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5-17 |
10:05am, while on patrol in Boat-17 officers observed diesel sheen near VHV G-dock. An investigation ensued, but officers were unable to locate source.
2:50pm, received report of a homeless female showering in the 1559 Spinnaker restrooms. Officers responded and found the transient in the Village Market, the clerk was attempting to remove her from the business. |
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5-18 |
7:30am, received a report of a commercial vessel taking on water at the Harbor fuel dock. Officers responded on rescue boat 19 with an auxiliary dewatering pump. After nearly an hour of dewatering with several pumps, the vessels bilge was dry. |
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5-20 |
6:30am, officers along with support of State Parks monitoring the swimmers participating in the “Breath-of-life” triathlon from all rescue vessels and RWC’s. The swim course started at Harbor Cove and headed East then back. |
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5-21 |
4:04pm, received dispatch to a fall victim at the Ventura Marina Community. Officers responded and assisted VFD/AMR with treatment of patient.
5:12pm, received a dispatch to an ill person in the Ventura Marina Community. Officers responded and assisted VFD/AMR with the patient who was eventually transported to local hospital for further evaluation. 7:12pm, received a dispatch to a seizure victim near VIM parking lot. Officers responded and assisted VFD/AMR with a local male transient complaining of extreme abdominal pain. He was transported to local hospital. |
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5-22 |
2:18pm, received dispatch to a water rescue at VIM. Officers responded and pulled a 66 year-old male from the water and released him at the dock at VIM.
2:58pm, received a dispatch to a fall victim at Ventura Marina Community. Officers responded, assisted VFD/AMR with the patient with major injuries. 3:13pm, received dispatch to a Traffic Accident at Harbor/Beachmont, vehicle roll over two females trapped inside. Officers responded with multiple units from VFD/AMR/VPD. One victim was pulled from the van, while the other exited the van. The driver was taken to local hospital with major injuries while the passenger was released at the scene. |
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Vol. 11, No. 18 – Jun 6 – June 19, 2018 – Police Reports
by Cindy Summers
Police reports are provided to us by the Ventura Police Department and are not the opinions of the Ventura Breeze. All suspects mentioned are assumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Commercial Burglary
On May 23, at approximately 3:45pm, the Ventura Police Command Center received a call from an alert employee who saw the suspect, 21 year old Ventura resident Brian Kimball, attempting to steal money from a safe. Kimball was using a homemade device to reach into the safe and pull out money.
As officers arrived on scene they contacted the employee pointed Kimball out to them. The officers contacted Kimball who was sitting inside the building on a bench. As the officers continued their investigation it was confirmed that Kimball was stealing money from the safe. Kimball was arrested without incident and booked into the Ventura County Jail for Commercial Burglary.
Commercial Burglary Arrest
On May 26, at approximately 1:30am, the Ventura Police Command Center received a call reference two subjects seen on video surveillance prowling on church property. The caller continued to monitor the video surveillance cameras and observed the suspects, two juveniles from Ventura, removing a window screen and gaining access into the building via an unlocked window. As officers arrived on scene, one of the subjects began to exit the building through the front door. The officer immediately detained the subject as additional officers arrived on scene. A few minutes later, the second subject exited the building and was also detained.
Officers searched the building and did not locate any additional subjects inside. Investigation revealed the juveniles had taken several items from inside the church and had staged the property near the front door upon being contacted by police. The juveniles were arrested, issued citations and later released to the custody of their parents.
The investigation into this incident is ongoing, anyone with information related to this crime is asked to contact the Ventura Police Department at 339-4416.
Felony Vandalism & Battery on a Peace Officer Arrest
On May 26, Ventura Police officers responded to a report of a subject breaking windows out of business in the 2500 block of Grand Avenue. Witnesses indicated the suspect was armed with a large hammer.
The first arriving officer observed the suspect, 35 year old Ventura vagrant Corrina Gutierrez, holding a hammer and standing next to several broken windows to the front of the business. Gutierrez dropped the hammer and began to walk away as the officer exited his patrol vehicle. The officer approached Gutierrez and ordered her to stop; however, she refused to comply. Gutierrez violently resisted and bit the officer on the arm when he attempted to detain her. The officer was able to take Gutierrez into custody after a brief struggle.
