Villanova Prep is honored to host Emmanuel Sekiyoba, economics instructor and international consultant, to address the students as part of a Project Africa presentation. Mr. Sekiyoba will be Villanova’s guest in the theatre at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26.

Mr. Sekiyoba was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and at an early age learned to appreciate the importance of hard work and the value of education. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics in 1991 and is currently an economic instructor at the West Los Angeles College and also works with the Los Angeles Unified School District teaching mathematics.

Mr. Sekiyoba is the coordinator of the Congolese Community of Southern California.

Catherine Ann Jones, award-winning playwright, author, and screenwriter  will read from and sign her new book, Freud’s Oracle – a one-person play about the American poet Hilda Doolittle (1886-1961) and her relationship with Sigmund Freud.  H. D.  The themes are the travesty of war and the triumph of the individual.  A reception follows the book signing.  Suggested donation $5.  The Ojai Art Center -113 S. Montgomery St.

The Ojai Film Festival returns for its 17th season, offering the best in independent film and special events that celebrate innovative filmmaking. The festival kicks off with a free screening at Libbey Bowl on November 3, starting at 7:00 PM.

From November 3-13, the Film Festival will present an eclectic mix of narrative, documentary, and animated films as part of its competition screenings, Gold Coast series, and Focus Earth offerings.

On Oct.29, at 5pm  Besant Hill School of Happy Valley invites you to enjoy their 500 beautiful acres to celebrate community with friends and foodies. The dinner is in support of local foodshed awareness and education. It will raise funds for Besant Hill’s sustainable agriculture program, and Food for Thought Ojai: the Ojai Healthy Schools Program.

The evening will also include music under the stars. The tickets are $150 (only $49 for faculty and staff members of any Ojai school) and can be purchased online at www.besanthill.org. Besant Hill School of Happy Valley is located at 8585 Ojai Santa Paula Road.

At 85 years old, Tab Hunter is one of the few remaining stars to witness Hollywood’s transformation from the studio system of its Golden Age to the American New Wave of the 1970s and its current incarnation as the epicenter of celebrity culture.

Hunter will appear with his long-time partner and producer Allan Glaser after a showing of the hit film Tab Hunter Confidential on Saturday, November 5,  from 5:15 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.  The movie will be followed by an intimate Q&A with the Film Festival audience moderated by Stuart Crowner .The screening of Tab Hunter Confidential and the Q&A will take place at the OjaiArtCenter

Join Rev. Karen at Meditation Mount, on Saturday, October 29, from 9:30 am to 12:30, and open the mind, heart and body to the Ultimate Mystery.

The retreat is by donation; $10 is suggested. Meditation Mount is located at 10340 Reeves Road. For more information, contact Rev. Karen at 310-968-8928, or register online at www.karenswylie.com.

OjaiCARES, Ojai’s cancer resource center, welcomes the prestigious Dr. Oscar Streeter, Jr. Board Certified Radiation Oncologist and Dr. Cyrus Rafie, Ph.D, Medical Physicist from Santa Monica’s Center for Thermal Oncology. The esteemed doctors will present on Personalized Medicine 101 & Understanding Hyperthermia.

The Ojai Retreat, 160 Besant Road in Ojai is on Saturday, October 29, from 11 to 2 pm. This and all OjaiCARES programming is free of charge.Visit ojaicares.org or call 646-6433 for more information.

On Veterans’ Day, Friday, November 11, the Mitz-Khan-A-Khan Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution with join with the Ojai American Legion Post #482, the American Legion Auxiliary, and the Ojai Valley Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post #11461 to honor our veterans.  Festivities will take place at the American Legion Hall, 843 East Ojai Ave.

The American Legion Auxiliary #482 will be serving a delicious breakfast from 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM. Breakfast is free to all Veterans, and costs $4.00 for all others.

Any reader who wishes to honor a veteran by adding him or her to the “Wall of Remembrance” posters should contact Nancy Hill at 805-302-6093, or e-mail photos and information to [email protected].

The Ventura Chamber of Commerce presents the 6th Annual “Taste” at the Museum of Ventura County on Thursday October 20th.

More than 40 of Ventura’s finest restaurants, caterers, wineries, breweries, bakeries and confectioners will be featured at this popular event. Live music, mixology and cooking demos will complement the mix, as guests mingle in the courtyard and main space of the Museum of Ventura County.

Doors open at 5:30pm and the event goes until 8pm.

The advance ticket purchase cost is $40 for Ventura Chamber members and $50 for the general public. Tickets can be purchased by going to www.venturachamber.com/taste2016 or by calling  643-7222. Pre-registration is encouraged; guests can receive an additional $5 discount per ticket if purchased by October 15.

Event sponsors include Museum of Ventura County, Ventura Auto Center, Ventura Rental Party Center, Kaiser Permanente, WSPA, Union Bank, Gold Coast Acura, Ventura Community Bank, Ventura County Star, CAPS Media Center, Gold Coast Broadcasting, Luners Production Services, VC Reporter and the Ventura Breeze.

