The Ventura Family YMCA is launching its annual fundraising campaign to ensure that everyone in Ventura has access to vital community programs and resources that support youth development, healthy living and social responsibility.

Every day, the Ventura Family YMCA works diligently to support the people and neighborhoods that need it most by addressing community issues, such as obesity, cost of living, food insecurity, and at-risk youth housing. As the pandemic continues, the Y has become a vital source of support for many in the community.

This year, the Ventura YMCA hopes to raise $220,000. Funds raised will support childcare, summer camps, sports, swim lessons and more for its community.

Last year, charitable gifts from YMCA donors made it possible for community children to have a COVID safe place to learn and build confidence after school; for families to reconnect and grow together; and provide access to education and training to reach their full potential.

To learn more about how you can support the Y’s cause, contact the YMCA at (805) 484-0423 or visit ciymca.org/Ventura for more information.

Brian Pendleton, who has been at helm of the Ventura Port District since 2019, has been honored with General Manager of The Year by Ventura County Special Districts Association (VCSDA).

VCSDA Board President Bruce E. Dandy states, “All of the members of the Ventura County Special Districts Association are proud of Pendleton’s numerous achievements on behalf of the Ventura Port District, which is a valuable asset to our community and to Ventura County’s economy, fishing, recreation, and tourism industries. We all join in congratulating Brian for his accomplishments.” 

During the past year, Pendleton has been instrumental in spearheading four key initiatives that can be attributed to receiving this prestigious achievement. He developed and led the implementation of a forward-thinking COVID-19 Rental Abatement and Deferment Program that went into effect at the beginning of the pandemic, which helped avoid business closures at Ventura Harbor as a result of the pandemic. 

“I’m honored to receive this award from the Ventura County Special District’s Association. It is truly a reflection of the leadership of our Port Commissioners and hard work and dedication of our Port District staff, and tenant business partners who continually strive in making Ventura Harbor a first-class working waterfront and seaside destination,” said Pendleton. 

An active community leader, Pendleton is the Chair of the Economic Development Committee and on the Executive Committee for the Ventura Chamber of Commerce, Treasurer of the Ventura County Chapter of the Special Districts Association, Secretary of the Board for Visit Ventura, and Board Member of the California Marine Affairs and Navigation Conference.  

Ventura Port District’s Board of Commissioners Chairman, Chris Stephens, added, “2021 was a very challenging year and through Brian’s efforts, the District remains on a sound financial footing with a strong and dedicated group of employees.  In addition, Brian’s leadership has contributed to the welcome success of our partner tenants and businesses.” 

Since 1974, the Ventura County Special Districts Association (VCSDA) has been representing over 20 independently governed special districts located in Ventura County. Special districts are single purposed entities formed by residents to provide local services. Because special districts are a more efficient form of government, they are quicker to respond to customer needs.

The headless horseman is set to ride at the end of the month–seeking sinners for his Boss Satan.  An old Ventura County Story that Richard Senate first hear from Carmine Camarillo at a party is that he rides Creek Road to Ventura seeking his seven sinners–he never finds enough in Ojai Valley so he has to go to Ventura and Oxnard. 

After a year-long pause due to the pandemic, the Ventura Gem & Mineral Society (VGMS) is back! Our 59th Annual Gem, Mineral, Fossil & Jewelry Show takes place March 5 & 6 (10:00 AM–5:00 PM, Saturday; 10:00 AM–4:00 PM, Sunday) at the Ventura County Fairgrounds (10 W. Harbor Blvd, Ventura). The show is open to the public and admission is free, although the Fairgrounds charges a parking fee if using the Fairgrounds lot.

The Ventura Gem Show has been a fun family event for 59 years with its focus on kids and education, gemstone cutting and jewelry-making, and rocks and fossils. At the show, we’ll announce the recipient of our $1,000 Scholarship Award, given annually to a local college student. The next day on entering the show, kids will be given a free polished stone at our Welcome Booth, where we also will have free rock samples and educational packets for teachers. At the Kids Booth, children will enjoy activities offering an assortment of rocky prizes. A nearby display offers info about the society’s two-room museum in Ojai, where teachers, home-schoolers, and other youth groups can arrange tours by appointment.

