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Combat the dangers of hot weather (even in Ventura)

“This should keep us cool until the margarita’s arrive.”

With summer here and the temperatures rising(even in Ventura), it is important to understand the health risks that excessive heat can bring and know the signs of heat-related illnesses. Older adults and people with chronic medical conditions are particularly susceptible to hyperthermia and other heat-related illnesses. The National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health, offers advice to help combat the dangers of hot weather. The very first step to take is to make sure you have air conditioning professionally installed in your home by a company like Mitsubishi Air Con, so that when you do feel like the temperature is overwhelming you, you can take action immediately and effectively. It’s important to be able to take control of your environment, as not being able to do so can have disastrous consequences.

Heat stress, heat fatigue, heat syncope (sudden dizziness after exercising in the heat), heat cramps and heat exhaustion are all forms of hyperthermia. Hyperthermia is caused by a failure of the body’s heat-regulating mechanisms. The risk of hyperthermia can increase with the combination of higher temperatures, underlying general health, and individual lifestyle. Several risk factors come with higher and hotter temperatures, especially in older adults. Luckily, there are some ways to combat the heat, such as keeping hydrated, having shelter on hot days, or ensuring that they have a cooling system. For more information on a cooling or air conditioning service, you can click here.

Lifestyle factors that can increase risk include not drinking enough fluids, living in housing without air conditioning, lack of mobility and access to transportation, overdressing, visiting overcrowded places and not understanding how to respond to hot weather conditions. As we briefly mentioned not having air conditioning in the home, it is important to remember that specialists like Allen Kelly & Company, Inc. aren’t there for no reason. So if you are struggling in the hotter months and require the installation of air conditioning to help you keep cool, then be sure to use services like these, as it can be very beneficial to your health. On hot and humid days, especially when an air pollution alert is in effect, older adults, particularly those with chronic medical conditions, should stay indoors in cooler places. If possible, people without air conditioners or fans should go to places that do have air conditioning, such as senior centers, shopping malls, movie theaters and libraries. Cooling centers, which may be set up by local public health agencies, religious groups and social service organizations in many communities, are another option.

There are many factors that can increase risk for hyperthermia, including:

Dehydration

Alcohol use

Reduced sweating caused by medications such as diuretics, sedatives, tranquilizers and certain heart and blood pressure drugs

High blood pressure or other health conditions that require changes in diet. People on salt-restricted diets may be at increased risk; however, salt pills should not be used without first consulting a doctor.

Use of multiple medications. It is important, however, to continue to take prescribed medication and discuss possible problems with a physician.

Age-related changes to the skin such as poor blood circulation and inefficient sweat production

Heart, lung and kidney diseases, as well as any illness that causes general weakness or fever

Being substantially overweight or underweight

Heat stroke is a life-threatening form of hyperthermia. It occurs when the body is overwhelmed by heat and unable to control its temperature. Signs and symptoms of heat stroke include a significant increase in body temperature (generally above 104 degrees Fahrenheit), changes in mental status (like confusion or combativeness), strong rapid pulse, lack of sweating, dry flushed skin, feeling faint, staggering or coma. Emergency medical attention is critical for a person with heat stroke symptoms, especially an older adult.

Ventura County welcomes new community resource center for the LGTBQ community

Steve Somann, President of DCVC is cutting the ribbon assisted by supporters. Photo by Bernie Goldstein

Diversity Collective Ventura County was proud to hold the Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting of the Community Resource Center on Thursday, August 3rd at their new location at 2471 Portola Road, Suite 100 in Ventura.

The LGTBQ Community in Ventura County has been without a community resource center since 2009 when Rainbow Alliance moved to smaller offices due to cuts in HIV-AIDS funding at the state level, and ceased operations completely in 2011.

Diversity Collective Ventura County will run its HIV-AIDS Education and Prevention Program from the center as well as house partner organizations The Free 2 Be Me Foundation, Rainbow Umbrella, HOPE Counseling Center, and Baumer Law Group.