Gutierrez was placed under arrest and transported to the Ventura County Jail where she was booked for felony vandalism and violently resisting arrest.
The officer was treated for minor injuries and returned to duty.
Felon in Possession of a Firearm with Ammunition
On May 24, at approximately 9:45pm, a patrol officer was patrolling the area of Dos Caminos Avenue and Main Street when he observed the defendant later identified as 27 year old Ventura resident David Stratmann driving with a missing registration tab and inoperable lights. A traffic enforcement stop was conducted and the driver verbally identified himself. A records check revealed Stratmann is currently on parole for burglary with search terms.
A search of the vehicle revealed a pistol grip sawed off shotgun concealed in the backseat of the vehicle with numerous shotgun slugs nearby. Stratmann admitted to possessing the shotgun with an excuse.
Stratmann was arrested and booked into the Ventura County Jail for felon in possession of firearm, felon in possession of ammunition, and parole violation.
Theft from vehicle arrest
On May 28, at approximately 4:30am, an alert citizen called the Ventura Police Department Command Center to report that he saw a male suspect rummaging through the interior of his neighbor’s car. The suspect fled from the scene and the citizen followed the suspect until officers arrived on scene. The suspect was detained by officers and identified as 37 year old Ventura resident Jason Sevier. Sevier was found to in possession of property that was taken from the victim’s vehicle. The victim was contacted and confirmed that his property was taken from his car.
Sevier was placed under arrest for theft from an unlocked vehicle and possession of stolen property. Sevier was later booked into the Ventura County Jail for the charges.
Commercial burglary arrest
On May 29, at approximately 1;15am, an alert citizen called the Ventura Police Department Command Center to report that he saw a male suspect using bolt cutters to cut the lock off of the storage container that holds bags of ice in front of Mandell’s Liquor Store. The suspect fled the store with a bag of ice in a black pickup truck. A patrol officer spotted the pickup in a nearby business parking lot and contacted the driver identified as 56 year old Ventura resident Terry Doan. There was a bag of ice and bolt cutters located in the bed of the pickup.
Doan was positively identified as the suspect and placed under arrest for commercial burglary and possession of burglary tools. Doan was later booked into the Ventura County Jail for the charges.
Assault with a deadly weapon and child endangerment arrest
On May 3, at approximately 11:30am, the victims had just finished surfing and were walking off of the beach near Greenock Ln., when a truck drove up to them and then stopped. The suspect driver began yelling at the victims for allegedly vandalizing his vehicle. While yelling at the victims, the suspect removed a handgun from his center console and pointed it in their direction. The victims told the suspect they had been surfing and not involved in vandalizing his vehicle. The suspect set the handgun down on his center console and the victims left the area. When the victims returned home they notified the police department of the incident. Patrol officers responded and later were able to identify Carl Churchfield as the suspect.
Major Crimes Detectives began investigating the case and authored a search warrant for Churchfield’s residence. On May 30, at approximately 1pm, detectives arrested Churchfield in the 1100 block of Mariposa Rd., in Santa Paula and searched his residence. Churchfield was later booked at the Ventura County Jail for felony assault with a deadly weapon and felony child endangerment.
Stolen Vehicle Arrest
On May 30, at approximately 11:45pm, the Ventura Police Department Command Center received a call reference a stolen vehicle report. Officers responded to the area and began conducting their investigation. A short time later Officer Spies, who was driving eastbound Center Street, observed a suspicious vehicle quickly turn into the alleyway to the rear of the 500 block of North Ventura Ave.
Officer Spies quickly turned into the alleyway and confirmed the vehicle in question was stolen. Additional officers arrived on scene and conducted a high-risk stop on the vehicle. The driver was later identified as a 14 year old Juvenile and the front passenger was identified as a 16 year old juvenile.
