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Vol. 9, No. 22 – August 3 – August 16, 2016 – City classes

August City of Ventura Imagination camps and events
Call 658-4726 or 654-7552 to register, if you already have an ACTIVENET account online, visit www.cityofventura.net
All held at the Barranca Vista Center ~ 7050 Ralston Street unless otherwise noted.

JediCraft Adventure Game Using LEGO® 5-7 years
8/8-8/12 M-F 9 am-12 pm $190 #5822
Build the Star Wars Universe. Craft a Pod Racer or Droid or create the Treehouse Village of Endor! This novice Play-Well LEGO® game is inspired by the Minecraft tablet game and the Star Wars fantasy setting. Camp held at the Bible Fellowship Church, 6950 E Ralston St.

JediCraft Survival Game Using LEGO® 8-12 years
8/8-8/12 M-F 1-4 pm $190 #5823
Build a Starship, craft Light Sabers and use the Force to survive Empire attacks. This advanced Play-Well LEGO® game is inspired by the Minecraft tablet game and the Star Wars fantasy setting. Camp held at the Bible Fellowship Church, 6950 E Ralston St.

Billy Clower Cheer Camp 6-12 years
8/8-8/12 M-F 9:30 am-12:30 pm $130 #5861
Learn Hip Hop dancing, jumping, tumbling, motion and stunt performance and team building skills as you make friends and cheer crafts. Camp held at Billy Clower Dance Studio, 75 MacMillan Ave.

Rock & Roll High Music Camps 6-12 years
8/8-8/12 M-F 9 am-3 pm $299+$25 materials fee #5802
Form your own rock band, write a song, make a CD, do a photo shoot and music video, with a performance for the parents on Friday. All experience levels welcome. At Arroyo Verde Park Center.

Fun-gineering, Mix-ups and More 6-9 years
8/8-8/12 M-F 9 am-12 pm $179+$35 materials fee #5832
See how science is used to build skyscrapers, bridges and tunnels. Learn about chemical reactions, how film captures light and explore the nature of birds, beasts and bugs.

Food Network Favorites 7-12 years
8/15-8/19 M-F 1-4 pm $120+$35 materials fee #7097
Each day will center on a different Food Network show! Be both competitor and judge as you enjoy your and fellow campers’ Iron Chef, Chopped and Cupcake Wars creations.

Mindstorms Robotics 8-12 years
8/15-8/18 M-Th 1-4 pm $155 #5846
Build, program and test a robot! Show it off for parents and friends on final day. Instructors Rich & Joan Borgioli.

Comic Book Camp 8-12 years
8/15-8/19 M-F 9 am-12 pm $120 #5804
Bam! Pow! Crunch! Explore the Golden Age of comics as you create your own characters, action and pages with cartooning master Mr. Scott. Camp held at the Bible Fellowship Church, 6950 E Ralston St
Brixology 8-12 years
8/15-8/19 M-F 9 am-12 pm $179+$35 materials fee #5833
Learn about aerospace and mechanical engineering as you team up to construct different projects using LEGO® bricks. Solve real-world design challenges such as carnival rides, drawing machines, mechanical animals and truss bridges.

Art at the Islands 9-18 years
8/15 Monday 11:30 am-5 pm $20+ $43 boat fee #6627
Meet at Island Packers in Ventura 1691 Spinnaker Drive at 11:30 am for our visit to Scorpion Cove on Santa Cruz Island. On the Island we will draw architecture, flora and fauna and the ocean. We will be back in port by 5 pm. All reservations must be made ahead of time no day of reservations accepted. Instructor Catherine Broger.

Fairytales in the Park FREE PERFORMANCES for Families
8/13 Saturday 4pm FREE
Fairytales in the Park is celebrating its 22nd season! Join us at Barranca Vista Park for a production of The Snow Queen 2: Trouble in Arendelle. Performances are the 2nd Saturday of every month. Bring a blanket, picnic and low lawn chairs. 7050 Ralston St. For more information call 805-654-7553

Are you a trained and certified Reflexologist?

