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Vol. 10, No. 4 – Nov 22 – Dec 5, 2017 – Ojai News & Events

The Ojai Community Chorus will conclude 30 years of entertainment with its presentation of “Stargazing”. The concert will explore the themes of stars and light, and how they are such an integral part of the holiday season. The concert will feature traditional songs as well, and will also include a Children’s Ensemble.

The performances will be held Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. and Dec. 3 at 3 p.m. at the Ojai United Methodist Church, 120 Church Road. A boutique and bake sale will also be held.

Suggested donation is $25 for general admission and $20 for seniors and students. Tickets are discounted $5 if purchased in advance from chorus members, St. Thomas Aquinas Thrift Store, or online at https://bpt.me/3168004.

The Ojai Art Center Theater will present “Animal Crackers – The Marx Brothers’ Musical” from November 24 – December 17. Performances will be on Fridays and Saturdays at 7 pm and Sundays at 2 pm. Tickets are available online at www.OjaiAct.org. Or call to reserve tickets at 640-8797. The Ojai Art Center is located at 113 S. Montgomery St. For more information, please contact: [email protected]

Mary Eckhart will visit the Ojai Library at 1 p.m. on Saturday, December 2, to deliver a talk entitled “The Artful Reader: Art Plus Books! Magic!” Ms. Eckhart comes to us via the Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s Community Speakers Program.

Lost in the reverie of a book, the “gentle reader” has been an absorbing subject for artists throughout the ages. This event is free and open to the public. For additional information, contact Ron Solórzano, Regional Librarian, at 218-9146.

The Ojai Library is located at 111 East Ojai Ave. Hours of service are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

Information and education at CAPS Media

Students from Pacific High School on CAPS set.

Pacific High School students are getting involved at the CAPS Media Center by producing a series for their AIM program exploring Ancestry, Immigration and Memories. CAPS Media staff will provide the training and support for the Pacific teams of six conducting interviews with family members. The CAPS Media component provides the students with a hands-on introduction into the world of multimedia, a vital skill in today’s world. The Pacific project, along with the award winning CAPS Media/ECTV program with El Camino High School students, demonstrates CAPS Media’s commitment to engage and support Ventura’s students.

Representative districting is moving quickly in Ventura and every resident is encouraged to get involved in the determination of the district mapping for the city council representatives. Go to www.CityofVentura.CA.Gov/districtelections to get meeting information for December as the process moves forward culminating in early January.

Season three of the city’s Mayor for a Moment program features exceptional fifth graders who are selected by the faculty of elementary schools throughout the city. Each month a young mayor is introduced at a city council meeting by a CAPS Media produced video followed by the student banging the gavel and presenting an original essay.

Ventura’s Spotlight on Local Business recognition program is in full swing with CAPS Media producing informative videos on unique and interesting businesses in the area. The series exposes new businesses and their importance in the community to Ventura. In addition, CAPS Media continues to create videos and supporting media materials for vital services and agencies including Ventura police and fire. All these programs can be found on channel 15 or on the CAPS website.

The Ventura Police Department shares the city crime statistics and offers helpful hints to stay safe every day on KPPQ-LP at 104.1fm. KPPQ is a great place to share your non-profit’s story and events. Support your local community by volunteering. Learn engineering and radio production. The final radio training class of 2017 will be held Wednesday November 29th. Call or email us at [email protected] for all the information.

CAPS Radio, KPPQ 104.1 FM and CAPS Television (Channel 6 & 15) are streaming worldwide. Now everyone in and outside of Ventura can enjoy the diversified programming on CAPS Media on cable, on the radio airwaves and streaming on the web. Go to capsmedia.org.