The Ventura Chamber of Commerce is a membership based organization that advocates on behalf of the business community. With nearly 700 members, representing more than 25,000 employees locally, the Chamber engages on a variety of issues that help to drive a strong local economy as The Voice of Business.

The greatest golfers on the PGA TOUR Champions schedule are set to descend upon Sherwood Country Club October 28-30 for the inaugural PowerShares QQQ Championship, the first event in the new season-ending Charles Scwab Cup Playoffs series. Fans are sure to witness exciting competition as these legends of golf compete for their spot to further advance in the Playoffs, when the field of 72 golfers is cut to jst 54 that move on to the Dominion Charity Classic in Richmond, VA.

Equally compelling for spectators, the tournament will offer a multitude of events and venues to experience while watching the action. It all kicks off on Thursday with the “Community Champions Day”, an event that’s open to the public as a public celebration to the week ahead. The day will feature a tennis exhibition (9-11 a.m.) with Andy Roddick, James Blake, Jim Courier and Mark Philippoussis, a free golf clinic (1-2 p.m.) with PGA TOUR Champions players and a chance to experience some of the premium food and beverage available during tournament week.

From seafood to the classic grilled cheese, the tournament has it covered all week with a host of options from local food trucks including Baby’s Badass Burgers, The Grilled Cheese Truck, Good to Go Juice and Shrimp vs. Chef. Fans are also encouraged to stop by the StoneHaus Wine Lounge, which is slated to be the place to be once competition rounds start. Located at the driving range, the lounge offers prime viewing of the players as they practice.

What’s even more rewarding is the access that the tournament is offering to youth and military. All youth 18 and younger will receive complimentary Grounds admission when accompanied by a ticketed adult. In addition, the PowerShares QQQ Championship is offering complimentary Grounds admission and hospitality during the tournament for all active duty, reserve military members, military retirees and their dependents along with complimentary admission for veterans.

While at the PowerShares QQQ Championship, all military guests will be treated to complimentary food and beverages and up-close views of the action in the Patriots’ Patio presented by Frontier Communications, a military-exclusive venue located on 9 green.

There will also be a Military Recognition Ceremony held Saturday, October 29 at 7:00 a.m that will also be open to the public.  The ceremony on 1 tee will feature a national anthem and color guard to honor military in the Thousand Oaks and Ventura County areas.

The tournament has made great strides in offering access to these great events to the public, but also to local organizations and deserving charities. The PowerShares QQQ Championship started the “Buy Now, Give Back” program to offer a ticket to charities through the Sherwood Cares Foundation, with every ticket purchased by fans.

“We’ve had the vision of making this a truly community-centric event,” said O.D. Vincent, Executive Director of the PowerShares QQQ Championship. “With venues and events that celebrate the best of our area, we really do have something for everyone.”

Tickets are available on PowerSharesQQQChampionship.com.

Opera Santa Barbara will open its 2016-17 season with a colorfully electrifying production of Carmen, Georges Bizet’s enduring tale of love and jealousy set amid the vibrant, unruly streets of 19th century Seville. Performances will take place at 7:30 pm on Friday, November 4, and at 2:30 pm on Sunday, November 6, in the historic Granada Theatre. Ranging in price from $29 to $204, tickets can be purchased at www.granadasb.org or by calling 899-2222.

Directed by Octavio Cardenas, Opera Santa Barbara’s production will feature three of the region’s most celebrated Flamenco dancers – Wendy Castellanos-Wolf, Pamela Lourant, and Marcela Aguayo – and will mark the inaugural appearance of the company’s new Youth Opera chorus for singers ages 8 to 18.

The production also will mark the company conducting debut of Kostis Protopapas, who was named OSB artistic director in July 2015. “I’m very much looking forward to my conducting debut with Opera Santa Barbara, working with an absolutely fantastic cast and the Opera Santa Barbara Orchestra and Chorus on one of the world’s most treasured operas” he said.

Opera Santa Barbara’s 2016-17 season will continue with Leos Janacek’s the Cunning Little Vixen and Puccini’s elegant and poignant operetta La Rondine .

The Granada Theatre is located at 1214 State Street in downtown Santa Barbara.

To place a season subscription order, visit www.operasb.org or call 898-3890.

Subscribers can purchase season tickets for their children ages 17 and under for just $42. These discounted tickets allow for seating with parents in all sections of the Granada except the loge and boxes.

The Ojai City Council has selected interim city manager Steve McClary as Ojai’s permanent city manager. McClary had been serving as interim city manager since shortly after the resignation of Robert Clark on March 1. The city council voted 4-1 for a three-year contract, with Council Member Betsy Clapp voting no.

“Steve’s leadership skills and knowledge of the Ojai community clearly made him our best choice to be our City Manager,” said Mayor Blatz.

McClary began his service to the City of Ojai as the assistant to the city manager in 2009. He was promoted to the position of Deputy City Manager in 2013. Prior to his tenure in Ojai, McClary served 12 years in the city manager’s office for the City of Fillmore.