Volunteers are needed to give Reflexology to cancer patients . The Cancer Program at Community Memorial Hospital is seeking trained and certified Reflexologist interested in volunteering at our Cancer Center. The Cancer Resource Center in conjunction with Community Memorial Hospital offers a variety of free services to individuals faced with a diagnosis of cancer as well as providing programs for family members and friends. These services are offered in a comfortable non-hospital setting. The CMH Cancer Center is located inside the Coastal Communities Cancer Center at 2900 Loma Vista Road.

If you have an interest in volunteering please contact the CRC at 652-5459. All volunteers are required to become CMH Auxiliary members and are asked to volunteer at least 4 hours per month.

There are many  Auxiliary services looking for volunteers.  Weekdays (daytime and evening) and Saturday (daytime) opportunities have openings.

Please stop by CMH Auxiliary front desk and pick up an application.

What is on your Bucket List?

Writing your list helps you remember what you enjoy in life.
Writing your list helps you remember what you enjoy in life.

by Phil Chandler, Owner of Right at Home of Ventura County, Home Care Agency

As part of an occasional series, the Breeze interviews local senior residents about their bucket lists – or “what we wish to accomplish before we are shuffled off this mortal coil”.

Do you remember when you were five and you were dreaming about what your life would be like when you were grown? You may not have realized it, but you were forming your first bucket list – what you dream to do before you can’t. It could be to meet your favorite celebrity, go skydiving or even visit places such as lakes of the Ozarks in Missouri. No matter what they are, finding a way to tick as many goals as possible is the next step. Writing you list helps you remember what you enjoy in life, and can cheer you up. The act of writing it is energizing, and just talking about what is on your list can motivate you to get it done. There are no right or wrong activities; the list reflects your dreams. It will remind you of what you enjoy in life, suited to your physical ability and risk tolerance.

Oxnard resident Tina H. grew up in England during World War II. She survived the London blitz, a terrifying period in England’s history. Her father instilled within her a strong sense of adventure through travel. She emigrated when she was 23, and launched an adventurous life here in the States. She earned her way selling magazines door to door, travelling throughout the Midwest and the East Coast. It was a great way for a young woman to learn about America and its diverse culture and geography. Along the way she worked in a factory manufacturing ball point pens, a new technology at the time. After settling in California, she worked several jobs including driving cars from Europe off of the ships ready for sale in the US. Tina is a resilient woman, having survived two bouts of cancer and the accompanying chemotherapy and radiation treatments. On top of that, she has been married twice. At 83 years young, Tina has an extensive bucket list!

Number one on the list is a trip to New Zealand. Discovering this beautiful country will be a spontaneous adventure, as she doesn’t know what she will find when arriving. She plans to go during their summer so she will have good weather, perhaps in the fall. When asked how long she will spend there, she replied “could be two weeks or two months, depending on what I find!”. Tina proves to all of us that retirement is the perfect time to see the world and that anyone can make the most of their golden years!

She enjoys fishing and has crossed “catching halibut” off her list. Next is a trip to Alaska to catch salmon. Salmon are notoriously difficult to catch, and require skill and patience.

A trip to Maui is next on her list. The helicopter ride through mist covered mountains with cascading waterfalls and tropical bluffs appeal to her love of nature. The beautiful beach doesn’t hurt either.

Tina has a bright sense of humor and a zest for life. She doesn’t allow her illnesses to define her, and has written a bold and exciting bucket list.

If you have an interesting bucket list story to share, call Phil Chandler at 389-5320.

Consider the Conversation

by Lori Harasta

What if you had a little time to plan your death?  You could make amends, have meaningful conversations with loved ones, impart wisdom, and get a last hug.

That is a big part of what hospice is all about.

The Ventura County Area Agency on Aging (VCAAA) hosted an award-winning documentary film called, “Consider the Conversation” earlier this month.  Dr. Lanyard Dial, President/CEO and Medical Director of Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association (LMVNA) introduced the film and led a follow-up discussion for the 33 attendees.

