by Jennifer Tipton

But first, a little history … “Top Hat Palace” is a little burger joint located at 2050 East Main Street that closed its doors in 2010 after 63 years of peddling hamburgers and hotdogs to our fair city. It has remained there, boarded up ever since …

Do you think Top Hat should be declared a historical building and should it remain there as part of the planned new development?

Vincent Mujica
age 70
retired IT specialist
“I think it could probably use a little upgrading, but it’s been there for so long! People walk by and just know it’s always been there and the food was good. My favorite was the burgers, I ate one every time I got a chance. I’d sneak over and grab one and my wife didn’t even know!”

And after 50 years of marriage, now Sally knows …

Kori Moriwaki
age 22
works at We Olive
“I do believe that it should be made a historical landmark, as it was one of the first post offices in Ventura. It should absolutely remain there as part of the new development. The building has been there as long as I can remember – as long as my parents can remember! Maybe they could make it into an information booth for downtown?”

Writer’s note-can’t find any information on Top Hat once being a post office … anyone out there know?

Ashley Latini
age 29
manager at American Flags & Cutlery
“That’s a really tough question and here’s why, I heard they’re trying to put in a new development and Top Hat (that hasn’t been open for years) is holding up the project, so it remains a vacant lot when it could be bringing in so much more revenue for the city!”

Heather Peckfelder age 33 and
John Lyon age 39
Both work at El Rey across the street from Top Hat
Heather remembers the day the Top Hat closed, “there was a line down the street and people were so sad! Now they want to put in a development with store fronts on the bottom and apartments on top, when it used to be a parking lot and that was perfect for downtown! But yes, it should remain there and be declared a historical landmark … did you know there was once a murder there and it was the first case where they used DNA evidence!”

Debbie Fox
age 58
owner Fox Fine Jewelry downtown Ventura
“Our historic buildings are important, with wonderful memories. The Top Hat has a special place in the hearts of many. The option to move the Top Hat was opposed by Ventura’s Historic Preservation Committee.  The public was invited to comment, but none was made.

Building proposals have been through years of design and redesign for the long vacant corner. The latest design still struggles to carve out the Top Hat. It’s simply a fact: a large, corner property of shops and apartments can’t do justice to the Top Hat memory. You get one or the other.

Is the decision that the Top Hat stay in the same exact location the view of the majority of Venturans? Or are we the silent majority who would be fine seeing the Top Hat in another location? No it should not stay there.”

Writer’s note: Please, if you have an opinion about Top Hat, take a moment and email your council members at [email protected] or write to us at [email protected]. We’d love to hear your opinion!

by Jennifer Tipton
What is your favorite park in Ventura?

Ron Root
age 71
retired from Honda Motor Co.
“Probably the Aquatic Water Park on Kimball because it’s really well laid out. It’s large and great for walking the dog, you just have to go when everyone else isn’t there, it gets pretty busy.”

Carmen Rico
age 49
works at Paradise Chevrolet
“Let me see … I live across the street from Huntsinger, that’s not my favorite park but my kids used to like to go there to play football with their friends. I’d probably say Arroyo Verde, it’s more outdoorsy, there’s more nature, when our kids were small, we’d go there all the time. If you put a block of ice on the hill, you can slide down!”

Rob Lambert
age 59
works at Paradise Chevrolet
“Before the fire or after the fire?” (funny guy)
“It’s still Arroyo Verde, I have no choice, I have to go there every day with my girlfriend, she walks up and down the trails and all the way to the top.”
“And what do you do, walk with her?”, I asked.
He chuckled, “No, I just watch … but I must add, they’ve done a great job restoring the park, what they’ve done is pretty nice!”

Pat Halverson
age 73
retired RN
“Marina Park! I love walking by the ocean and they have a wonderful playground too. But what we really need is a fenced dog park in Ventura that’s nice. All we have Camino Real and the area for the small dogs has no grass – it’s all dirt and I have small dogs. My one little guy is a therapy dog for CMH!”
(Pat, we look forward to seeing them on the SCAMP page!)

