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Kensington Foundation hosts 11th Annual Pro-Am Golf Tournament

stuff kensingtonThe Kensington Foundation hosted the 11th Annual Pro-Am Golf Tournament on Friday, March 18 at Camarillo Springs Golf Course. Golf Professionals from Southern California joined together to support The Kensington Foundation and played for a cash purse. The Kensington Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit organization, based in Ventura whose mission is to build an in-patient rehabilitation facility for brain injured children in Ventura County and to help those families in need who cannot afford it. For information about The Kensington Foundation and to help support this worthy cause, please contact 656-6996 or visit www.kensingtonfoundation.org.

The 12th annual Kensington Foundation Pro-Am Golf tournament will be on March 31, 2017. For corporate sponsorship or donations, please contact 656-6996.

 

New Locations to pick up the Breeze

New and even more locations where you can pick up your favorite newspaper the Ventura Breeze

Baja Fresh 4726 Telephone
Plaza Dental Group  4744 Telephone
UPS Store  4744 Telephone

4255 Main Locations
My Gym
Honey Baked Ham
Jenny Craig
Elements Nails
Super Cuts
Round /table Pizza
Shells Petals

A comprehensive list can be found on our website under “Pickup Locations”

Please feel free to contact us if there are other locations you
would like to see the Ventura Breeze.
[email protected] or 805.653.0791

A May graduation for VCLA

VCLA’s mission is to connect and empower a diverse group of leaders.

by Jenny Guy

The 35 cohort members of the 2016 Ventura County Leadership Academy (VCLA) will be graduating this May, with a celebration at Ventura City Hall.

Founded in 1994 as an initiative of United Way of Ventura County, VCLA’s mission is to connect and empower “a diverse group of leaders whose actions enhance the quality of life throughout Ventura County.” Now in its 21st year, the academy’s “Blackjack” Cohort XXI consists of a prestigious roster of executives and budding personnel from a wide variety of regionally based organizations. Organizations of VCLA’s Cohort XXI include Habitat for Humanity, Ventura County Animal Services, Girl Scouts of California’s Central Coast, Ventura County Credit Union, American Red Cross, Ventura County Fire and many more.

Basing curriculum on the relational leadership model, the 10-month VCLA program promotes and trains members on ethical and inclusive decision-making that benefits the common good. Once per month, the academy holds full-day sessions which confront cohort members with the interconnected realities of Ventura County’s economic development, transportation, health care, public safety, governance, agriculture, natural environment and education

“VCLA offers an amazing opportunity to be exposed to key challenges of, and opportunities for, the county as well as to meet the people that are charged with creating new visions to serve and grow our local economy,” said Ventura resident and employer liaison to VC Innovates, Hilary Howard of Cohort XXI.

The program spans from September to May with sessions taking place in various parts of the county. Beyond the monthly meetings, VCLA members are invited to participate in ride-alongs with local fire stations and law enforcement in order to gain additional insight into the county. They are also encouraged to network, socialize and share ideas outside of the academy’s scheduled itinerary.

“The VCLA program has taken my strength as a connector, and allowed me to expand my reach,” said Jill Shaffer, current executive director of VCLA. “Along the way, I’ve learned so much about the critical issues in our county and the actions I can take as an individual.”

For one session each year, the VCLA members are divided into small groups and assigned to explore Ventura County’s 10 cities. Each city group is then responsible for presenting their community explorations back to the cohort at later sessions.

VCLA members are also asked to Sacramento to hear from elected officials and other influencers of policy over a three-day session. On the 2016 Sacramento trip, Cohort XXI heard from Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, Assemblymember Das Williams, Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin and a number of other dignitaries on issues relating to Ventura County — as well as the state of California and the nation.

For more information on VCLA, visit vcunitedway.org.

Jenny Guy is the director of communications for Mustang Marketing, a current member of the VCLA’s Cohort XXI, co-chair for the Public Relations Society of America’s Young Professionals Club and a resident of the City of Ventura.

Ventura College holds inaugural Diversity in Culture Festival

stuff ventura collegeRecently Ventura College held its inaugural Diversity in Culture Festival on the Ventura College campus.

The event featured a wide variety of cultural performances, art, food and speakers from around the world.  Events included a poetry slam contest featuring Ventura County’s poet laureate Phil Taggart and director Jonathan Carlander presenting his short film on Asperger Syndrome, “The Pleasing List,.”

Many performances included American Sign Language interpreters.

Ventura County Fair in the news

Shanté Morgan-Durisseau was one of seven honorees at CSU Channel Islands.

The Board of Directors of the 31st District Agricultural Association, better known as the Ventura County Fairgrounds, has elected Bonnie Atmore to the office of President and Director Daniel Long to the office of Vice-President.

