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Ventura Port District Brian Pendleton recognized as general manager of the year

Pendleton is an active community leader.

Brian Pendleton, who has been at helm of the Ventura Port District since 2019, has been honored with General Manager of The Year by Ventura County Special Districts Association (VCSDA).

VCSDA Board President Bruce E. Dandy states, “All of the members of the Ventura County Special Districts Association are proud of Pendleton’s numerous achievements on behalf of the Ventura Port District, which is a valuable asset to our community and to Ventura County’s economy, fishing, recreation, and tourism industries. We all join in congratulating Brian for his accomplishments.” 

During the past year, Pendleton has been instrumental in spearheading four key initiatives that can be attributed to receiving this prestigious achievement. He developed and led the implementation of a forward-thinking COVID-19 Rental Abatement and Deferment Program that went into effect at the beginning of the pandemic, which helped avoid business closures at Ventura Harbor as a result of the pandemic. 

“I’m honored to receive this award from the Ventura County Special District’s Association. It is truly a reflection of the leadership of our Port Commissioners and hard work and dedication of our Port District staff, and tenant business partners who continually strive in making Ventura Harbor a first-class working waterfront and seaside destination,” said Pendleton. 

An active community leader, Pendleton is the Chair of the Economic Development Committee and on the Executive Committee for the Ventura Chamber of Commerce, Treasurer of the Ventura County Chapter of the Special Districts Association, Secretary of the Board for Visit Ventura, and Board Member of the California Marine Affairs and Navigation Conference.  

Ventura Port District’s Board of Commissioners Chairman, Chris Stephens, added, “2021 was a very challenging year and through Brian’s efforts, the District remains on a sound financial footing with a strong and dedicated group of employees.  In addition, Brian’s leadership has contributed to the welcome success of our partner tenants and businesses.” 

Since 1974, the Ventura County Special Districts Association (VCSDA) has been representing over 20 independently governed special districts located in Ventura County. Special districts are single purposed entities formed by residents to provide local services. Because special districts are a more efficient form of government, they are quicker to respond to customer needs.

Vol. 15, No. 11 – Feb 23 – Mar 8, 2022 – Ventura Music Scene

by Pam Baumgardner
VenturaRocks.com

There have been a number of announcements for live music events as it appears we’re turning the corner on (knock on wood) this pandemic.

The Ojai Blues Fest at the Ojai Art Center was announced with that show being held on Saturday June 4 with Ray Jaurique and the Uptown Brothers, Crooked Eye Tommy, Guy Martin, Chuck Strong & SRBQ, Sandy Haley, and Milo Sledge. Tickets will go for $30 a head and are available through EventBrite.com.

The Ventura Music Festival announced their lineup for their 27th festival for next summer starting Wednesday, July 27 with Adaawe and a free concert in the park. Neither their website, nor their poster indicates which park, but my money is on Mission Park downtown. Adaawe is seven women of the voice and drum performing global soul and African rhythm. Then there’s two weeks with shows Friday through Sunday, July 29 through August 7; all shows at the Ventura College Performing Arts Center. Go to VenturaMusicFestival.org for full lineup and ticket information (and the cover of this issue).

JD Drury is starting to announce bands for next summer’s Surf Rodeo. As of yet, no major acts, but a lot of local area favorites will be on the bill including Raging Arb and the Redheads, Yachtley Crew, Highway Starr, Fortunate Youth and a lot more to cover the three days from July 15 – 17 at the Ventura Pier. To keep up with bands and to secure your tickets, go to SurfRodeo.org.

Two shows to entertain attending at Namba Performing Arts include Jazz Modes on February 25 featuring a four-piece jazz outfit with Robert Kyle, Bevan Manson, Sean Riddle and Dean Thomas, and then for something completely different the following evening, February 26, it’s Andre Thierry, award winning musician whose masterful accordion style playing is sure to get you on your feet and in the mood for Mardi Gras. Ticket information for both events can be found at NambaArts.com.

Ventura Music Hall is still on track for their first show on March 22 with G. Love & the Juice. More details coming next issue.

Quick Notes: live music returns to the Margarita Villa in the Ventura Harbor; Chuck Dennis presents jazz, funk and soul with Johnny Britt and special guest Isaiah Venegas at the Grape on Friday, February 25; Mike Watt and the Missingmen play Rock & Roll Pizza in Simi Valley on Friday, February 25; Strey Cellars celebrates their 8th anniversary on Sunday, February 27 with Vanise Terry Band; Kyle Smith is back in town with a date at Winchesters on Sunday, February 27; The Garage is throwing a Mardi Gras party on Saturday, March 5 with Barrelhouse Wailers; a Tribute to the Greats returns for an encore show at the Grape on Saturday, March 5; there’s a punk rock show at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center with Dr. Know, Pink Mist, Tung, and more on Friday, March 4; and Chick Singer Night returns to the Sound Palace with Jodi Farrell, Brittney Burchett, Mia Mormino, Tamara Sue and Meghan Monroe on Saturday, March 5.