“It is our hope to expand free rapid testing services to the most critically needed areas of the county such as Oxnard. Currently, there is no community-based organization providing these free services and according to a 2014 needs assessment there are over 1,400 individuals living with HIV/AIDS in Ventura County and the numbers continue to increase” said Michael MacDonald, Board of Directors.

This year’s Ventura County Pride Festival is a fundraiser for the Community Resource Center. Joseph Summers, Vice-President of DCVC states “Diversity Collective relies on proceeds raised at the festival to sustain the new center. Proceeds raised from the minimal cover charge, sponsorships, and beverage and merchandise sales go to sustain the new center. Ventura County Pride is an all-inclusive family friendly festival celebrating our diversity in the LGBTQ community. It’s is our main objective to celebrate, educate and advocate for the LGBTQ community. There will be live entertainment all day long, over 60 vendors offering education and advocacy for our community, food trucks, retail booths, and adult beverages”.

Steve Somann, President of DCVC stated, “An LGBTQ Community Resource Center has been in the back of my mind since Diversity Collective Ventura County started in May 2014, and a priority for me personally since becoming President in January 2016. I’m elated that the LGBTQ community as well as anyone else who needs information about programs and services will now have a safe place to call, visit, volunteer, which brings about an awareness to all in the community.”

Diversity Collective Ventura County is a community based nonprofit 501c3 organization. Promoting advocacy, education, and mental and physical health for the LGBTQ community in Ventura County via the community resource center, programs and community events. It is the parent organization of Ventura County Pride, AIDS Walk Ventura and The Diversity Gala. All proceeds raised through fundraising efforts go to fund DCVC and its community programs.

Tickets on Sale for “Pier Under the Stars”

Pam Baumgardner, Staci Brown and Diane Brown enjoying a previous Pier Under the Stars.

Tickets are now on sale for Pier Under the Stars—the 24th annual benefit for the historic Ventura Pier on Saturday, October 7th, from 5-8 PM. Each year more than 800 residents and visitors attend this beachfront culinary fair adjacent to the pier to sample the county’s best food and spirits provided by over 50 area businesses. This year marks the 24th anniversary of Ventura’s premier wine, beverage and food event.

Restaurants, cafes, wineries and breweries serve their signature dishes and beverages from tented booths along the seaside Promenade while guests enjoy live music, dancing under the stars and an amazing silent auction. It’s a community celebration to honor the City’s 144 year old pier.

The sell-out event hosted by Pier into the Future–-a non-profit 501 c (3)—“is a much anticipated community gathering of friends that raises funds for our beloved Pier”, said Pier Into the Future Executive Director Jenise Wagar. The organization was founded by a group of dedicated community leaders, in partnership with the City of Ventura, to establish an endowment fund to maintain and enhance the historic Ventura Pier for future generations to enjoy. The organization has contributed over $540,000 to the City of Ventura over the last 24 years to enhance the Pier.

General admission tickets are $75.00 and include food and beverage tasting and a commemorative Pier wine glass. A limited number of VIP tickets are offered at $150 each. VIP tickets include all of the benefits associated with General Admission, plus early entrance to the event at 4:30 pm and a reserved seat at a VIP table along the promenade. Local restaurants, wineries and breweries who are interested in sampling their food/drink at the event can call 804.7735.

Tickets are available on line at www.brownpapertickets.com or by calling 800.838.3006. Visit www.pierintothefuture.org for more information.

The Fair is coming

Huey Lewis and the News will be on the grandstand stage at the Fair on Friday, August 4.

Everyone knows kids 12 and under are admitted completely free on Kid’s day at the Ventura County Fair. But this year on Friday, August 4, even grown-ups become kids again because everyone 13 and older is admitted for the regular kid’s price of only $9.00, a 25% savings over the regular adult admission price of $12.00! Come out and enjoy all the Fair has to offer, including great rides and games, food, competitive exhibits, livestock, shopping, contests, headline entertainment, fireworks and more!

“We want to create more value and more opportunities for families with and without kids to be together at this year’s Fair,” said Barbara Quaid, the Fair’s CEO. “What better way than with free admission for those 12 and under and kid’s price for kids 13 and older?”