Atmore is President and CEO of FOODShare, Inc. She has been listed by the Pacific Coast Business Times (2007-2015) in the “Top 50 Women in Business.” Her honors include the Rotary International “Service above Self Award,” City of Oxnard Woman of the Year, Tri County Women’s Economic Ventures Trailblazer Award and various proclamations and commendations from Ventura County, Assembly and Senate representatives.

Long is a founding Board member on The Midtown Ventura Community Council and The San Buenaventura Conservancy and has been a wish granter for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Tri-Counties for over twenty years. He has volunteered at the Ventura County Fair since 1989 and has served since 2007 on the City of Ventura Planning Commission. He is owner of Daniel Long Painting.

The Ventura County Fairgrounds is proud to announce that director Shanté Morgan-Durisseau has been honored at CSU Channel Islands’  4th Annual African American Achievement Awards Luncheon for her work in civic engagement. She was one of seven honorees, who were chosen for their work to make the community a better place.

The awards ceremony, hosted by CI’s Intercultural Services, recognized individuals who have made a substantial difference in their respective fields and have worked to better the community.

Morgan-Durisseau, a Moorpark resident, was appointed to the Ventura County Fairgrounds Board of Directors in June 2015. She is managing editor at the California State University, Northridge Marketing and Communications Office. She has been an instructor at California Lutheran University, a lecturer at the CSUN department of journalism and a political affairs reporter at Copley News Service. She also has served as chair of the Ventura County Commission for Women; is an appointee to the Ventura County Women’s Economic Roundtable; and is a member of the Simi Valley AAUW, Ventura County branch of the NAACP, and Ventura County Women’s Political Council.

“We are proud of Shanté for her achievements and for the honor that has been bestowed on her.” said Fairgrounds CEO Barbara Quaid, “Her work in our community reflects the Ventura County Fairgrounds’ own commitment to making Ventura County a better place.”

The 2016 Ventura County Fair, “A Country Fair with Ocean Air” will open Wednesday, August 3 and run through Sunday, August 14. More information can be found at www.venturacountyfair.org or by calling  648-3376.

 

 

Passport Habits in Midtown has opened.

business passport habitsBringing the world to Ventura is a Ramirez family goal. After living in the Middle East for 2 years and scouring the globe for handmade treasures, Michelle and Anthony are thrilled to have brought them back to share with our community.  For a taste of wanderlust visit Passport Habits at 1987 E. Main St. Open Wednesday-Sunday.

645-6708 – Passporthabits.com

Vol. 9, No. 15 – April 27 – May 10, 2016 – Ojai News & Events

Shirley Waxman will visit the Ojai Library at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 14, to deliver a talk entitled “Puja and Piety: Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist Art from the Indian Subcontinent.” Ms. Waxman is from the Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s Community Speakers Program.

The Puja and Piety exhibition, on display at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, presents more than 160 objects of diverse media created for temples, home worship, festivals, and roadside shrines to celebrate and illuminate the complex relationship between puja—devotional practice—and religious imagery created to meet spiritual needs. This presentation will offer an overview of these vibrant traditions of private worship and public rituals and the spiritual connection between the images and the divine.

This event is free and open to the public

The City of Ojai Arts Commission is pleased to announce that they are sponsoring an open photography contest to select photographers for a book on the architecture of Ojai. Proceeds from the sale of the book will be used for the Arts Commission’s mentor/student intern program. Entries from photographers able to shoot both black-and-white and color photographs of Ojai architecture are sought.

The Commission’s goal is to produce a high-quality, coffee-table book that features important Ojai public buildings, places of worship, and residences. The final selection of architecture will be determined by the Arts Commission. A panel of judges, selected by the Commission, will select one or more photographers for this important one-of-a-kind project.

The contest will run from April 15 until July 31. For a complete description of contest rules and submission information, please visit http://ojaiphotoclub/apc_submit.html. If you have questions, please contact Bobbi Balderman at 798-2403.

From Friday, April 29, to Sunday, May 1, the Ojai Library will be taking part in WordFest 2016, a festival of words, ideas, and stories. WordFest is a literary nexus that encourages readers and writers of all genres, skill levels, and ages to partake in an extravaganza of events in and around the Ojai Valley. The mission of WordFest is to introduce Ojai to the world as a literary destination, to nurture aspiring writers as well as inspire seasoned authors to further develop their craft, and to celebrate the wealth of literary talent in the Ojai area.

On each of these days the library will have programming running all during our open hours, from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. On Friday the library will host free writing classes, run by five esteemed writing instructors, with a different writing class every hour, on the hour. Saturday will feature book and magazine authors along with an open mic session for attendees. On Sunday they will have more author readings to wrap up the weekend! More specific schedule information can be found at www.ojaiwordfest.com.