Do you have any music-related news or upcoming shows you want help publicizing? Please send all information short or long to [email protected], and for updated music listings daily, go to www.VenturaRocks.com.

Vol. 15, No. 11 – Feb 23 – Mar 8, 2022 – Community Events

Events by Ana Baker

Livingston’s Grief and Bereavement Program announces a new Men’s Grief Support Group starting this month. The group is for men grieving the death of a loved one. It will meet on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of every month from 6:30 to 8:00 pm, via Zoom. If interested, please contact us at 805-389-6870. For more information, visit LMVNA.org. Livingston’s Grief and Bereavement Program support groups are committed to maintaining an open, accepting, confidential atmosphere. We also offer individual, couple, and family grief counseling in English and Spanish.

The Ventura Investment Group has reconvened and is meeting in the rear room of Denny’s Restaurant at the corner of Telegraph and Ashwood each Monday at 10:30 a.m. All people interested in investment are welcome.

Feb. 23: “The College Area Community Council in Ventura, which meets the fourth Wednesday of each month, will be holding a Zoom meeting on Wednesday at 7 p.m. An invitation and link to the meeting will be sent to everyone on the CACC mailing list. Council meetings include speakers and discussions on neighborhood and community interest topics, including public safety and economic development. CACC represents citizens in Council District 3, currently neighborhoods north of Hwy. 126 between Dunning/Lemon Grove/Agnus on the west and Hill Road on the east. Visit the College Area Community Council website @ https://caccventura.com to learn more, to be added to the mailing list, and to access a link to the Zoom meeting.”

March 2: Don Price, professional engineer and climate change educator, will be the speaker at the return of BCNN (Beach Neighbors and Newcomers,) a membership group for women from Ventura Oxnard and Port Hueneme. At the Ventura Comedy Club in the Ventura Harbor 2nd floor next to Brophy Brothers. Socializing with light refreshment begins at 9:30 am. Prospective members may attend free to see if they want to join. The organization has many small activity groups, from wine tasting to book groups to day trips, bridge, mahjong, and other fun offerings.

March 6: Open house tours of the 1892 Dudley Historic House Museum—with COVID protocols—will take place on Sunday, from 1 – 4 p.m. Tour group size will be limited. Admission is free. The museum is located at the corner of Loma Vista and Ashwood streets (197 N. Ashwood). For information, please call 642-3345 or visit the website at dudleyhouse.org.

March 6: Old-Time Country Bluegrass Gospel Music Assoc. Sunday from 2 -4 p.m. Located at the Poinsettia Pavilion 3451 Foothill Rd. Live Music on stage. Jamming in the Canada Room. Free admission and free parking. Open to Public. For more information, call 805-517-1131 or visit Facebook: OTCBGMA. Current Ventura County Covid regulations will apply.

March 14: Kamala Nellen will join the Ventura County Library to lead a Nonviolent Communication Practice Group. This group will practice integrating the process of nonviolent communication into daily life. This event will occur via Zoom on Monday at 6 p.m., and all are welcome. Nonviolent Communication (NVC) was started by psychologist and mediator Marshall Rosenberg. Kamala Nellen has been practicing Nonviolent Communication for twelve years and is a life and performance coach and published author.

This event is free and open to the public. To register for this event, visit bit.ly/VCLNellen. Contact Ron Solórzano, Regional Librarian, at (805) 218-9146 or [email protected]. Instructions for registering for this event are found on our online calendar at www.vencolibrary.org/library-events.

The Bookmark About Libraries and Friends

Dottie Gragg celebrating her **th birthday at the Ventura Friends of the Library warehouse.

by Jill Forman

LIBRARIES OPENING!

As this goes to the publisher, the libraries are opening.

Check with your library staff about rules for masking.

Here’s some official county verbiage about the changes:

Ventura County’s indoor mask order will be lifted February 16, in alignment with the state. Masks are required indoors for unvaccinated people in public places and strongly recommended for all.

Update from Dolly Knight, Ventura Senior Librarian

Despite the closure, library staff has been busy. Furniture has been moved at Foster and Hill Road to make moving books easier, coin receptors replaced for the current copiers, IT working on updates. There have been over 1000 visits to both branches for sidewalk pickups and other library services.

Some programs that have been outside may be moved; check with your librarian.

A customer satisfaction survey indicated that “97% felt they were treated with care at the library.” Heck, we knew that!