Many Fair departments offer special activities for kids on Kid’s Day. Please visit www.VenturaCountyFair.org or call 648-3376 for more information.

This year, to add more value to purchasers of our unlimited ride promotion wristbands, each purchaser of a wrist band will receive two free midway game plays with the purchase of two midway game plays during the unlimited ride promotion hours. An unlimited ride wristband is $30.00 and allows the purchaser unlimited access to all rides on the midway from opening until 7:00 PM on Thursday, August 3rd, Monday, August 7th, Tuesday, August 8th, and Thursday, August 10th. With each wristband the purchaser will receive coupons good for the free midway games. Wristbands must be affixed and free game offer is good only until 7:00 PM on the day issued. Midway coupons required to purchase game plays, no cash is accepted at midway game booths.

“Our game operators are offering thousands of free game plays with this new promotion,” said Barbara Quaid, CEO of the Ventura County Fair. “We are unaware of any other fair in California offering buy one get one free games in conjunction with unlimited ride wristbands.” The Ventura County Fair runs August 2nd through the 13th this year but the promotion is only good on Thursdays, Monday and Tuesday. Visit www.VenturaCountyFair.org or call 648-3376 for more information.

Focus Area One: Ventura Business is Growing!

Focus Area One will bring business, jobs and revenue to the City. Photo courtesy of City of Ventura

by Gail Field

Action has begun on a project slated to bring business, jobs and revenue to the City of Ventura. The project, called “Focus Area One,” will expand the Auto Center and create space for additional commercial sites by developing the adjacent vacant area and extending Olivas Park Drive.

“This is a project planned to bring jobs and dollars to the City of Ventura,” says Community Development Director, Jeff Lambert. “The development will provide an integrated mix of automobile sales and retail establishments to meet the needs of the residents of the City of Ventura and surrounding communities.”

The project is bounded on the south by vacant land and on the north by US 101 near the Johnson Drive on- and off-ramps with visibility from the freeway. The site will have excellent access when the new freeway ramps are constructed as currently planned.

“In addition,” says Lambert, “we plan to apply a high level of design standards in order to ensure creating an aesthetically pleasing area that will enhance the entry point for the east end of the City.”

City planners face some constraints in developing the Auto Center project.

Some of the challenges have to do with roadways. The area has excellent visibility from the freeway, but access is constrained by the configuration of the Johnson Drive interchange. However, the site will have improved access once the new on-off ramp is constructed as currently planned. Also, overhead utility lines on the north side of Auto Center Drive will be removed to permit road widening. The lines are proposed to be located underground. The plan also includes improving the signage, making it more visible from the freeway and attractive to destination retail.

Ventura city council member Matt LaVere expressed his enthusiasm for the project. “One of my top priorities as a new council member is economic development and ensuring that our City’s economy is strong. Commercial and industrial space is at a premium in Ventura. Bottom line, we need more of it. A lot more.”

LaVere speaks from his perspective as a business attorney who represents many Ventura-based businesses and believes this project will be a boon for the Ventura economy. “A thriving economy not only creates a larger sales tax base, but ideally, it creates the jobs that allow Venturans to live and work here,” he says. “I hate to hear stories about how so many Venturans are forced into long commutes for their jobs. Not only does that create the traffic congestion we all despise, but it means less time for these individuals to spend with their family or giving back to their community.”

“I am particularly excited about the interplay of Ventura’s auto center and Focus Area One,” says LaVere. “The Auto Center is the number one sales tax generator in Ventura and provides close to a thousand jobs. Together, the new Focus Area One and a strong Auto Center have the potential of being the economic center of east Ventura.”

All in all, the project is set to encourage a stable, diversified, and well-balanced economy, to add to the job base within the city and to create a more beautiful shopping area going up according to plans.

Kids’ Arts surfboard raises $800 for program

Teresa and Eric of Duke’s Griddle ’N Grill on Seaward Ave. won the auction bid at $800.

