The Executive Director of Adventure Cycling Association (ACA), Jim Sayer, will speak about bicycle travel and tourism; the why, what, where, and how of getting on a bike and exploring. He will share how communities coast-to-coast are attracting more bike tourists and how those bike tourists are revitalizing small town America. Jim Sayer will discuss ACA initiatives to make cycling safer and more accessible for people of all ages and abilities. Sayer will highlight the importance of bicycle-friendly cities and businesses; as well as the current efforts of CIBike, Cycle California Coast, and other local organizations to increasing bicycle tourism in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.
Sayer’s visit to Ventura will be the first of more than 40 cities across the United States that ACA staff will visit in 2019. Sayer joined ACA in 2004 and also serves on the board of America Bikes.
ACA is the largest bicycle-travel (touring/camping) organization in North America with more than 40 years of experience and 53,000 members. ACA, a non-profit organization, produces widely-used U.S. cycling maps, offers guided bicycle tours, promotes bike tourism, produces how-to tutorials for beginning cyclists, and supports print and online media featuring the best in bike touring gear and know-how.
All who are interested in bicycle travel, or just want to learn more about cycling, are welcome to attend.
Museum of Ventura County, 100 E. Main St. Wednesday, January 9. Doors open at 6:30pm with refreshments. The program starts at 7:00pm.
The Channel Islands Bicycle Club (CIBike), established in 1990, is Ventura County’s largest recreational cycling club. CIBike shares the benefits of bicycling for health, recreation, sport, and transportation through regularly scheduled group bike rides, events and a free public program on the second Wednesday of each month at the Museum of Ventura County.
Sustainability Now News
by Maryann Ridini Spencer (@MaryannRidiniSpencer)
One: Go meatless at least once a week
Eating less meat, even just one day a week is good for your health according to the Mayo Clinic. Lowering meat intake can be beneficial in lowering the risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Meatless meals also benefit the environment by limiting the use of natural resources (water) and also lowering greenhouse gas emissions (burning less fossil fuel for electricity and transport). In an astonishing statistic, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that approximately 634 gallons of water are used to produce one hamburger and a recent Environmental Working Group (EWG) report details that “if every American cut meat and cheese from their diet for just one day a week, it would be equivalent to taking 7.6 million cars off the road.”
Two: Nix the chemicals
Unfortunately, many of the industrial chemicals we’ve put in our air, food, clothing, beauty supplies, cleaning supplies, yard products, etc., have been found to be quite toxic and because often they can be inhaled or absorbed through the skin, there are also links to various chemicals contributing to cancer, autism, autoimmune disease, and other ailments. What can you do? Just as important as reading the labels on what you consume, beware of what you’re putting on your skin and around your environment. EWG.org is an excellent site to investigate the toxicity of all types of products.
Three: Get regular doses of Enviro-Therapy
The term “grounding” (or “earthing”) refers to direct physical contact with the abundant supply of the Earth’s electrons by walking barefoot, placing your hands on some grass or earth, or immersing yourself in a body of conductive water such as the sea or a mineral-rich lake. Research is finding that grounding in part, neutralizes free radicals, improves the immune system and blood circulation, reduces the production of stress hormones, harmonizes the body’s biological rhythms, and contributes to overall well-being.
Four: Nurture Your Relationships
“No man is an island” is a famous saying attributed to seventeenth-century English author John Donne to underscore that we all need each other to live, and better yet, to thrive. To foster sustainable relationships, be sure to make the time to enjoy special bonding time with loved ones and friends (minus the electronics) and join a group or club with like-minded individuals. Close relationships contribute to the feeling of belonging and purpose. They help us deal with eventual traumas (death of a loved one, loss of a job, divorce, and other traumatic events). They also enrich your life, ward of depression, and contribute to your health and well-being.
Five: Pay It Forward
When we do good in our life — for our family, friends, community — it grows our compassion and understanding and fosters a new appreciation of all that we do have. In “doing unto others” we not only help alleviate struggling and suffering, but we also strengthen bonds and encourage others to do the same by example.