Online bookstore sale

In the month of March, all children’s’ books $1! Pickup will be at Foster Bookstore.

New book group at Hill Road

Linda Cherry, Librarian at Hill, is starting a group focusing on children’s books for adults. The group will be called The Wise Owls Book Club (Little Books for Big People), and our first meeting will be in April.  Exact date TBD. To be added to the mailing list, find out about forthcoming title selections and meeting dates, email [email protected].

A good place to start, if this interests you, is Why You Should Read Children’s Books Even Though You are So Old and Wise by Katherine Rundell. I know it’s in our library, because Zip Books got it for me.

Ventura Friends of the Library Honors Beloved Volunteer on Her **th Birthday

Dottie Gragg, who has been working with the Friends for well over twenty years, was celebrated by her colleagues at the Friends used book warehouse with a small luncheon on February 10th. Dottie spent her career as a Contract Specialist for the federal government, and on retiring moved to Ventura. She and her friend Phyllis used to put on book sales at Wright Library to make money for the friends, and she is always present at our book sales as a cashier. At the warehouse, she always denies that she is “in charge,” but if we have a question, guess who we go to?

Her warehouse co-workers gave her a scroll declaring that we had made a donation to the Friends in honor of her **th birthday (she prefers not to say but it is a momentous one…)

Read this quote:

“I still find libraries astonishing. I still think they speak to our better instincts. The library remains one of the few places in the world where you don’t have to buy anything, know anyone or believe in anything to enter in. It is our most egalitarian space, and we live in a world in which the problems that threaten to engulf us, surely, have inequality – and the catastrophes that inequality inflicts on men, women and children – at their heart. In these dustbin-fire days, to turn away from the institution feels criminal. If hope is a thing with feathers, then libraries are wings.” Katherine Rundell

 

Vol. 15, No. 11 – Feb 23 – Mar 8, 2022 – Harbor Patrol Blotter

Wednes 02/02

 6:00am, National Weather Service issued a Small Craft Advisory for East winds gusting to 30 kts. Officers raised warning pennants at Port District flagpole.

Friday 02/04

 11:37am, dispatched to abdominal pain at Waterside restaurant. Officers responded and found the patient as described. After he was transported, got information that the individual was prowling around the business earlier.

Saturday 02/05

 7:46am, dispatched to person in the water near VWM E-dock, unresponsive. Officers responded in the Fireboat to investigate, found the body floating face down. Medics arrived, pronounce the person deceased. Coroner removed body.

2:07pm, received a report of a transient threatening an employee of a business in the Harbor Village. Advised of appropriate agency to contact, VPD or 911.

Sunday 02/06

 11:00am, overheard VHF 16 traffic and receiving multiple reports of a Commercial Fishing Seiner in violation of speed and wake ordinance in the harbor. Observed vessel pushing a huge wake & steaming outbound at full speed. Officers established contact on VHF 11, and when they did questioned what he was doing. The skipper advised, “he was having a bad day.” The incident is under investigation for damage & eviction from commercial slips.

Monday 02/07

 4:32am, dispatched to sick person in the Ventura Marina Community. Officers responded and found the patient naked, pinned inbetween bed frame and various other things. Patient has various issues, deaf, rapid pulse and screaming. VFD medics took over assessment and transported patient.

2:14pm, received multiple reports of a vessel in violation of speed ordinance in the harbor. Officers responded, contacted & issued warning. The operator acted suspiciously, officers brought to the launch ramp for further investigation.

7:30pm, received report of a raccoon blocking the entrance to a unit in the Ventura Marina Community. Officers responded and assisted the tenant with moving the animal out of the way so they could enter their unit.

Tuesday 02/07

 7:00am, officers assisting with traffic control in Fireboat 1 so Manson Construction can pull pipe for maintenance dredging, beginning soon.

Thursday 02/10

 11:08am, observed repeat offender of the speed and wake ordinance inbound in the main channel of the harbor. Advised the skipper of the violation and forwarding incident to his marina manager for review slip agreement & eviction.

Friday 02/11

 4:54pm, received report of a woman pounding on windows of the Surf-n-Taco. Officers responded and found the female transient screaming. VPD arrived, investigating, found no crime committed, just bizarre behavior. She moved on.

Sunday 02/13

 5:05pm, received a report of a fuel sheen near VHV Dock. Officers investigated but were unable to locate any significant sheen in the area reported.

11:55pm, while on patrol, officers contacted a group of 20 young males drinking and loitering in VHV parking lot. Officers waiting until the group departed.

Monday 02/14

 7:30am, conducting traffic control for Manson dredge being towed into the harbor for maintenance dredging. They are set to begin Tuesday afternoon.