CAPS Media’s mission is to create an engaged and informed community through participation in electronic media. Our goals are to Engage, Educate and Inform. Informational and instructional classes are conducted every month with orientation on the first Thursday, HD videography/camera instruction on the 2nd Thursday, Final Cut postproduction editing classes on the 3rd Thursday, and CAPS Radio (KPPQ, FM 104.1) on the 4th week, all at 6pm at the CAPS Media Center. CAPS Media Member/Producers receive hands-on instruction in videography, video editing, radio production and more. Once trained member/producers may check out CAPS Media’s video cameras and other production equipment and book postproduction editing suites to craft the program they want to share. Details of training and signups are at capsmedia.org/events.

Anyone who lives, works or attends school in the city of Ventura may become a Member/Producer. Annual membership fees are only $25 for an individual and $75 for a non-profit organization. CAPS Radio DJs require an additional annual fee of $50. For complete information go to capsmedia.org.

Ventura Family YMCA Annual Prayer Breakfast

The Ventura Family YMCA hosted its Annual Prayer Breakfast on Wednesday, November 15 at the Ventura Family YMCA. The popular annual gathering of local religious and community leaders featured keynote speaker, Chelsea Shaw, a two time national champion with the University of Oregon’s Acrobatic and Tumbling team and motivational speaker.

Along with Shaw’s appearance(shown addressing the gathering) attendees enjoyed breakfast generously donated by The Palms at Bonaventure as well as musical performances by Rubicon Harmonix and Laura Callen.

For 12 years, the Annual Prayer Breakfast has inspired and united the community to come together for the common good. Eight churches, Anthem Church, Harvest Bible Chapel, New Harvest Ventura, River Community Church, Mission Church, South Coast Fellowship, Mission San Buenaventura and Temple Beth Torah dedicated their time and efforts to making this event possible.

Photo by Michael Gordon

Livin’ the dream: The sky’s no limit

It was her actual 94th birthday on the day of the jump.

by Mike Macke, Senior Director of Sales & Marketing Cypress Place Senior Living

Have you ever had a dream? Winifred “Winnie” Lester did. Winnie is a resident at Cypress Place Senior Living in Ventura. She resides in their Independent Living community, a specially designed community for active seniors.

One of the signature programs at the community is called Livin’ The Dream, the purpose being to provide residents with the opportunity to accomplish a goal or dream that they have always wanted to do.

Just shy of her 94th birthday, Winnie shared that her dream was to go skydiving. Asked why she wanted to skydive she replied, “When I was 80 I saw that George Bush Sr. jumped when he turned 90. If he can do it, I can do it,” she said.

When Cypress Place Senior Living Vibrant Life Director, Kathy Vernon-Cole, got wind of Winnie’s dream, Kathy and the staff at Cypress Place went to work to fulfill that dream. With the help of Winnie’s granddaughter, Christi Lester, and the staff at Skydive Coastal Camarillo Winnie made her first skydive, at the tender age of 94!

Since it was her actual 94th birthday on the day of the jump, residents and staff from Cypress Place, along with a large contingent of family and friends, were waiting for Winnie at the landing site with a birthday cake and candles, and monumental cheers.

“I loved it, I loved it, I loved it,” enthused Winnie in between trying to regain her equilibrium once on solid ground.

The adventure was nothing short of incredible according to Winnie. And having her family and friends, and neighbors from Cypress Place, there to greet here when she landed truly made it a memory-making, adventure of a lifetime for Winnie.

Cypress Place Senior Living is at 1200/1220 Cypress Point Lane. To learn more about Cypress Place Senior Living of Ventura, visit their web site at www.cypressplaceseniorliving.com.

Be kind to one another

Charleen Morla and Jann making friends with the homeless.

by Jann Hurling

Can you make a difference in someone’s life today? It’s not money that is required, it’s a simple smile and actually listening to a story . Say hello, ask them their name, where are they from……..everyone has a story, embrace them and listen. Most of all don’t judge.

I saw a man pushing a shopping cart with a dog in the cart. I got excited and started to walk over to him. I watched his mannerisms and he put his head down and did not want to make eye contact. As I got closer I said” hi, my name is Jann and he would not look up. I said these are my dogs, Minnie Mojito and Sir Buddy Winston III and he looked up and smiled and asked me what their names were again. He said his dogs name was Sunny and he was Pete. We talked about his life journey and that he missed his family. He made some bad choices and I said that doesn’t make you a bad person.