The movie encourages the viewers to think ahead of time about what they want at the end of life, and to discuss it with their loved ones.  Acknowledging it is a difficult subject to bring up for family members, experts emphasize the importance of having the conversation.

There are wide-ranging misconceptions about hospice.  Many think it is about giving up living.  Actually, it is allowing the patient to hopefully live life with quality and meaning as opposed to being consumed with medical appointments and treatments that more often than not deplete energy and time to spend with loved ones.

When a person suffers with a terminal illness, the entire family is impacted. It can be a bigger event for loved ones than for the patient. That’s why the hospice team provides care and support, not just for the patient, but the entire family.

Dying from a terminal illness can be a long process.  Some families, unwilling to admit their loved one has a limited time to live will put off receiving hospice care.   They do themselves and others a disservice by prolonging the dying process instead of prolonging living.  Many people on hospice care live longer and have better quality of life than they would without.

If you are like most people, you want to die on your own terms, with dignity and surrounded by love.  Hospice can enable you to do so.

 

Linda Elder of Ventura, esteemed sculptor and educator, has died

Linda Elder in her Studio by Donna Granata FOTM Portrait Series 2000

Linda Elder (1942 – 2016)

Throughout her life, Linda exemplified strength and courage. Much of her work expressed an appreciation of woman’s strength and triumphant qualities, traits Linda displayed in her own life.  She conquered debilitating injuries sustained in an auto accident and again, was the victor in her fight with breast cancer.  Her bright spirit will be missed.

Linda was first introduced to her favorite art form when an art teacher in high school allowed her to do sculpture in the back of the class while the rest of the class worked on drawing projects. But she didn’t return to explore art again until after her three sons started grammar school, and she entered college a second time.

After extensive study and work in painting and drawing, she found two-dimensionality too limiting. The three-dimensional and multimedia options available to sculptors were far more challenging and in complete harmony with her own sensibilities.

A highly respected teacher, Linda taught privately and at the university level. She taught figurative sculpture and mold making with her husband, sculptor David Elder, at California State University Northridge for over 20 years and at the University of California Santa Barbara, where she taught for nine years. She shared her talent with the community, teaching for the Boys and Girls Clubs and for Focus on the Masters, reaching children in our local schools as her way of giving back.

She began teaching privately at her Crystal Hawk Studio in Ventura in 1988 and continued to teach up to two months prior to her passing when her illness impaired her ability.

Those who travel Highway 101 near Seaward are familiar with Linda Elder’s “Xochitl,” a carving of a Chumash woman that stands near the home that she and her husband, David, hand built on ground that had been the site of a Chumash meeting ground.

Describing her work, Linda says: “With each piece of figurative sculpture I create, the piece must go beyond the mere physical appearance and be able to capture both the emotions and inner spirit of the work.  Without this energy the sculpture will not reach out to the viewer, will not share its essence.”

Linda died peacefully at home after a courageous battle with brain cancer.  She is survived by her husband, sculptor David Elder and sons Sean Johnson, Kyle Lachman, Jacob Lachman and Eric Elder and their families.

To learn more about Linda Elder please visit the artist’s website www.CrystalHawkStudio.com.

Linda Elder was extensively documented by Focus on the Masters in 1999. The FOTM Archive contains extensive information about this artist. For more information about FOTM please visit www.FocusOnTheMasters.com.

 

A few HICAP presentations

“I hope that I am maximizing my income.”
“I hope that I am maximizing my income.”

Tuesday, August 9- 10:30 am to 11:30 am – Topic: Are you maximizing your income through Medicare Savings Program, Extra Help, LiHeap and other programs?  Pleasant Valley Senior Center, 1605 Burnley St., Camarillo

Thursday, August 11– 10:00 am to 11:00 am – Topic: Let us Learn Colors! There are grey, tan, purple, blue, green orange and additional colors! How those colored letters will save you money! Palm Vista Adult Center, 801 South C Street, Oxnard

Tuesday, August 16 – 11:00 am to 12:00 pm – Topic: Are you maximizing your income through Medicare Savings Program, Extra Help, LiHeap and other programs? Fillmore Senior Center, 330 Central Avenue,  Fillmore

Thursday, August 18 – 11:30 am to 12:30 pm – Topics: Are YOU maximizing your income through Medicare Savings Program, Extra Help, LiHeap and other programs? at Fillmore Active Adult Community Center, 533 Santa Clara Ave, Fillmore

Tuesday, August 23 – 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm –Topic: Are you maximizing your income through Medicare Savings Program, Extra Help, LiHeap and other programs?  Ventura Avenue Adult Center, 550 North Ventura Ave

 

 

For more information please call 477.7310 or 800.434.0222.