The driver was arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle and booked into Juvenile hall without incident. The passenger was issued a curfew citation and released to the custody of his parents
Vol. 11, No. 18 – Jun 6 – June 19, 2018 – Music Scene
by Pam Baumgardner
VenturaRocks.com
Ventura’s music scene is a giant eclectic mix of music, everything from punk to jazz and all points in between, so we really are lucky to have so many genres of music available to us. One of my favorite events every year comes from higher brow end of the musical spectrum, The Ventura Music Festival. This year’s schedule ranges from the big band sound of “little orchestra” Pink Martini from Portland, Oregon, to lively Latin music with Jarabe Mexicano. Perla Batalla returns with Frida Kahlo’s “Blue House”, John Jorgenson Quintet will offer Gypsy Jazz, there will be traditional chamber music from Trio Celeste directed by Ventura Music Festival Artistic Director Nuvi Mehta and so much more including the traditional Tea & Trumpets brass quintet. Showtimes, tickets and locations are listed on the event’s official website www.VenturaMusicFestival.org. Yeah, I know the Ventura Music Festival isn’t until July, but most events will sell out so don’t wait to purchase tickets.
Local artist, Rachel Flowers will give a performance before a screening of the documentary featuring Flowers, “Hearing is Believing” at the Museum of Ventura County on Friday, June 8th; there will be a post-screening discussion.
Before Shelby embarks on returning to school and focusing her energy on getting her Music Therapy degree, she’s holding what may be one of the last Songbird Serenades, at least for a while. The June 15th installment will feature Jamie Drake, Shelby Figueroa and Brendan Willing James at Ventura Vineyard Church.
Sorry to report that both Wicked’s Brew and Cork have closed their doors. If you’ve never heard of one or the other, that’s a shame. My biggest word of advice to venues that offer music is you have to promote, promote, promote! You have to budget for it, and you should use all free resources available to you including social media, and keeping The Breeze, other newspapers and VenturaRocks.com updated on your music.
Quick notes: Reggae has returned to the Tree House Lounge at Café Fiore on Sundays; Lovataraxx from France plays The Garage on Thursday, June 7; Former Scorpions guitarist, Uli Jon Roth returns to the Ventura Theater, Sunday, June 10; The Mighty Cash Cats celebrate their ten-year anniversary with a show at Bombay’s on Sunday, June 10; MJ Déjà vu, a tribute to Michael Jackson will be at Discovery on Saturday, June 16; D.on Darox & the Melody Joy Bakers play El Rey Cantina on Saturday, June 16.
Finally, Ticketfly suffered a cyber-attack and as a result, most of the websites they support were down including the Ventura Theater and for a time, Discovery. There currently hasn’t been any mention of credit card information being compromised, but stolen information included customers’ names, addresses, emails and phone numbers of nearly 26 million user accounts.
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.
Ventura Water making waves
Ventura Water has announced that Susan Rungren has been selected as the Assistant General Manager for the City’s water and wastewater utility. Rungren will fill a key management position that supports the City Council’s priority of maintaining a sustainable environment by diversifying and protecting Ventura’s local water resources.
In her new role, Mrs. Rungren will shepherd key future water supply projects such as the State Water Interconnection Project and the VenturaWaterPure project that will maximize the reuse of recycled water. She will work closely with Ventura Water, the Public Works Department, as well as stakeholders and community organizations to meet long term water supply demands.
Mrs. Rungren began her career with the City of Ventura in 1999 as the Utilities Engineer for the City’s Water and Wastewater Divisions and has served as the Water Resource Manager for the last seven years. She is a licensed Professional Engineer with professional affiliations including the Association of California Water Agencies of Ventura County and the Association of California Water Agencies. Rungren has a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Oregon State University.
Deputy Mayor Matt LaVere said, “Expanding local water supplies, and improving water quality are key ingredients to diversify and protect Ventura’s 100% local water resources. We are pleased to have Susan’s water industry expertise and experience as we look to create and build a more sustainable water future for Ventura.”
Ventura Water was awarded the statewide winner of the Community Engagement and Outreach Project of the Year by the California Water Environment Association (CWEA) for educating local youth about water sustainability. The winning program is in collaboration with the MERITO® Foundation, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to providing meaningful watershed experiences to multicultural youth.
The program has provided an opportunity for more than 500 local youth to learn about the value of water through hands-on water quality testing and field data collection at Ventura’s wild life ponds. Additionally, Ventura Water hosted a water conservation challenge for participating elementary schools wherein students were tasked to develop a water conservation plan.