Every month CAPS Media trained new members and mentored existing members.
2018 is a Year to Remember for everyone in Ventura including everyone at CAPS Media. The first few months of the year we dominated by reaction and recovery from the Thomas Fire. CAPS Media covered, broadcast and livestreamed numerous City, County and State events providing the public with valuable updates and recovery information.
In February, in collaboration with the Museum of Ventura County, CAPS Media launched the Thomas Fire Stories project, conducting interviews with first responders and the public chronicling the personal stories of survival and healing during and following the devastating Thomas Fire.
Every month CAPS Media trained new members and mentored existing members in the use of media equipment helping them create their own programs and projects to air on television. CAPS Media Radio – KPPQ, 104.1FM, continued to grow with new local voices and programs developed and broadcast on the airwaves.
Every week the CAPS Media crew recorded, broadcast and live streamed City Council meetings, City Planning, Design Review and other city public meetings as well as Ventura Unified School Board meetings on Channel 15. In addition, numerous faith-based and community organizations recorded and broadcast services and informative programs for the community on Channel 6.
All year long the ECTV Crew from El Camino High School produced engaging and award winning programs in the CAPS Media studio and the community. ECTV is a career pathways education program developed by CAPS Media in collaboration with VC Innovates and the Ventura Unified School district. In May and June CAPS and the ECTV crew members covered graduation ceremonies for El Camino and Foothill high schools, and Ventura College.
Every month CAPS produces a video for the city and school district’s Mayor for a Moment each month a 5th grade student is selected and interviewed. The profile is presented at a City Council meeting and a VUSD school board meeting.
Throughout the year CAPS Media continued a productive collaboration with Ventura County Fire and Public Information departments that included video annual report for the Ventura County Fire Department, as well as updates by VCFD Chief Mark Lorenzen, Ventura City Police Departments’ Ashley Bautista and officers.
Starting in September, CAPS Media started preparing for the upcoming election by working with the League of Women’s Voters to produce videos including informational videos on the district election process and independent analysis of the ballot issues and candidate forums. CAPS continued its Video Voter program featuring individual candidate statements. CAPS also worked with Bill Nash, Ventura County Public Information Officer and Mark Lunn, Ventura County Clerk-Recorder, Registrar of Voters to produce special reports for voter information and education videos for the November elections.
In December, CAPS Media premiered The Perfect Firestorm – The Thomas Fire Story at the Museum of Ventura County. The documentary film was produced in collaboration with the Museum in cooperation with County and City agencies. The Perfect Firestorm is a tribute to our entire community of heroes who, in the face of an overwhelming crisis, responded with astonishing calm and then opened their hearts, hands and homes to rescue neighbors and strangers and together rebuild their lives. The film is broadcast and live streaming on CAPS Media Channel 6 throughout January. Go capsmedia.org/program-schedules for air times.
2018 has been a very busy and productive year at CAPS Media. The entire staff eagerly looks forward to New Year of community Engagement, Education and Entertainment in 2019.
Ventura author, John Darling, is proud to announce the launch of his new quarterly online periodical, Strictly Fiction Magazine (http://strictlyfictionmagazine.com)
The site will feature fiction, science fiction, romance and mystery selections. There will also be a section for short, pet-based fiction, called Buddy’s Storybook.
While the initial installment of the magazine will not be available until April 1, 2019, Mr. Darling is inviting readers, future contributors, and potential advertisers to visit his site before then and to send him any questions they may have about the magazine.
Regarding his reason for creating the site, he had this to say:
“At one time, for over five years, I produced an environmentally themed magazine called The Earth Comes First. That magazine offered a mix of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, artwork, photography, and opinions. It was an exhausting endeavor but very rewarding since it celebrated the Earth we live on.
This time around, I am concentrating on fiction because I want to narrow the focus of my efforts and emphasize the quality of work over the quantity of it so each quarter I will only be publishing a limited amount of stories.