 

 

 

Adela Trainor: A commitment to the community

 

 

Adela is analytical, organized, efficient and fun to work with.
Adela is analytical, organized, efficient and fun to work with.

by Rebecca Wicks

Adela Trainor is what some may call a “master” volunteer. Focusing primarily on educational and fine arts endeavors in the community, she has and continues to leave an indelible mark on Ventura.  Her volunteering began with her children.

“It’s where my kids were, so it made sense,” said Trainor.  She began her volunteering career as many parents might, participating in the school PTO and helping in the classroom. Soon she was the school’s PTO president and on the executive board of the Ventura Education Partnership (VEP).

“I tend to do things 200 percent,” admitted Trainor.  “We started with simple programs like making a rainbow on your plate and it expanded from there, we had a focus of helping students make better choices.”

Trainor was a player in the founding of the Healthy Schools Project, now called Farm to School which still brings local produce to school salad bars in the Ventura. The program which has been hailed as a benchmark project in California as well as nationwide, incorporated regular classroom “taste testing” and visits by local farmers, chefs and other health professionals, exposing students to nutrition information and healthy lifestyles.

Pat McCart Malloy who is accredited as a key founder of the Healthy Schools Project by a number of sources including a publication on farm to school programs in California published by Occidental College, has worked with Trainor on a number of education initiatives and known her for 15 years.

“She is analytical, organized and efficient, [and] fun to work with,” said Malloy who currently serves with her on the school district’s Parent Advisory Committee (PAC).  “I trust [Adela] will succeed in anything she starts.”

In addition to leading a number of other programs, events and projects Trainor is also heavily involved in the Rubicon Theatre.  There she sits on the executive board, performs educational outreach and serves as a “Grand Dame,” for the playhouse assisting with any number of tasks from ushering guests and bringing food for actors during rehearsals, to helping with fundraisers and organizing events.

All of Trainor’s volunteering centers around a single idea of community engagement.

“I have found if you focus on building programs and events that engage the community, the money, and success will follow,” said Trainor who has always worked to encourage volunteering in schools, and believes a volunteer’s presence alone if often enough – even if that volunteer only has 20 minutes to spare during lunch.  “We are all responsible for our children, sometimes all you need is a pair of eyeballs and a smile, and that can change a kid’s bad day, or make them think twice about their choices.”

In an effort to help parents and other volunteers understand how they can help in schools as well as understand what is expected, Trainor spearheaded and authored the Family School Community Partnership, a district volunteer training program.  The program included live trainings as well as training videos.

After 20 years of being a fulltime volunteer, Trainor is transitioning to a new career. She became a real estate agent last year and is excited about her new job’s prospects.

“It is just like my volunteering career, I connect people and make something happen,” said Trainor.  “You work within challenges and help people get what they want.”

Trainor is still involved with a number of her volunteer pursuits including the school district’s VEP and PAC, the Rubicon and the Chamber of Commerce.  And, she sees herself continuing these commitments for the foreseeable future.

“She is pretty amazing,” said Malloy.  “Lots of parents come and go but Adela stayed and VUSD [is] better for it.”

 

Ventura Parkinson’s Disease Support Group

Phil Chandler, Certified Senior Advisor and owner of the Right at Home agency in Ventura County, will present an overview to the Ventura Parkinson’s Disease Support Group of the many housing and care options for seniors in Ventura County. The presentation will be held at  Lexington Assisted Living, located at 5440 Ralston Street, on August 10 from 1:00 to 3:00. Reservations are not necessary.