Emily Bishop
age 34
piano teacher
“The park my boys love is off Bristol and Petit, don’t know if it has a name, it’s really small. It has a gazebo and they like that.” “Love that!”, corrected her son Heath.
Emily continued, “there’s one play structure and a rock-climbing wall, there are other bigger parks, but this is near home and it’s a nice quick play.”
(Could she mean Chumash Park?)

Pat Natzke
age 23
works at Ventura Hardware
“That’s a tough one! I would have to say probably a tie between Camino Real, (it has the dog park and the tree sculpture with the bear climbing up it) and Kellogg Park, the new park on the west end. I lived on the avenue for years and it was always an empty lot with the sign, “Coming Soon” … but they were always developing it and I thought – someday. It’s really cool, they have different exercise equipment, the tables have built in chessboards and the path around it is really a ravine, so that when it rains, it’s like a little stream that goes around the edge!
By the way ladies, Pat is single (he said I could share that).

Person to (Little) Person
by Jennifer Tipton

I asked several of our younger Venturans, ages 3–9, “What is your favorite thing at the fair?”

Annabelle Eckert
age 5
“I like the carnival games, especially the Balloon Water Race and I like every ride! My favorite fair food is a hotdog!”

Tom Eckert
age 9
“I like the Tilt-A-Whirl, it doesn’t even make me dizzy, and my second favorite is The Storm, it goes round and round really fast! I like cotton candy and caramel apples with peanuts!”

Henry Kantor
age 9
“My favorite thing to do at the fair is probably go on rides and play carnival games, but if I had one choice, I would probably pick go on rides. My favorite ride would probably be Wacky Worm, it’s also known as The Caterpillar, it’s pretty much a ride that goes up, there’s bumps and you tilt sideways, it goes around 3 times but sometimes they forget to stop it, like happened to me today, I went around 6 times! I also can’t wait to get an Icee!”

Elijah Morales
age 3
“I like to win fish, today I had 5 tries – that’s a lot! I like the roller coaster and my favorite fair food is yogurt.”
I had to ask, “yogurt at the fair?”
Elijah’s mom smiled, “lemonade and corn dogs” and Elijah jumped up in agreement.

Ayleen Morales
age 8
“I like to play games like The Kiddie Summer Boats and ride The Tornado, it’s not scary but do I like scary rides! My favorite fair food is pepperoni pizza!”

Bianca Topliss
age 3
“I like to go on rides, especially the Carousel and the Pirate.” (a play area) “My brother who’s 6 can help me but I can go across the rope bridge all by myself! I also like the chicken nuggets and ice cream.”

Ariella Coady
age 6
“I like everything! I like to be way up high on top of the Ferris wheel and all the games. I mostly like the corn dogs and lemonade!”
Riley Coady
age 4
“I like the dinosaur T Rex when you first come in, it’s huge! It’s not scary cause I like dinosaurs, I watch all the Jurassic movies! I am scared of the Ferris wheel cause it’ll make me dizzy! I like the fish tacos!” (kid after my own heart)

by Jennifer Tipton

What’s your fondest 4th of July memory in Ventura?

Karson Fish
age 18
works at The Wharf
“Probably when I was little, going to the college and watching fireworks with my family. We picnicked and barbequed, and I especially liked the barbequed burgers because burgers always taste better on the 4th of July!”

Victoria Beelik
age 50
presents seminars for large animal evacuation planning and author
“My fondest memory is sitting on Hollywood Beach, in front of the Rudder Room watching the Quad Police (police that ride quad motorcycles on the beach) busting people that had “over celebrated”. We did that for years, it was hysterical!”

Savannah Benton
age 23
works at Iron and Resin
“Just being on the beach with my friends and my dog Buddy, surfing and hanging out.”
I asked, “Do you do any fireworks?”
“Aren’t fireworks illegal?”, she whispered. “Well, we do, but don’t say we do…it’s pretty simple to get them in Fillmore. I like the ones that look like weeping willows, or sparklers – I love sparklers! Wait! Roman Candles – those are my favorite!”