I also do not want our readers to be ambiguous about what we do here. If you want poetry, non-fiction, editorials, or any other type of reading matter, there are plenty of other fine periodicals out there who can provide it to you.
Ferguson Case Orr Paterson LLP (FCOP), recently announced the passing of long-time partner, Theodore J. England, who joined the firm in 2001.
Outside of his work, England was committed to volunteering, serving as a board member at Interface Children Family Services, the Salvation Army and St. John’s Healthcare Foundation. Together with his wife Annette, he also managed his 38.5-acre ranch in Santa Paula, growing approximately two dozen different crops from apples to walnuts.
England attended Oxnard High School before earning his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1963 and continuing his education at the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law. Admitted to the California Bar in 1967, he was a frequent lecturer on real property law for the California Continuing Education of the Bar program.
“Ted’s dedication to his colleagues, clients, family and friends was truly special. He was generous with his time and experience, sharing wise judgment on matters both legal and personal,” said FCOP Managing Partner Michael Velthoen. “As an attorney, Ted’s scope of expertise on the practice of law was unmatched. We will miss Ted greatly.”
On Saturday, January 5, at 9am help prepare the Oxnard armory for a winter homeless shelter.
There is lots to do but the main task is interior painting. Paint will be provided they just need bodies and some supplies.
They need the following because everything that is donated ends up saving us money, and allowing us to stretch the shelter budget further! Every dollar saved will allow the shelter to stay open longer and provide better services.
Rollers and paint trays, brushes, masking tape, drop cloths, plastic sheeting and buckets
There is no need to register in advance or to call just show up and help out.
While they ask you to please wear old clothes (you will probably get some paint on yourself) they are also asking folks to please not bring any other old clothes, food items, or other personal items to donate to homeless individuals. The Temporary Emergency Shelter is not yet open — and is not set up at this time as a place to store or distribute donated food, clothing or personal items to homeless individuals.
Right now they are focused on the logistics of setting up a shelter facility and hiring staff. There are many organizations that can accept donated clothing and personal items, and we encourage you to take such items there. They will, however, accept bulk donations of some necessary items we know will be needed, such as: boxes of toilet paper; hard plastic storage containers (see-through preferred); trash bags. If you have or can obtain any of those items, please bring them with you!
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. Former Armory Building, 351 South K Street, Oxnard.
The 2018 Annual Poinsettia Awards were held at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel at the Ventura Harbor. Held on December 6 the program is sponsored by the Ventura Chamber of Commerce. The awards program honors those who make a difference in the community.
Pictured above the honorees are (by category) Small Business of the Year, Dyer Sheehan Group, Inc., Mid Size Business of the Year, Ventura Grocery Outlet, Large Business of the Year, Aera Energy, LLC, Non-Profit of the Year, Bike Ventura, Innovation Award, Waypoint Ventura, Young Professional of the Year, Josh Damigo, Ambassador of the Year, Pat Pothier, Environmental Excellence Award, Leashless Brewing, Police Officer of the Year, James Brittle, Firefighter of the Year, Colby Morrison, VUSD Student of the Year, Ryan Sequeira, VUSD Educator of the Year, Michael Gennaro, Jewel Key Award, Chad Caldwell, Citizen of the Year, Jim Monahan.
On our Facebook we asked readers to name this photo. Our selection committee chose “I know I’m not supposed to ask for a straw in CA but I just can’t drink without one!” submitted by Barb Holden from Ventura as the funniest. She received 2 tickets to the Pompeii exhibit at the Reagan Library.
Ventura will miss the iconic Vagabond. Might it return?
by Richard Lieberman
The Vagabond Coffee Shop will close January 1st after 52 years of continuous operations. The announcement of the closing was made by Jolene McBee 74, owner of the coffee shop in early December. Owner Albert McBee died 15 years ago and longtime customers miss him to this day since Jolene took over.