9:52am, dispatched to an unconscious person in the Portside apartments. Officers responded and assisted VFD/AMR with the patient. AMR transported.

4:58pm, dispatched to a fall victim in the Ventura Marina Community. Officers responded with VFD/AMR and assisted patient to his bed, no injuries.

Tuesday 02/15

 3:24am, dispatched to a fall victim in the Ventura Marina Community. Officers responded with VFD/AMR and assisted patient from floor to his bed. No injury.

1:34pm, dispatched to traumatic head injury in Ventura Marina Community. Officers responded with AMR/VFD. Patient treated then transported by AMR.

 

Up Close and Personal with Harry Benson

Cassius Clay (before he became Muhammad Ali) knocking out the Beatles. Photo by Harry Benson

Harry Benson has been featured in LIFE, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and more. He’s had 40 solo exhibits, including at The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. He’s photographed every US President from Eisenhower to Biden. He marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; was next to Senator Robert Kennedy when he was assassinated; and photographed the Berlin Wall going up and down.

He has photographed Queen Elizabeth II, Sir Winston Churchill, Princess Diana, Muhammed Ali, Jacqueline Kennedy, The Shah of Iran, Amy Winehouse, Andy Warhol, Elizabeth Taylor, Jack Nicholson, Truman Capote, Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton, The Rolling Stones, and more.

In this popular series, author, journalist, and investigative reporter Ivor Davis speaks with a rotating guest list of extraordinary individuals. He will speak with Benson on February 24th from 6-8pm at the Museum of Ventura County and Zoom.

Proof of vaccination will be required on arrival for in-person attendees. Masks will be required for this event. If you need a mask, they will provide one.

Museum members who register for this event (either in person or via Zoom) will be entered into a drawing to receive an autographed copy of Harry Benson’s “Harry Benson: Persons of Interest.” Become a member now and register for this event for your opportunity to receive the autographed book.

Vol. 15, No. 11 – Feb 23 – Mar 8, 2022 – Police Reports

Fatal Collision with One Hit and Run Driver

On Feb.13, at 7:57pm, VPD officers responded to a call of a vehicle versus pedestrian collision on Harbor Bl south of Spinnaker Dr. While officers were responding, a witness reported that a second vehicle struck the downed pedestrian.

Officers arrived and found that the pedestrian had succumbed to his injuries. The driver of the first vehicle involved in the collision remained on scene and was cooperative with investigating officers. Drugs and alcohol are not believed to have been a factor involving this driver.

The driver of the second vehicle that collided with the pedestrian fled and has not yet been located.

Ventura PD Traffic Investigators and CSI processed the scene. As a result, a portion of Harbor Bl was closed in the area for several hours.

Anyone with any information is requested to contact Traffic Investigator Chris Wilson at 805-477- 3736 or the VPD Watch Commander at 805-339-4416. The identity of the victim is being withheld pending next of kin notification by the Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office.

BAA Members Show Plus Board Member Appreciation Show

North Beach – Photo on aluminum, Darlene Roker

BAA Members Show Plus Board Member Appreciation Show
At Studio 99 @ The Bell Arts Factory
Run extended to March 19, 2022
Open this Friday and Saturday, and every Friday and Saturday, noon to 4pm
Next First Friday reception, March 4th, 5 – 8pm
Over a dozen new artist members have joined BAA in the last several months! Explore their work along with the artwork of veteran BAA artists and our hard-working Board of Directors in these shows at Studio 99 at the Bel Arts Factory.

Oxnard Beach Sunset – Photo on wood plank, Gerry Wilson

Elsewhere from Buenaventura Art Association: A Members-Only Show at
Harbor Village Gallery & Gifts Now thru March 15, 2022
Featuring the artwork and artisan crafts of 10 resident member artists, Harbor Village Gallery & Gifts also exhibits the works of over a dozen other BAA members!

The headless horseman is set to ride

The headless horseman is set to ride at the end of the month–seeking sinners for his Boss Satan.  An old Ventura County Story that Richard Senate first hear from Carmine Camarillo at a party is that he rides Creek Road to Ventura seeking his seven sinners–he never finds enough in Ojai Valley so he has to go to Ventura and Oxnard. 

Ventura artists John Robertson and Lynn Hanson

As husband and wife, Ventura artists John Robertson and Lynn Hanson are accustomed to sharing a studio and working alongside one another. They will share a major exhibition space with concurrent exhibitions at the Santa Paula Art Museum. “Fieldnotes: Lynn Hanson” and “A Narrative: John Robertson” will premiere Saturday, March 12, 2022, with an opening reception from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Admission to the reception is free for everyone. Some of the artworks will be for sale. “Fieldnotes” and “A Narrative” will be on view March 12, 2022, to July 10, 2022.