The MERITO® program strives to connect the classroom experience with field interaction for students to better understand the relationship of water treatment technologies and the role that it plays in preserving the environment. Since 2005, MERITO® has reached over 10 million people through ocean conservation outreach projects, immersed over 15,000 students on earth and ocean science and issues, and has raised the capacity of more than 300 teachers and 100 Marine Protected Areas practitioners in the areas of ocean science and resource protection.
“Students learn water quality sampling and testing techniques, how wastewater is treated and purified to near drinking water quality standards, and about future plans to implement a new potable reuse facility. It gives students a new appreciation for what most people take for granted,” said Kevin Brown, Ventura Water General Manager.
Field trips to the Ventura Water Reclamation Facility helped students to explore a wide range of environmental issues and water infrastructure. “In this type of an atmosphere, students can establish connections between fresh water and ocean water, as well as ascertain the water conservation issues particular to their local watersheds. They also learn about stewardship and how water quality plays into the health and sustainability of our environment,” said Rocio Lozano-Knowlton, Executive Director and Founder of MERITO® Foundation.
Marostica announces run for Ventura City Council’s 4th District
East Ventura resident Mike Marostica has announced his candidacy for Ventura City Council in the November 6th, 2018 election. The election will be the first in the newly drawn 4th district. Marostica, 47, has significant roots in East Ventura and wants to make sure that his community’s needs are addressed while maintaining the sense of neighborhood.
I have been working on my Council candidacy for almost a year and fortunately my District was chosen for this year’s election. I have received some very positive feedback and support from the people I have met with over the past few months. I look forward to addressing some of our shared concerns for the East End, like requiring that future plans include the amenities and service our community deserves. It is, also, very important to me that we work regionally on issues, like disaster preparedness and criminal vagrancy. I deal with vagrancy issues every day and I am the only candidate with “boots on the ground” experience in this area, which affects all of us. I am not going to settle for anything less than a complete solution to the vagrancy problem in this city.
I am a 25 year veteran of the Oxnard Police Department and Certified Gang Expert. I currently serve on the Ventura Parks and Recreation Commission. I was a board member, and served two terms as President of the Peace Officers Association of Ventura County (POAVC). In 2003, I started the local chapter of RAD – Rape Aggression Defense to train women in our community to protect themselves and I am the current President of the Gold Coast RAD Foundation. I am the current Chairman of the Oxnard Peace Officers Association Retiree Medical Trust. I am also a volunteer with the California YMCA Youth and Government program.
Family and community are very important to me. My wife Deborah is a lifelong East Ventura resident and both sets of our parents reside in East Ventura. For the first two years of my life, I went with my parents around the country as my Dad played minor league baseball for the Oakland A’s. After that, we came back to Ventura where I have lived on the East End ever since. I graduated from St. Bonaventure High School and attended Ventura College where I received an AA Degree in Criminal Justice. During that time, I worked at the Ventura Family YMCA, where I met my lovely wife. We have two children, Andrew is 22 and Emily is 19.
I know it may sound cliché; but I really do want our district and our City to be a clean, safe and economically viable place to live and work for all of us, our kids and generations to come. And, I am ready to work hard to make this happen!
Linda Freeny has two new novels out
Linda Freeny, a long time successful Realtor with California Oaks Realtors has another life and passion, writing . She has two new novels out Déjà Vu and Nobody’s Angel , both mysteries that have terrific reviews that can be seen on Amazon. One of them, Déjà Vu , was awarded Book of Excellent Merit by the review company. A third novel will be out later this year. The review of these books really say it all and give good reason to want to read them, especially if you like mysteries.
The books can be ordered from Amazon or Barnes and Noble online. Linda will sign copies on request and can be reached at 290-3982.
Partial review of Nobody’s Angel:
“Linda Freeny has written an engrossing, multi-layered mystery and packed it with just enough police procedures to keep it as credible as it is compelling. Certainly the success or failure of most crime and mystery stories relies on intricate plotting to engage, confound, and ultimately explain just how a solution is achieved. This novel does that in spades. Fortunately it doesn’t stop there. It also introduces the reader to a big cast of characters who are far less stereotypical than those often found populating the pages of many books in the crime/mystery genre. Nobody’s Angel is a good story well told.”