Louise Bailey
age 80
worked as a waitress at Vagabond
“Going to my son, Kenny’s when he lived on a ranch off Casitas Vista Road and we’d set off fireworks there. And of course, all those years going to the Pier to see the fireworks. It’s a shame they’re taking away fireworks but it’s not the fireworks that are the problem, it’s the people that are not responsible. But it’s ok cause I’ve got faith, the future generation’s gonna get it right!”

Dan Weidler
age 68
retired Navy / works at the base in Port Hueneme
“We moved here in 1978 and we like going to the fireworks at Ventura College. My wife, Debbie likes to go to the street fair too, but I usually have to work in the morning even on the 4th.”

John Christie
age 65 (but looks 50)
retired Sheriff / works as a Park Officer at Lake Casitas
“In the late 70’s, I took my girlfriend and several of my friends with their girlfriends in my dad’s boat and anchored about 500 yards off the end of the Pier, we could see all of Ventura and the fireworks from there, to see it all – that was my favorite! Now, I get to drive a patrol truck around Lake Casitas and many of the campers barbequing offer me food, they’ll ask, “hey John – want a burger? or hey John – wanna try these ribs?” I love my job!”

Writer’s note: living in Ventura for over 50 years, and I have many fond memories of July 4ths past … in my teens when I didn’t let go of a cherry bomb soon enough and my ears rang for days! In my mid-twenties when the City did the firework show off the Pier and we’d all pack up the kids and go to the beach. But it wasn’t enough for some folks to just watch, they began to bring their own arsenal and Pierpont beach became Armageddon. My fondest memories are in my forties with the block parties we used to have, neighbors came together, we pulled the Webers to the street, everyone brought side dishes and the kids would decorate their bikes and wagons and have a parade. At dusk, although we could see the fireworks from the college, we had our own, smaller show (thanks to Fillmore). Those kids are all grown now, some have kids of their own and I hope they are creating memories. For me now, it’s all about that street fair!

Happy 4th of July Venturans and stay safe out there!

by Jennifer Tipton

I asked 6 Ventura teachers and administrators:
“Do you think teachers should be armed in the classroom?”

David C. Creswell
Superintendent Ventura Unified School District
“I am in favor of more security personnel for schools, but I don’t believe that arming teachers is the solution. Would we arm the sales people at the mall, or the ushers at the theater, or the greeters at church? This is not the answer.”

Dr. Jeff Davis
Assistant Superintendent Ventura Unified School District
“I think there’s better options to keep our schools safe, there’s a lot of research-based programs and policies throughout the nation that will prove more effective in the long run. Teachers do not go into the profession with the idea that they’ll be armed in the classroom, they go into the profession to educate our youth.”

Clinton Cody
Music teacher at Balboa Middle School
“It’s a slippery slope, the type of people you’re going to attract to the profession if we choose to arm our educators. I went into the profession because I had a desire to educate young people and be of service to the community. I do think it’s important to make sure our children on campus are safe but with professionals that do that type of job.”

Cheryl Wheeler
Retired teacher
“Creating a nurturing environment is paramount to student success in a classroom.  It requires tremendous focus and energy for a teacher to create that throughout the day every day.  A gun in the classroom would be counter to that end.  Also, a gun would most likely be of little use against an intruder with an assault weapon.  Another concern would be the possibility of students accidentally getting the gun and someone getting hurt or killed.  More guns in an educational setting does not equate to greater safety.”