Kids’ Arts is excited to announce that Teresa and Eric of Duke’s Griddle ’N Grill on Seaward Ave. won the auction bid at $800.00 for the Kids’ Arts surfboard at the Surf Rodeo event on July 16!! We thank you for your generous support through the years. They will “hang” the board at Duke’s for all to admire. Thanks, also, to Tim Reeser of Tribal Surfboards who shaped the board and donated it to Kids’ Art for the kids to decorate with their ocean theme and JD Drury of Surf Rodeo for naming Kids’ Arts as one of the beneficiaries of the event and supporting their mission to provide visual and performing arts classes for children.

Kids’ Arts is a nonprofit children’s art center that has provided free creative arts classes to children, 5-14 years old, for 25 years in Ventura. Visit them on Saturday mornings from 10:00 – 12:00 at 295 S. Arcade Dr. and let your creativity soar.

That’s them with Lynne Thurston from Kids’ Art. Call 628-9150 for more information or at www.kidsartsventura.org

The ‘C’ Street / Surfrider’s Point Beach Cleanup August 26

by James Francis Gray

Mark your calendars. The next Surfrider Foundation, Ventura County Chapter cleanup is August 26th, 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. Meet in Ventura on the beach promenade at the end of California Street.

They are breaking their previous year records each month. Using 124 volunteers, last month alone, the total collection was 396 pounds of trash, including 3,500 cigarette butts and two Star Wars characters.

So for tons of fun, join in for two + hours of cleaning up.

This group is one of the most successful out of eighty Surfrider Foundation chapters in America. It’s one of the best recreational opportunities in Ventura County. Bring your friends and family. Be a part of this worthwhile cause.

A volunteer,Ryan Power exclaimed, “Heads up: September 16, 2017 is the record breaking Coastal Cleanup day, the biggest volunteer event in the world!”

This vibrant chapter of volunteers, compromising of ocean enthusiasts interested in all aspects of beach management and ocean protections is waiting for you.

General meetings are every first Tuesday night of the month, 6:30-8:00 p.m., at Patagonia – Great Pacific Iron Works, 235 W. Santa Clara St. All are welcome.

Surfrider Foundation, Ventura County Chapter: serving our local community for over twenty years. For more information and details, please go to ventura.surfrider.org

CAPS Media wants your story

There’s more than video happening at the CAPS Media Center.

Everyone has a great story to tell and CAPS Media is the place for you to share it. All types of storytellers are invited to get into the fun: videographers, documentarians, radio DJs, journalists, musicians, photographers and more are all encouraged, trained and supported at the CAPS Media Center at 65 Day Road in Ventura. Member/Producers are guided by the very knowledgeable and friendly CAPS Media staff in the art and fun of media production with hands-on training in videography, video editing, radio production and more. Once trained member/producers check out CAPS Media’s video cameras, tripods, audio gear and other production equipment to record their story and then book postproduction editing suites to craft the stories they want to tell.

There’s more than video happening at the CAPS Media Center. The recently launched and highly successful CAPS Radio station (KPPQ-LP, FM 104.1) gives Member/Producers a dedicated and professionally equipped studio to record and produce the radio programs they want to share with the community. Experienced and aspiring DJs are trained by the talented CAPS Media staff in all aspects of radio production. After a few hours of instruction Member Producers are ready to produce their own radio programs. The program formats, topics, guest lists and more are all up to the desires and direction of the individual CAPS Radio Producer/Members.

In a few short months FM 104.1 is already alive with locally created and produced programs in talk, music, information, education and more. Check out CAPS Radio on FM 104.1. Radio orientation and training classes will be held July 26 & 27 at 6pm at the CAPS Media Center. The two-part class provides Member/Producers with the tools needed to produce original radio shows.

On the video side, upcoming CAPS Media Member/Producer video classes include: new member orientation, August 3, HD videography/camera, August 10 and postproduction editing, August 17. Go to www.capsmedia.org to see a schedule of upcoming programs on Channel 6 & 15, search the archives for past programs, get info on upcoming video and radio classes and much more.

Recent CAPS Media productions included programs on the Two Trees planting, the groundbreaking of the new Gold Coast Transit Center, and the Mayor for a Moment Class of 2016-2017 compilation video featuring 5th graders from elementary schools throughout the city.