These are links to various sites for the books
Website: http://lfreenywriter.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/L.J.Freeny.Author/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorfreeny
Tumblr: https://ljfreenyauthor.tumblr.com/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/authorlindafreeny/
Vol. 11, No. 18 – Jun 6 – June 19, 2018 – Events
Events by Ana Baker
Ventura Poinsettia Dance Club Monday nights 7:30 – 9:45p.m. Poinsettia Pavilion. Ballroom, swing, Latin and line dancing. $10 members, $12 non-members. Dance lessons 6:45 – 7:15 $5 for couple $3 for single. Call Rick 805-415-8842 for more information.
There will be a regular Ventura Discussion Group meeting at Main Street Restaurant 3159 Main St., Wednesday from 4 – 5:45 p.m. Several people usually stay for a drink and a bite to eat afterward. Bring an interesting topic to discuss if you can.
Ventura’s ACBL Duplicate Bridge Club offers games for all levels of play. Learn the game, play with your peers, and earn master points while you are having fun. There is a game every day of the week. Check out their website at www.vcbridge.org
The Ventura Retired Men’s Group welcomes interested men to their semi-monthly Tuesday lunch ($15) meetings at the Ventura Elks lodge. This regular congenial social event, besides a healthy, satisfying meal, supplies a welcome atmosphere to talk and joke, hear a speaker on a variety of relevant topics. Hear more from Steve at 805-642-1359
Country Western Line Dancing every Tuesday 7 – 9 p.m. Instruction every night. Located at the Moose lodge, 10269 Telephone Road. More information at countrylovers.com.
Mended Hearts of Ventura. Come share if you have had heart surgery or stent implant. Group meets the first Tuesday each month at noon at Lemon Wood Mobile Homes, 850 Johnson Dr. Excellent speakers leading Cardiologists, Nutritionists, and Dietitians etc. from our area.
Contact Richard Hatcher at 805-644-2733.
Are you a stamp collector? The Ventura County Philatelic Society meet on the first and third Mondays each month at 7:30 p.m. at the Church of the Foothills, 6279 Foothill Rd. Admission and parking are free. Come for a great evening. They are a fun group. Contact Bill Garner 805-320-1601 or [email protected].
Cross Town Hikers join in on Wednesday nights for a moderate-paced hike that includes views of Ventura from the cross, a walk out to the end of the pier, and a stroll along the Promenade back to the Museum. Four miles with an 800-foot elevation gain. Meet at 7 p.m. sharp at the fountain across the street from the Mission. Join Facebook page for more information: https://www.facebook.com/groups/800215670039426/
First Wednesday, of each month, 6-10 pm, Gold Coast Modular Railroad Club meets at the Murphy Auto Museum, Oxnard. Now exhibiting Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Visitors and new members are welcome. Member initiation fee $10, monthly dues $20, $10 for Juniors. www.gcmrc.com. For more information, 805-229-7429.
June 8: The General George S. Patton, Jr. Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution June luncheon meeting will feature a special program ” Native Americans during the Revolutionary War “, presented by Mr. William V. Wenger. The luncheon event will take place Friday at 11:30 a.m. in the Garden Room, Marie Callender’s Restaurant, 1295 S. Victoria Ave. All SAR & DAR Compatriots, friends, and visitors are welcome to join us. If you choose to join us for lunch, cost is $20 per person, including a slice of Marie Callender’s pie. For additional information or for assistance in determining your possible Revolutionary War genealogical roots, please call Bill Bays 805-650-3036 or Robert Taylor 805-216-7992. For information regarding SAR membership and chapter activities, please visit the chapter website at http://pattonpatriots.org.
June 12: The Ventura County Writers Club is hosting award-winning author, publisher, editor and writing coach Marcia Meier at 1605 Burnley Street in Camarillo at 7:00 PM. Meier, who recently co-edited the book Unmasked: Women Write about Sex and Intimacy After Fifty, has been awarded a bronze IPPY medal as a part of the 22nd Annual Independent Publisher Book Awards.
