being a lifelong surfer, his 16-year-old sister Delaney won second place in the Wahines Under 17 division at Rincon, as well.

While Poulos had competed at the Rincon Classic several times in previous years, this was his first win. “It felt very good–I went in with no expectations, I haven’t competed in a pretty long time, with Covid all the contests were cancelled or postponed before, so I was a little nervous, with this first contest, maybe some rust, but it felt really good for it to work out in my favor.”

Asked what is still on his surfing bucket list, he replied, “I really want to get over to Indonesia for a contest, and would like to make the world tour.” He said that it’s the love of the sport that truly drives him. “I still have so much fun doing it, I don’t really think of it in terms of I have to do this or that, I’ll still surf with my friends, and then when it’s time for a contest, it’s time to switch gears and get ready to do this.”

Chip Bell changed himself to the tree to protest their cutting down by city. Photos by Patricia Schallert

Ventura has a sign when you drive into the city that says Ventura is part of Tree City, USA. Yet, some trees are being slated for a cut down instead of a trim. 

On San Clemente  St., there are beautiful Ficus Macrocarpa trees that line the street and provide nesting for great horned owls, hawks and various small birds. These trees are also known as Malayan Banyan and are at least 100 years old. They have been part of the community since it was developed in the 1920’s and 30’s. These beautiful trees provide a canopy of shade in the summer months when it’s hot and are a refuge for the wild birds as they migrate north or south. The residents of this community believe these trees are interconnected with a co-depending root system. 

Chip Bell, a resident in the community, together with many of his neighbors, felt it was important to save the trees not only in his community but to develop awareness of how important trees are to the entire Ventura community. He chained himself to one of these trees that the city had slated to cut down.  As the city was cutting down one tree at the end of the block due to some wind damage, they decided not to cut Chip’s beloved  tree.  It was saved for the time being.

Barbara Brown and Christy Weir co founders of the Tree Alliance came by to give a shout out to Chip and his neighborhood for their efforts to save the Ficus Macrocarpa trees. 

Former City Council Member Christy Weir stated “Now would be a good time to revisit the city’s tree removal policy. Our residents value mature trees, and want to save as many as possible. Ventura’s Urban Forestry staff care about trees, and their expertise combined with our community’s passion for a healthy environment can help us to examine potential ways to retain our tree canopy.”

Barbara Brown said “The safety of our community in wind storms and rain events  is critical, but if we cut down these heritage trees, we take away so much from the intrinsic beauty of these neighborhoods. We also lose important habitat for the native birds and insects. There has to be a way for these heritage trees to be saved.”

Editor’s note: We have tried to obtain a statement from the city but have not been able to. Sorry.

Photos by Patricia Schallert

For more information visit www.cityofventura.ca.gov/AVP

Knox’s green wagon was stolen from inside a duplex.

by Carol Leish, MA

“It’s important to be a part of our community and to be able to pick each other up,” according to, John Burdick. “When I saw that Chris G. had more of an urgent need for the wagon, I just wanted to be able to help him out by giving it to him.”

Chris & Dani G. live with their three young children in the Pierpont area of Ventura. Chris recently posted on Nextdoor that his 4-year-old son Knox’s green wagon was stolen from inside a duplex with a 6ft. fence. He also posted a picture of the wagon. He said that Knox came inside upset and said, “A bandit took my wagon.”

First, Chris was also upset because of the theft of the wagon. But, after posting about the incident on Nextdoor, and getting two generous responses to pay for a new wagon, and the response from John Burdick to give his wagon to them, he said, “I was overwhelmed with a sense of community.”

John said that, “Now that my sons are ages 7 and 10, I hadn’t been using the wagon to pull them around various places anymore. And, I realized that Chris had more of an urgent need for it. I know how it feels when something is stolen from you. We need to pick each other up by helping out each other.

“It was also an awesome experience when Chris and Knox picked up the wagon from outside my home here in Ventura. My kids were proud to be donating the wagon, too. In fact, it was the same wagon that we were giving to them, that had been stolen from them. Thus, I was donating it back to them so that they wouldn’t be missing a beat.” Having fun playing while riding in the green wagon would be continuing on!