Upcoming CAPS Media productions include live coverage of the annual Ventura County Fair Parade on Saturday, August 5. The festive event with floats, horses, marching bands and more will kick off at 10AM and CAPS Media will be on the scene at the corner of Main and California broadcasting live on Channel 6. If you are in the parade, give us and the community watching at home a big wave.

Tune in to Channel 6 for CAPS Media Member/Producer original programming throughout the day including the latest episodes of ECTV, Mayor for a Moment and Ventura Legacies. And to see what’s happening at the city, county and school government centers check out Channel 15.

CAPS Media is a nonprofit, membership organization located at 65 Day Road on the east side of Ventura College. Anyone who lives, works or attends school in the city of Ventura is eligible to become a Member/Producer at CAPS Media. Annual fees are only $25 for an individual and $75 for a non-profit organization. CAPS Radio is an additional annual fee of $50 for DJs. For complete information go to capsmedia.org.

The two met when they both worked for Shell Oil

Norman and Joan George with their senior 14 year old dog Nellie. Photo by Michael Gordon

by Jennifer Tipton

Norman and Joan George are a dynamic Ventura senior couple, in fact, they are my neighbors. Not a day goes by that I don’t notice their car is in the driveway, and then it’s gone, and then it’s back, and then it’s gone …

Norman is 85 years young and Joan is 83. “Norm” (as Joan calls him) can’t get around as well as he used to, he needs the assist of a power chair for any distance, but that certainly doesn’t keep him down! He volunteers at Catholic Charities to feed the homeless, and has done so for the last 24 years. Joan belongs to a women’s retiree group, and between them they have been active with many other organizations.

Married for 35 years, this is the second marriage for both. They have 6 children, 15 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren between them. “We put two families together with no problems”, says Norm. Together the blended family enjoyed activities such as camping and houseboating in the Delta.

The two met when they both worked for Shell Oil, Norman in the field and Joan in the office. Although they spoke on the phone often, Joan always thought he was still married and would have nothing to do with THAT! Then one day when Joan was coming out of the office, (the Shell offices were by Plaza Park at that time) and Norman was going in, Norman told a co-worker, “I’m going to ask her to join me for a cocktail”, and the co-worker responded, “take her out to dinner!”

“It’s been a great 35 years”, says Joan. They’ve lived several places such as Bakersfield and Sacramento but returned to Ventura in 1989 when Norman retired from Shell because according to Norm, “we wanted to see if the ocean was still there” and according to Joan, “I don’t think you can find a better place to live than Ventura -the weather, the beaches, the mountains – it’s just beautiful!”

When they first retired, the couple became active with the Elderhostel, a non-for-profit organization established in 1975 which offers travel and educational programs in the United States and around the world.

Joan reports their adventures included China, Italy, The Bahamas, France, London and The Panama Canal on Al Capone’s whiskey boat. Often staying in college dorms while traveling, the Elderhostel provides guides as well to accompany the senior adventure seekers. Norman tells me that one time, while in China, a Chinese guide asked him where he got his big tennis shoes, so he reached down and pulled off the tag that read, “made in China.”

Both Norman and Joan like to play games on the computer although she does more Facebook and internet stuff but he likes Solitaire and Mahjong, they even have a computer room with His and Her computers that are positioned side by side and the walls are lined with many years of family photos.

They’ve been known to play tricks on each other, he held a surprise 50th birthday party for her and she gave him a surprise 70th. Joan says, “it took me 20 years to get even!”

Norman George will be 86 on July 20.

July 4 Street Fair Kids’ Arts T-shirt design contest

At the July 4 Street Fair Kids’ Arts held a T-shirt design contest for children to their logo for the 4th of July. The experts at Ventura Creative Services chose a winning design and it was printed live at the Street Fair for visitors to purchase. A portion of all sales, of the contest winning design and a limited edition Ventura design, will be donated to Kids’ Arts. Visitors loved watching the process of creating a screen printed T-shirt and the little girl who won the contest was thrilled to see her artwork come to life. She is Aliyah, age 8 wearing her winning shirt.