We talked , walked and laughed. As we walked we got close to a little corner store so I asked him to hold my dogs leashes. I went in picked up some water, munchies and dog food. I bought him cigarettes and a big candy bar. I gave him the bag and a big long hug! And told him I will never forget him.

Driving down Pierpont I looked over at Surf Liquor and saw my homeless neighbor that calls himself Charcoal. Charcoal is a picky homeless friend! He doesn’t want left over food. I yelled Charcoal and he turned around and said hi Miss Jann. I pulled over and got the best hug ever! We sat and talked about life and I said do you want a smart water and he said…..honestly I want a Budweiser!!! I laughed and got him a smart water! He is a great guy with demons. My life is better because I have Charcoal as my friend.

I met Joey on my walk tonight! He joined me and we shared stories. He missed his mom a lot so I said let’s call her and 45 minutes of talking and crying they reunited and he is going home to Orem, Utah.

I stopped at Vons and as I walked I hear “Jann” real loud. I turn around and see Leroy and Francis my homeless neighbors, they had their heads lifted high and proud. (Which our homeless rarely do in public) I was so honored they remembered me that I ran to them and hugged them! I honestly felt that they had a purpose and a reason today and to see smiles was priceless. We can make a difference, learn a name, give a smile and give a little hope to our friends, even if homeless.

Girls scouts help collect many items for the needy every year

Girl Scout Troop donates socks to the homeless before the cold season.

As the weather begins to cool down, local girl scouts teamed up with Ventura’s Hypno Comics Store to donate socks to homeless in need.

Girl Scout Troop 61686 annually sets aside a portion of proceeds from their fall product sales of nuts, candy, and magazines to support a service project to help “make the world a better place,” to honor the Girl Scout Law.

After considering a few different options, troop members voted to support the Los Angeles Dumbledore’s Army’s 2nd Annual Dobby’s Sock Drive in support of the Midnight Mission.

The troop was able to make a donation of $100.00 worth of men’s, women’s and children’s socks which will be distributed to the homeless before the cold season. Several troop members showed up on delivery day to personally deliver the socks to Hypno Comic’s owner George Chase. Chase was pleased to see such a big contribution be made to his location’s collection box.

This is one of three collection drives supported by the comic book store; later in the year the store also helps to collect food and toys. The troop is happy to support these kind of collections, as in previous years the girls have helped collect many items of need including children’s books, pajamas and birthday supplies for hospitalized children.

Island Packers has cruises for all occasions

View the decorated boats in Ventura Harbor. Photo by Doug Mangum

Island Packers offers a special holiday gathering. Schedule a Ventura Harbor holiday cruise or whale watching trip aboard the 64-foot catamaran.

These cruises offer a fun, unique way to bring relatives and friends together for an outdoor activity. View the decorated boats in Ventura Harbor as well as the decorated lighted homes in the Ventura Keys.

Island Packers offers the following holiday cruise selection:

One-Hour Caroling Cruises: Passengers can sing along with the crew or just relax and admire the decorated homes and boats in the Ventura Keys. The caroling cruise is 6:30-7:30 p.m. Hot and cold beverages and items from the snack bar are available for purchase. (Passengers may not bring alcohol on board.) Cruises are December 8, 12, 13, 14, 17, 19, 21, 22 and 23. The fare is $16 per adult, $13 per senior (55+), and $10 per child.

Ventura Parade of Lights: Friday, December 15 & Saturday, December 16. Passengers board our 64-foot catamaran at 6:15 for cruise from 6:30-8:30 p.m. to see the holiday lights, the boat parade, and ending with an onboard view of the fireworks display at 8 p.m.

Hot and cold beverages from the snack bar are available for purchase on these cruises. (Passengers may not bring alcohol on board.) The fare is $35 per adult, $32 per senior (55+) and $25 per child (12 and under). Discount rates for groups of 10 or more. Advanced reservations recommended.