Westlake resident Carol Fogel will also speak about her book, Rosie Sees the Light, based on the fictional experience of a spunky Mexican immigrant sent to a home for the aged after experiencing health issues. For more information call Ventura Breeze contributing writer Sheli Ellsworth at 805.300.1365.
June 19: Join NAWBO Ventura County on Tuesday, at the Wedgewood Center, 901 Sterling Hills Drive, Camarillo from 5:30 – 8 p.m. for a must-attend presentation about Proposition 64, the legalization of the recreational use of marijuana and how it impacts your business as an employer. The dinner meeting is open to all and seats may be reserved at www.NAWBOVC.org. Guest speaker Rabiah Rahman, Esq. of Strauss & Strauss, APC, will address many questions and concerns employers are raising about their rights and liabilities with regards to marijuana use by employees.
“NAWBO supports business owners as they traverse the challenges and successes of entrepreneurship,” stated Elaine Hollifield, President of NAWBO VC.
Membership is open to women sole proprietors, partners and corporate owners as well as those businesses that support women owned businesses. Learn more www.nawbovc.org.
June 22: Like to play acoustic music? Songmakers.org welcomes all lovers of acoustic music, instrumentalists, singers, and singer/songwriters of all levels, to join in a free song circle. Fourth Friday of each month from 7-10 p.m. at the Bell Arts Factory Community Room, 432 N. Ventura Ave. Listeners welcome. Mike Wittlin 805-750-8281.
Susanne Lammot – still shining
by Jennifer Tipton
Recognized as one of the Faces of Ventura in 2013 (as featured in the Ventura Breeze), there is little this remarkable woman can’t do. Susanne is a pediatrician, licensed pilot, sailor, scuba diver and has served on the Board of Directors with the Boys and Girls Club in Ventura for over twenty years!
Two years ago, Susanne celebrated her 50th reunion from medical school in Montreal, Canada, where she grew up. From a class of 120, only 6 were women, “those were the days we had to be better to be equal”, she said.
Much of her success she attributes to her loving family who supported her dreams, “when I was little girl, there was a board game that I loved called Pirates and Travelers and I became really good at geography”. Fascinated by Africa, she swore then that one day she would go there…
Susanne’s first trip to Africa was in 1970 when she worked in the Congo with her late husband, also a physician, “we were supposed to go for 2 years but stayed for 2 months because it was more politically unstable than we realized, and we had our one-year old son with us, but I knew I’d find my way back!” With passion and determination, that’s exactly what she did – more than once!
After looking into nutritional supplements for her young patients here at home, Susanne discovered “Nu Skin”, a company that not only offers vitamin supplements for her kids here, but also funds a program called “Nourish the Children”. They have provided over 500 million meals to the world’s most malnourished children.
She recently returned from her 3rd trip to Malawi, after receiving yet another leadership award from the company. She and three others were selected as part of a mission trip with Nourish the Children and because she’s been active with this program for years, Susanne stayed behind to visit families with young ones she has sponsored and mentored. Sharing photos of the kids then and now, her face radiated with love for her work there, “it’s all about the kids”, she smiled.
My favorite of her African adventures was the tale she told from January 2015 when her nephew Yuri married a member of the Kikuyu tribe in Kenya (the same tribe as in the movie “Out of Africa”). Susanne was with her family in Kenya for the traditional 3-day wedding ceremony and said that for Yuri to marry into the tribe, he had to be adopted into the tribe, “so, we were all adopted into the tribe!” This consisted of goat intestines wrapped around their wrists to symbolize umbilical cords and then ceremonially cut as they were “born” into the tribe.
Writers note: (what some people won’t do for love)
Susanne stated, “I think one of the most exciting things in my life is making personal connections and seeing where they will lead you, one of my favorite places to eat with my late husband was “Jonathan’s” and that’s where I met Executive Chef Jason Collis.
Susanne’s nephew, Yuri travels to many destinations with his environmental tourism work and met Chef Jose from World Central Kitchen along with one of his staff, Nate Mook in Haiti. Yuri and Nate became friends and all three live in Washington D.C.