Community Memorial Healthcare Foundation and Ojai Valley Community Hospital Foundation has announced that Don Felder, a former legendary guitarist with the Eagles, will be performing at this year’s “At The Bowl” benefit concert on Oct. 22 at Libbey Bowl.

Felder, who played lead guitar with the Eagles for 27 years, originated the music on numerous Eagles milestones and co-wrote their biggest hit – the iconic “Hotel California.” The funds raised by this event will support Community Memorial Health System construction projects – the building a new Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura and a new Continuing Care Center in Ojai.General admission tickets and sponsorship packages are available at www.cmhsatthebowl.org.  Or call 667-2881.

The Ventura County Library’s Makerspace Librarian Antonio Apodaca will visit the Ojai Library at 2 p.m. on Friday, October 14, 2016, to deliver a presentation introducing a new eLibrary resource: PressBooks! Also at the Ojai Library, Opera Santa Barbara will return to present a Free Noontime Opera Concert on Thursday, October 13.

The Jewish Community of Ojai invites everyone to celebrate “Blessings,” six leaded-glass windows recently installed in the JCO sanctuary. These leaded-glass panels were commissioned in1993 by the Jewish Museum, New York, from glass artist and sculptor Susan Stinsmuehlen-Amend. In 2016, at the artist’s suggestion, they were generously gifted to the Jewish Community of Ojai. Artist Susan Stinsmuehlen-Amend, and curator Anca Colbert, will discuss the creative process behind the windows, a brief history of stained glass windows and their place in spiritual art.  The event will be held on Wednesday, October 19th at 7:30 pm. Dessert and wine reception will follow..

The Ojai Photography Club will host a presentation by photographer and master teacher Christopher Broughton on October 18, at 7:00 p.m. in Ojai’s Kent Hall. “Practicing Seeing,” is based on his experiences in Paris over the past five summers teaching a ten-week study abroad program in photography to Brooks Institute students.  After completing his BA and MS in photography at Brooks Institute, Broughton joined the faculty at Brooks and taught there for twenty years until the recent closure of the school. http://www.christopherbroughton.com

Monthly free presentations are part of the Ojai Photography Club’s community service outreach. Visitors are always welcome to attend. The Ojai Photography Club, which is devoted to education, inspiration, and camaraderie, meets on the third Tuesday of each month, February – November. For additional information please visit: www.ojaiphotoclub.com/

Come join over 100 players in the annual  Villanova Preparatory School golf tournament with a foursome. Come enjoy the Oktoberfest dinner and raffle. Families, friends, alumni, neighbors and public are all welcome! This year, our Wildcat Classic fundraising goal is to raise over $24,000 to use towards athletics and scholarships. Villanova is known for its sense of community and the involvement of its parents and supporters. The event promises to be an excellent opportunity to bring people together for a great cause, and great fun as this year’s event is aligned with Halloween. It will be a screaming good time for all!

Soule Park Golf Course
Friday, October 28
Registration 9:00 a.m. Tee Time 12:00 p.m.
Feast Time 4:30 p.m.

Show your love for Italian sports cars at the 9th Annual Ventura Motorsports Gathering “Viva Italia! set at Village Main Lawn Sunday, October 16, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. This year’s themed event celebrates all things Italian and spotlights Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Maserati’s, but all sports, racing and classic cars are welcome to participate in the event.  Dine for lunch or dinner seaside to complement the event.

Gather at Ventura Harbor’s main lawn for this annual dog lovers event on Saturday, October 22, at noon with your dog and enter your pet in a Howl-O-Ween Dog Costume Contest.  Supported by Ventura Pet Barn, the event will give prizes to pet owners for the “Most Sea-Worthy,” Cutest, “Scariest,” “Creative/Original,” and “Best In Show.”

A spook-tacular seaside is in store for the whole family at Ventura Harbor Village’s “Safe Trick or Treat” annual Halloween event planned Saturday, October 29 from 1-3 p.m.  A consistent favorite event for kids and parents, the Village provides a safe Trick-or-Treat with visits to local businesses.  The fun-filled day showcases a face painter, arts and crafts.  Kids of all ages are encouraged to bring their favorite goody bag to collect candy and treats from Harbor retailers and restaurants before enjoying lunch or other seaside treats from ice cream and smoothies.  Round out the day of fun, with a visit to the Village Arcade & Carousel or take a boat ride or pedal boat around the Ventura Harbor.

Zombies of all walks of life can join in “Thrill the World” zombie dance for the world record at Ventura Harbor Village Saturday, October 29 at 3 p.m. A celebration of dance and community inspired by the legendary Michael Jackson, the event is touted as the biggest Halloween gathering on the planet, participants can roam the Village promenade as dancers prepare to perform the classic Michael Jackson “Thriller” dance simultaneously around the globe for the world record!  This must-see event allows for novice and experienced dancers of all ages to dress in zombie wear.  Admission is free.

www.VenturaHarborVillage.com for more information.