Phil will discuss the range of options for housing in the county including living at home with assistance, Board and Care’s, Assisted Living, or Skilled Nursing, and many of the factors that should be considered when choosing a residence.  The presentation will last about 40 minutes, with some time for Q&A. For more information, call Patty at 766-6070.

How can I remember what my doctor says during a visit?

“Doc could you repeat that, I want to make sure I understand?”
“Doc could you repeat that, I want to make sure I understand?”

No matter what your age, it is easy to forget a lot of what your doctor says. Also, sometimes what your doctor says may be hard to understand. As your doctor gives you information about your health, it’s a good idea to make sure that you understand it and that you will be able to remember it. Here are some tips to help you understand and remember what you and your doctor discuss.

Ask for clarification. Always ask your doctor about anything he or she says that seems unclear. You might say, “I want to make sure I understand. Could you explain a little more?” or “I didn’t understand that word. What does it mean?” You may also find it helpful to repeat back to your doctor what he or she says using your own words and ask, “Is this correct?”

Take notes. Taking notes during your doctor visit can help you remember what you and your doctor talk about. Take along a notepad and pen or pencil, and write down your doctor’s main points or ask your doctor to write them down for you. If you cannot write while the doctor is talking to you, make notes in the waiting room after your visit. Or, bring an audio recorder along, and (with the doctor’s permission) record what is said. Recording is especially helpful if you want to share the details of the visit with others.

Request written or recorded materials. Ask if your doctor has any brochures, DVDs, CDs, cassettes, or videotapes about your health conditions or treatments. For example, if your doctor says that your blood pressure is high, he or she may give you brochures explaining what causes high blood pressure and what you can do about it. Ask the doctor to recommend other sources, such as websites, public libraries, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies that may have written or recorded information you can use.

Speak with other members of the health care team. Sometimes the doctor may want you to talk with other health professionals who can help you understand and carry out the decisions about how to manage your condition. Nurses, physician assistants, pharmacists, and occupational or physical therapists may be able to take more time with you than the doctor.

Call or email the doctor. If you are uncertain about the doctor’s instructions after you get home, call the office. Doctors of course will have their own notes about your health. Some even use Australia’s leading practice management software to keep all information together, making it easier to find. A nurse or other staff member can check with the doctor and call you back. You could ask whether the doctor, or other health professional you have talked to, has an email address you can use to send questions.

SCAN offers great classes for seniors

Do you suffer from stress, anxiety or high blood pressure? The SCAN Health & Wellness Center is offering Healing Vibrations classes, where participants are “bathed” in sound by a large Tibetan Singing Bowl. These special bowls have been shown to improve immune function, lower heart rate and blood pressure and reduce stress. The classes will be held for four consecutive Thursdays in August, starting August 4th. The cost is $12 for four sessions. For more information or to sign up for vibrational healing, call 658-0365. Space is limited.

Learn how to surf the web on Your iPad at the SCAN Health & Wellness Center

Are you having trouble figuring out how to use your iPad? The SCAN Health & Wellness Center is offering free monthly “iPad Basics for Seniors” August 23 at 9 a.m. During this two-hour, entry-level class, participants will learn basic tablet terminology, initial set-up procedures, the features and gestures of their iPad, and more. Subsequent classes will be held 9/27, 10/25 and 11/22. The iPad Basics class is open to seniors 55 and older and their caregivers. Please bring your iPad. To register for this class, please call 658-0365.

Besides Zumba a great way to stay in shape is swimming like senior  Barbara LaMarche of Ventura does in our beautiful ocean.
Besides Zumba a great way to stay in shape is swimming like senior  Barbara LaMarche of Ventura does in our beautiful ocean.

Looking for a fun way to get your groove on with a new dance party workout? SCAN is hosting twice weekly Zumba gold classes right now! Seniors aged 55 and older are invited to register for a dance party workout until September 21, every Monday and Wednesday from 4 – 5 p.m. To learn more details about this program, including cost and to register for Zumba gold classes, please call 658-0365 as there are only a few spots left.