All library events are free and open to the public. For additional information, contact Ron Solórzano, City Librarian, at  218-9146. The Ojai Library is located at 111 East Ojai Avenue

Throughout the Ojai Studio Artists’ Angles: Best of OSA exhibit, the Ojai Valley Museum will host Art Talks every Saturday morning from 11 am – noon. Saturday April 30, Pam Grau, Jeffery Crussell and Carol Shaw-Sutton will be the featured artists. For further information, call 640-1390.

The Ojai Studio Artists mission is to create an environment where artists thrive ― professional and student alike — and fulfill the potential of the arts to enrich lives and build community.

One-act plays, dialogues, letters and songs from any period? We’ll provide the directors, actors and props. “It just happens that a Fifth Monday coincides with Memorial Day this year,” said Producer John Hankins.  The three or four Fifth Mondays in any given year spark Ojai ACT’s “Theater of the Imagination,” in which a variety of unusual and crowd-pleasing performances are produced.

“This is a great chance to showcase the wide variety of performance art that deals with the military throughout the ages, which includes drama, humor and music. Life and death conflict often reveals the human spirit in all its variety, and it ripples through to civilians,” said Hankins, a Vietnam War veteran.

“Soldier On” promises to unearth a gold mine that will be both entertaining and thought-provoking.

Submissions will be accepted until May 5; contact Hankins at 452-2885 or send to

[email protected]

Advanced Directives and POLST presented at Lexington

The guests who attended the seminar were very engaged and had excellent questions.

“Have a conversation.”  That was Teri’s number one bit of advice for an audience of thirty-five at the Lexington Senior Living Community recently.

Teri Helton, RN, MSN, FCN is a hospice nurse and educator for Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice.  She presented a seminar on Advanced Directives and POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) to a riveted and interactive group of people.

“You need to have a conversation, because the person you think you want to have carry out your directives might not be the one who is willing or emotionally able to do so.”  Teri gave examples from her own life.  Who did her mother ask to talk to the hospital nurses after her father had a stroke?  Teri.  Who did her sister call when the paramedics came back four months later when her mother had a heart attack?  Teri.  Otherwise, both would have had the resuscitative treatment they did not want.

Myrtle’s story was an example of what can happen when one does not have a conversation.  After seeing her husband suffer needlessly for the last six weeks of his life on a ventilator in intensive care, she wrote a living will, and then locked it in her desk.  Sometime later, her nephew found her lying on the floor after suffering a brain hemorrhage.  At the hospital, the doctor asked if she had an advanced directive.  He didn’t know.  Nor did her doctor or her daughter know.  They didn’t know because Myrtle did not have a conversation.

The packet of information provided by Livingston included a booklet called “Five Wishes” (one type of Advance Health Care Directive), which helps put in writing one’s personal, emotional and spiritual needs as well as medical wishes.  It is a helpful tool, which enables the conversation with family, friends, and doctor.  It keeps them from having to guess how one wants to be treated.  An Advance Health Care Directive should be completed by anyone 18 or older.

POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) gives seriously ill patients more control over their end-of-life care and covers whether to attempt CPR, administer antibiotics and IV fluids, the use of a ventilator, and artificial nutrition by tube.

The guests who attended the seminar were very engaged and had excellent questions.  A complimentary lunch was served on the Promenade deck by the Lexington following the class where the conversation continued.

The Lexington Assisted Living located at 5440 Ralston Street in Ventura has prided itself on providing housing and quality care at affordable prices to seniors for 25 years offering independent living, assisted living and Alzheimer’s/Dementia Care in 113 apartments with gorgeous ocean and mountain views.

Film viewing opens discussion about reinventing education

Darcy Duffy and Melissa Watz led the discussion after the film.

by Ana K. Gonzalez

A viewing of the award winning documentary film Most Likely to Succeed was held at the Poinsettia Pavilion on April 7th. KiteStream, a new online community helped organize the presentation of the film.

KiteStream was initiated by Venturan Melissa Wantz, to lead conversations about improving today’s education systems.

The event brought together over a hundred teachers, students, parents, and educational administrators.  A short discussion was held after the film about the earlier educational experiences with the audience. The discussion went over key points which were mentioned in the film, for instance “Student engagement in school plummets as they get to higher grades—from 80% in elementary school to just 40% by the beginning of high school.” Or “The Lego Foundation study reports that students lose more than 90% of their creative capacity during their school years.”

The audience was left with mixed emotions of frustration for the current situation but also inspiration for the future of education.

Since Most Likely To Succeed premiered just a year ago, the film has reached hundreds of thousands of people, inspiring them to help America’s schools prepare our students for the future.

The film focuses on a charter high school in San Diego, High Tech High. The school decided to take a chance and strive away from the traditional education system to focus on student development through only project based learning. The documentary followed a few students through their experience in the school, and their projects. It also interviewed teachers and parents about their impressions and concerns in this new style.

If you would like to join the KiteStream community or get more information about the next showing follow them on facebook.com/kitestream.