Private Group Holiday Parties (great for company functions): Cruise options are: a buffet-style dinner, a no-host or host bar, and entertainment. Group rates are available for 30 up to 100 passengers. Contact Island Packers for private charter information.

Whale Watching Excursions, December 26 through April marks the official start of the gray whale migration. Regular trips are scheduled through mid-April. Departure times are listed daily on the Island Packers website. Rates start at $38 per adult for this half-day trip.

Island Packers Gift Certificates are great stocking stuffers and gifts! They are easy to purchase by calling the office or stopping in at Ventura location, 1691 Spinnaker Dr.

Recommended cruise attire: Passengers are strongly encouraged to dress in layers with a coat and gloves, and wear flat shoes. The Island Packers gift shop offers a variety of warm fleece pullovers and vests, T shirts and hats to purchase if needed before boarding.

For information, reservations or to purchase gift certificates: Visit www.islandpackers.com, call 642-1393, or visit Island Packers at 1691 Spinnaker Dr., Suite 105B, in Ventura Harbor Village.

Vol. 10, No. 4 – Nov 22 – Dec 5, 2017 – On Vacation

Carl Morehouse and Janna Minsk sharing the Breeze with Prince Henry the Navigator in Lagos, Portugal. Being a navigator Prince Henry especially enjoyed the Harbor Patrol reports.

 

 

Diana Murphy-Roberts, James Francis Gray, Mary Carr and Marcia Gray enjoying a surprise birthday party for Marcia in Fort Myers, Florida. Her best present was receiving the Breeze.

 

The Breeze’s own contributing writer Jill Forman outside the World Famous Giant Artichoke Restaurant in Castroville, CA. After eating deep fried artichoke heart, artichoke soup, and artichoke bread she finished reading the paper.

 

Eliane and Rick White In Baja Mexico. This place is owned and managed by Americans ex patriots. They cook a feast and really took good care of us. Sat in front of the post office and read the Breeze.

Left it in the snack bar seating area for the next tourist.

Ventura High annual Cardboard Boat Race

On Thursday November 16th Ventura High School had their totally awesome, annual Cardboard Boat Race. It is a long-standing, student run, lunchtime activity.

Each team is given a refrigerator box-size piece of cardboard, a roll of duct tape, a yardstick, and a box cutter. They are not allowed to leave their 10‘ x 10‘ area in the parking lot while building their “cardboard boat”

The races then take place in the school pool. Teams try to get their cardboard boat across the pool without sinking! At least 1000 kids were on the pool deck watching the races! Good, clean fun!

Even Principal Carlos Cohen gave it a try.

Kids & Families Together celebrates new center

David Friedlander cutting the ribbon with help from Stephanie Caldwell, Ventura Chamber of Commerce. Photo by Michael Gordon

On Thursday, Nov.9 Kids & Families Together and the Ventura Chamber of Commerce celebrated the opening of their new center with a ribbon cutting and open house at 864 Santa Clara St.

In addition to the headquarters for Kids & Families Together operations the new center houses children’s therapy rooms, training facilities and room to grow.

The celebration included tours of the center, wine and appetizers and musical entertainment.

Volunteer Beth Morris stated “The new location for Kids & Families Together is sunny, warm, and welcoming, just like the amazing people who work there”.

Ventura Councilmember Matt LaVere and Ventura Community Development Director Jeff Lambert were there celebrating the opening.

Kids & Families Together is a not-for-profit support, education and counseling resource center that provides services for individuals and families in foster care, kinship care and adoption, for the preservation of families and the physical, emotional and mental health of children. Kids & Families Together provides services through its collaboration with the Ventura County Human Services Agency and Ventura Behavioral Health Agency as well as other family serving organizations throughout Ventura County.

For more information about how to get involved with Kids & Families Together or utilize their services please contact David Friedlander, President/CEO & Co-founder (818) 643-1446 x 100 or email him at [email protected].