Kim Johnson
Retired Administrative Assistant at Buena High School
“It is a bit frightening to offer my thoughts, some of which are not shared by most teachers.  That said, I think it is important to voice a differing opinion during this time when many people will not speak out as they are frequently vilified when not siding with “popular opinion”. Arming teachers and other school personnel should be an option to protect our schools. Those individuals would most likely already have a background with weapons and would have to go through an extensive vetting process to be able to volunteer for this scenario. For the last 20 years we have inadvertently invited “lost souls” to attack our schools by labeling them “gun free zones”, making them a perfect place to attack.  Why have we accepted armed protection at our airports, banks, malls and jewelry stores while allowing our most precious resource, our students and children, to become the targets that they are now?  At this point, we don’t have the luxury to wait for the lengthy bureaucratic process to protect them. We need to have the courage to seek new solutions now to take the target off the backs of our schools and students. Unfortunately, the sad truth is the next school shooter is out there and already has a weapon.”

Dawn Maloney
High School Teacher
“Arming teachers is a pretty absurd idea, generally.  Teachers should be trained in ways to defend students in a way that puts the focus on the safety of the students at large, not the elimination of an active threat. There are many ways to develop this culture.  First, being much more proactive: learning how to identify developing threats and reporting them to appropriate personnel such as counselors, administration, and/or student resource officers (policemen assigned to the school).  Next, using interactive drills/scenarios so that all involved can devote some thought as to how they could respond (don’t most of us have a “fire escape plan” at home with our families?). Too many variables involved with an “armed teacher” can go awry.”

by Jennifer Tipton

What have the Thomas Fires taught us? Do you have an evacuation plan and what would be the top 3 items you’d grab?

Barbara Bean
age 88
retired teacher
“Oh yes, I have an evacuation plan and a little bag packed because I was evacuated at 2:30 that night and was I prepared at the time? … no!”
What would be the top 3 items you’d grab?
“I would grab shoes, a change of clothes and my purse, because a woman has everything in her purse!”

Greg Jordan
age 40
school counselor
with daughter Tohpia age 4 (turns 5 in March – Happy Birthday Tohpia!)
“It’s definitely showed us the necessity to be prepared. In school, we actually did a presentation discussing preparedness a couple of months before the fires and then lo and behold! Our family did evacuate but were we prepared? … no! I grabbed some legal stuff, the computer and Tohpia grabbed her little treasure box filled with family heirlooms, there’s a locket with her great gramma’s picture in it.” “And my vitamins!”, Tohpia added.

Gayane Sarkissyan
age 41
personal banker
“For me honestly, what it taught us is not to complain about the little things in life, knowing that so many people lost everything. Do I have an evacuation plan? I do not, I should though!
I would grab my purse and my daughter, but my boyfriend’s a big guy so he’s just too much to carry … that’s really it, everything else is replaceable.”

Marc Thompson
age 51
systems administrator
“Most definitely, I think far too many people were unprepared for it. Do we have an evacuation plan? We do! Because of the fires we were under voluntary evacuation and we grabbed the kid, the dogs, a suitcase each and some pictures. You can always go to a bank outside of town and find shelter somewhere else, but without your family, you’re pretty much lost!”

Angie Henry
age 41
teacher
“I want to say yes, I’m hoping people will start doing more for themselves and their families as far as emergency preparedness. We had earthquake supply kits in place before the fires and I think that would’ve helped us, now our family does have an evacuation plan and we’ve discussed a meeting place with our kids. The top 3 things I’d grab? … photos, cats and clothes.”

Al Villegas
age 81
retired from Vons with his wife Anita age 76
“I’ve heard so many stories, I heard when the fire broke out there wasn’t enough water on the hill, a plumber friend told me if the neighborhood was old, the city didn’t want to cause any problems by putting in a higher-pressure system, so it really isn’t the city’s fault.”
Do you have an evacuation plan? “No, not really, but we did think about it.”
Anita adds, “we do have a lot of stuff in the garage, like water etc., but in an emergency, how are you going to get in the garage?”
What are the top 3 items you’d grab? They thought together… “our cell phones so we can call our kids, maybe some important papers and each other.”

Person to (Little) Person

by Jennifer Tipton

I asked 6 of our younger Venturans ages 6-9, “What do you like about Valentine’s Day? (and are there any secret crushes we should know about?)