Not much has changed in the last 52 years of operations. The food, the ambiance and the welcoming nature of the wait staff have stayed the same. The diner, located at 756 E. Thompson Blvd. until now has been untouched by time.
Claude and Joyce Nichols have been coming to the Vagabond for 25 years. “We eat out most of the time, and I enjoy the comfort food here,” Nichols said. “We are sad Jolene is leaving, but we understand she has to do it,” he added. “There are just not many places like this anymore and it’s sad to see the staff losing their jobs” he added.
The time for change has finally come and big changes are planned for the diner. Taking over on January 1 are property owners Vista Investments. Work will begin immediately on January 2 when Vista takes over the diner.
Rumors that Vista had “kicked out” McBee are simply not true. Zack Cohen, Special Projects for Vista Investments said “Over a year and a half ago we talked with Ms. McBee and she said she wanted to retire and she didn’t want to renew the lease,” said Cohen. “She wanted to retire and we gave her the opportunity to do so without having any ramifications connected with that,” added Cohen. Some rumors concerned McBee’s granddaughter and her current chef Christopher Castillo who wanted to take over and run the diner but were rebuked by Vista. Castillo, who said he did talk to corporate at one point about his plans to take over, but there were no further discussions after that call. “I figured I would have the opportunity to buy it,” Castillo said.
Co-owner Albert McBee is still missed after all these years.
Cohen addressed this issue. “One thing that triggered all the rumors was that several people said they wanted to take it over and they were going to run it and continue her legacy, and that we were shutting it down,” Cohen said.
Cohen explained that McBees granddaughter and Chef Castillo didn’t fully understand the situation. “We spoke to everyone who was interested, we spoke to all of them,” Cohen added. Castillo was just not in a position to buy. He explained that in order to take over the diner, a multi-year lease would be required, a security deposit of $20,000, another seven thousand just to open the doors, and an estimated $100,000 to $200,000 to bring the restaurant up to code.
Additionally, Cohen said “The restaurant has been struggling for the past couple of years,” “Customer base has eroded, people have left the community and new people coming in have not become customers, and new business has not been filtering in,” said Cohen. “A diner is a diner, it has old-time food choices. The company’s intention is to source local fresh foods and hire Venturan’s for staff positions. “The restaurant had many items on the menu that has not changed in 50 years,” he said.
Cohen also wants to make it clear that the company has owned this property since 1997 and that “we are in it for the long run” The Vagabond diner will be back in about a year depending on how extensive repairs and acquiring new equipment will take.
One of McBee’s oldest and reliable customers Adrian Osung who has been coming nearly every day since 1966 thinks the closing “is regrettable and I don’t like it.” He added “It feels like it is taking the heart out of me. I don’t accept it yet” he added. Customers for so many years he adds “Every chance me and my wife had we would come here.” Osung, remembers McBee’s husband Albert who he describes as a “very beloved person” and even after Osung’s wife died he still continues to come to his favorite restaurant. “It’s almost like being a part of the family and I hope it comes back.”
Jolene McBee from the Face Of Ventura portrait series by Johanna Spinks
The Ventura community will forever miss the iconic Vagabond run by two great people who truly created a legend. McBee’s departure will leave a gaping hole in the hearts of generations of Venturans. Likely the Vagabond will not be the same when it reopens, but maybe just maybe it will come back stronger and for generations yet to come there will be a new Ventura legend.
The Executive Director of Adventure Cycling Association (ACA), Jim Sayer, will speak about bicycle travel and tourism; the why, what, where, and how of getting on a bike and exploring. He will share how communities coast-to-coast are attracting more bike tourists and how those bike tourists are revitalizing small town America. Jim Sayer will discuss ACA initiatives to make cycling safer and more accessible for people of all ages and abilities. Sayer will highlight the importance of bicycle-friendly cities and businesses; as well as the current efforts of CIBike, Cycle California Coast, and other local organizations to increasing bicycle tourism in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.