On Thursday evening, December 7th, 2017 just three days after the Thomas Fire struck, Chef Jose and Nate spoke with Yuri, knowing he had family here. Susanne received a call from her nephew informing her that World Central Kitchen wanted to help Ventura and asked if she knew a local chef that could help put this together, immediately she called Chef Jason. “If I hadn’t met him years ago, I wouldn’t have known who to call!” Nate was on a plane the next day and by Sunday they were serving meals to those affected by the fires. A big thanks to Tim Kilcoyne, Jim Rice and Linda Jordan for their participation as well, keep shining Susanne!
Cultural Grant Funding and sailing?
Applications and guidelines are now available online for the City of Ventura 2018-19 Cultural Grant Funding Program. The grant program is awarded annually to support Ventura-based cultural non-profits. These funds are unrestricted and may be used for organizational support, programming, and services. The application and guidelines are available online at www.cityofventura.ca.gov/grants; applications must be received by Friday, June 29, 2018, at 5 pm.
Grants will range in size from $1,000-$20,000 and will be awarded on a competitive basis with a total of $90,000 available to grant. For more information, visit the Cultural Grant Funding website or contact Kathryn Dippong Lawson at 658-4720 or [email protected].
Did you know that there is a City of Ventura Parks and Recreation sailing center that teaches residents to sail, kayak and paddleboard and provides seasonal camps for younger residents? Join the staff of the Leo Robbins Community Sailing Center at an Open House and Safe Boating Event on Sat., May 26 from 12-3 pm at Marina Park, 2950 Pierpont Blvd.
Take a free sailboat or kayak ride, and learn more about summer programs! This event is open to the public, and no experience is necessary. For more information visit the Leo Robbins Community Sailing Center website.
Downtown Ventura garden center celebrates 1-year anniversary
If you haven’t been to A Smart Garden nursery yet, you are missing out. This hidden gem is located near the Mission in Downtown Ventura, just 50 yards south of Main Street at 33 S. Palm. Owner Cari Vega has curated a garden center for the 21st century, where chemical treatments are a thing of the past and organics are simply common sense, not a newfangled fad. To that end, the nursery’s soils, fertilizers, sprays, seeds and vegetable starts are organic only.
The store is located in a cavernous brick building dating back to the 1890’s with huge windows, high ceilings with exposed wood beams and big skylights. It exudes a palpable charm that customers regularly comment on, and houses the nursery’s selection of houseplants, pottery, gardening tools, decorative items and a splash of antiques. It also doubles as the garden center’s classroom.
Since opening just over a year ago, A Smart Garden has hosted an impressive 32 gardening classes and workshops in the main building. In addition to teaching many of the classes herself—including the popular succulent wreath workshop–Vega regularly recruits other local gardening experts to share their gardening expertise on topics including California native plants, beneficial insects, edible landscapes, greywater systems, drip irrigation and other environmentally-focused topics. “Classes have been a terrific way of meeting local residents and getting a feel for what’s important to them in gardening,” says Vega. “We’ve been overwhelmed by the positive response to both the classes and the overall mission of the nursery,”
The outdoor nursery is stocked with a wide selection of drought-tolerant, low-maintenance plants displayed in a beautiful courtyard setting. “We want to make it as easy as possible for customers to succeed in their gardening efforts without drawing excessively on our limited water supply, so we focus on carrying plants that will perform well in our area with minimal care and minimal water,” Vega says. That includes everything from trees to groundcovers and dozens of California native plants from local grower Nopalito Natives.
To help the community recover from the effects of the Thomas Fire, A Smart Garden has instituted a special discount for residents who are replacing items lost in the fire. “The fire impacted all of us, so if we can help each other get back to normal we are all stronger for it.” Vega continued, “Together we can have a tremendous positive impact on our local and global environments. We’re looking forward to a long and successful collaboration here in Ventura.”
A Smart Garden nursery owner Cari Vega’s 30-year career in horticulture has included floral design for film and television set decorating, interior landscaping, landscape design/consultation/maintenance, and teaching a wide range of gardening classes.
For more information, please contact Cari Vega at 667-8585.