Jayson Rivera
age 7
“I really do like to play with my toys and make Valentines, well I really actually buy the Valentines at the store”.
Any secret crushes? “Well … I like Joanna”. (Mom adds “that changes every week”)

Marcia Castor
age 9
“I’m 9 ½, but you can consider me 9, I guess. I like to pass out treats like stickers and gummies to my class”.
No secret crushes. Any special Valentine? “My dog Rocky, he’s a black lab, no boyfriends yet”.
(Mom said she can’t have one until she graduates college and hopes she’ll stick to the contract.)

Brice Peters
age 8
“I like sharing Valentines with candy in them cause I’m pretty sure it’s about sharing and caring.”
Any secret crushes? “No…not really.”
Any special Valentines? “My parents.” (You gotta love this kid!)

Bianca Davis
age 6 ½
“Well, I especially love getting secret admirers! I don’t have any yet … but I wish I had one.”
Any secret crushes? “Are you asking for the truth? Cause then I have to whisper, cause no one wants to hear the truth.”
And she did. (Bianca – your secret is safe with me.)

Tegan Farnsworth
age 9
“I like getting the cards and sometimes they have candy in them, especially the ones with chocolate, those are my favorite!”
No secret crushes. Any special Valentine? “My cat Rascal is my favorite Valentine, I love her!”

Issac Dunlap
age 7
“I make cards for my friends and family with paper, tape and staples. I made one today for my brother. Sometimes I put candy in them like … chocolate chips.”
No secret crushes but Issac tells me his special Valentine is a boy in his class, “my friend Ira, but he already knows”.

by Jennifer Tipton

I asked 6 Ventura business owners –
“How did the Thomas Fires affect your business?”

Michelle Rein
owner of passion flowers 920 East Main Street
“December was cancelled, everything cancelled, there was no December business. We were without power on this section of Main for four days; for some businesses, food was lost, but we’re just flowers so we were ok. We re-opened December 8th, but there was no business, people just wanted to come in to share their stories, talk and hug. And then with the closing of the 101, some brides couldn’t get here, most of my business was people sending thankyou flowers. As I clean up the ash, I try to be respectful – this ash was somebody’s home.”

The future? “We’re still gonna be here, we’ll make it through, we’re Ventura Strong!”

Sharon Palmer
owner of Main Street Meats Ventura 3049 East Main Street
“December is generally a month where families are planning their gatherings, people are coming into town, there are family dinners, company dinners, holiday parties. We start taking orders the first week in December, which is of course when the fires hit. The first 2 weeks of December, I basically manned the store by myself, there was no business. Ventura was like a ghost town, anybody who was here, wasn’t outside. And then you go into the loss, the devastating feeling of loss – there was no holiday spirit even into the first week of January. There is an overwhelming feeling of loss and displacement, it trickles down to a loss of economy. All the people who aren’t able to do their customary jobs – these are the customers. Our business had dropped about 50% in December and is continuing on that path. There are 50-75 regular customers that we haven’t seen and 30 Christmas orders that were canceled or not picked up.”

Writer’s note: Despite this, in addition to local donations, Sharon prepared a tri tip dinner to feed the Montecito Fire Crew.

Lynn Mikelatos
owner of The Greek and Margarita Villa 1583 Spinnaker Drive / 1567 Spinnaker Drive
“On Tuesday (December 5th) we closed because so many of our employees had to evacuate and everybody needed to just take care of their families. The first weekend we were hit the hardest, and in the first 10 days to 2 weeks we had a lot of cancellations, although, some parties rescheduled for January. It really impacted people going out in general; it was a big deal emotionally for the entire city. The Parade of Lights was scheduled for the second weekend after the fire (December 15 & 16) and there was some talk as to whether it should be canceled, but it’s such a part of the culture of Ventura and to the economy of the harbor! It’s all been pretty quiet down here, we just don’t see the foot traffic and overall, it put a shadow over the business. I think it goes to the heart of every Venturan, Firefighters would come in and customers would buy their food! I’m proud to be a Venturan and we’re not going to let this get us down!”

Writer’s note: The Parade of Lights did go on and Lynn reports it was a successful event!

Simone Covault
owner of Simones Coffee & Tea 7818 Telegraph Road
“We were evacuated so we came here and stayed a couple nights, the first night we didn’t sleep at all, then we slept on the floor. The power was out, and the Kimball center was filling up with people sleeping in their cars. When the power came on, people came in to use the restroom, seek reprieve and just to have a sense of community. We were bombarded! We never closed! There were no baked goods but as soon as the machines warmed up, I steamed coffee all day. On Tuesday, December 5th, I had people say I was the only coffee shop open and people began meeting here, we were super busy from the start. The first week, no merchandise sold, but after a couple weeks, people started purchasing some Christmas items. People were so grateful that we were open, one woman, a retired teacher came in with a child that she mentors to bring me a candle and say thank you for being a beacon of light during the fires!”

Writer’s note: Although Simone and her family remained evacuated and displaced for 2 ½ weeks, she never closed her doors. Their home did have some damage from the fires, but it wasn’t extensive.

John Reynolds
owner of JLR Studio 20 North Fir Street Suite A
“We were closed for 3 days and at the top of our street, we lost two houses. The following week, people were just not out and about, there was so much ash in the air. I had 2 ½ to 3 inches of ash in the corners of the building. We did lose appointments and we couldn’t reopen because there was no electricity. I think the New Year has been on the up rise, one of my stations was recently rented by a tanning artist and that should help generate more business.”

(John has been at this location for 32 years!)

Ashley Pope
owner of SpiceTopia 576 East Main Street
“We did okay in December, we got a lot of community support even though downtown took a hit. So many people came downtown determined to help local businesses, they wore masks and we’re so grateful for them. I worry about the longevity of the process, hopefully, we don’t see businesses close. If they’re still open a month out, that’s not an indication that they’re doing well; we won’t see the true impact on business until a little bit further. How’s it gonna look after year 1 or year 2? We stay strong going forward, I feel positive and have so much faith in Ventura to push through this! We want to continue to put the word out there that every dollar spent here locally, is a dollar put toward recovery! Where are the contractors and attorneys (etc.…) coming from? We need to be conscientious of that!”

by Jennifer Tipton

What are your New Year’s Resolutions?

Sara Omanovic
age 25
Owner of Ema’s Herbs
“Usually I try to focus on specific traits, 2017 was courage so I think 2018 should be resilience, resilience to overcome difficulties.”

Alton Gebhart
age 61
Crew Member at Trader Joes
“I made a resolution to do more photography gigs this year; we lost our studio in the fire, but that’s ok cause nobody rebounds like me, I’m a Cajun!”

Cathy Burke with daughter Renee
age 45
Cafeteria Manager
“I haven’t made any resolutions and I never have because I don’t like breaking them. It’s like when I say I’m gonna start dieting every other Friday!”

Cole Roop
age 19
works the front desk at Maverick’s
“I want to start flossing more…no really, do more cardio, get in heart healthy shape and shed a few pounds.” (writer’s note – Cole did not appear to have any pounds to shed)

Josh Grava
age 44
Vice President for a hydrographic survey equipment company
“I haven’t made any resolutions yet, we’re displaced from the fire. We didn’t lose our home, but we can’t go back yet. It’s been a challenging month and holiday season. It makes you realize the importance of family and friends to get through conflict. I guess a good resolution would be – to be more patient with my family, cause right now we’re all being tested with respect to tolerance and adaptation.”

Barbara Harvey
age 67
History Teacher at Buena High School
“My personal New Year’s resolution is to not get so stressed out, so how that translates to my own kids and my students, I’m not sure.”
I asked Barbara, “are you good at keeping your resolutions?” and she replied, “I am! I’m pretty focused – that’s how I get so stressed out!”