Here in California, there’s gold in them thar hills (try Lake Piru!), and you can learn how to pan for it at the Show. At one booth, expert prospectors will guide you through basic steps of gold panning, and you can purchase “pay dirt” to pan for real gold nuggets and flakes at the show or in your own backyard. In addition, this free show will feature 60 displays of gems, minerals, fossils, and award-winning handcrafted jewelry. These include educational exhibits of fossils collected locally in and around Ventura County, as well as a display of our State Rock, Mineral, Fossil, and Gemstone (including a gold nugget and Ice Age saber-tooth cat and “Auggie”, the California State Dinosaur). Still other displays will show how stones collected locally have been crafted into jewelry. Demonstrations throughout the show give visitors up-close looks at artists pursuing their skills, including gemstone cutting, silver work and jewelry making, beading, and other arts and crafts made from nature. Raffle prizes include fine jewelry, carved stones, a $100 bill, mineral and fossil specimens, and more. Festivities include hourly silent auctions for rocks, minerals, and fossils, as well as a “Second Hand Treasures” white elephant sale, plant sale, and 15 dealers selling beads, opals, jade, gemstones, crystals, fossils, jewelry and jewelry-making supplies, and gift items. It’s a 59-year Ventura tradition the whole family can enjoy!

VGMS was founded in 1944 to encourage interest in rocks, minerals, fossils, jewelry-making, and related areas through education, activities, and exhibitions such as this annual show, which is open to the community. The society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, educational organization and welcomes individual and family members. VGMS hosts monthly talks on earth science topics and jewelry arts, makes presentations to area schools, and conducts field trips for members and guests that often involve collecting rocks, minerals, and fossils in southern California and neighboring states.

The Ventura Gem Show is the society’s major fund-raising event helping to underwrite educational activities, including the annual college scholarship and school visits and donations. For further details, call (805) 312-8467, email [email protected], or visit our web site at www.vgms.org.

The Ventura Gem & Mineral Society, Inc., is a nonprofit educational organization.

Federal Nonprofit Tax ID Number 95-6056075.

by Carol Leish, MA

According to Mary Haffner, who served on the Ventura County Behavioral Health Advisory Board for six years, “The Ventura County Board of Supervisors, at their February 8^th meeting, ordered a sweeping, multi-agency assessment of the continuum of care for people with severe mental illness and substance use disorders. Ventura County Health Care Agency Director Barry Zimmerman said that, “It is necessary to perform a comprehensive review and assessment of the entire system of care. Far too many people suffering from severe mental illness cycle through the revolving doors of hospitalization and incarceration.”

This important directive came after a recommendation from the county’s Behavior Health Advisory Board and on the heels of a vigorous campaign by the Ventura County NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness) advocacy group who met privately with a number of county leaders asking for better services for people with serious mental illness. The group consists of the NAMI-VC President Patti Pape, NAMI-VC Executive Director Roberta Griego, A NAMI-VC board member, Jerry Harris, Ratan Bhavmani (current VC Behavioral Health Board Members), and Mary Haffner. The county leaders that the advocacy group met with included the VC Board of Supervisors, Erik Nasarenko (District Attorney for the County of Ventura), and Sheriff Ayub.

Haffner said, “A good continuum of care includes prevention services, crisis care, best-practice treatment in the community, therapeutic facilities, supportive employment, and housing. We know what works; these are treatable and manageable illnesses. However, with so little invested on front-end crisis care, we spend exorbitant amounts on the back end for poor health outcomes, which is a backwards system. There are vast societal, fiscal, and human costs associated with failing to provide a comprehensive and effective continuum of care for this vulnerable population.

“This system passes individuals through law enforcement encounters, numerous short-term hospitalizations, homelessness, and jail. Ventura County is one of the few large counties with no psychiatric ER, so individuals and law enforcement wait hours or days tin general hospital emergency rooms at great costs. There are few inpatient beds, fewer intensive step-down options, and only one crisis stabilization unit for a county of 843,000. When you don’t invest in what is needed to help people get better, the responsibility for care is offloaded to law enforcement, jails, and expensive out-of-county facilities. Our jails house more people with mental illness than the county’s therapeutic facilities combines and taxpayers pay $81,000 a year to incarcerate someone with a mental illness versus $32,000 a year for permanent supportive housing. Communities are less safe because police are taken off the beat to deal with mental health emergencies.”

It is time to care for and improve situations for people with severe mental illness and substance use disorders. Haffner said, “We need to invest in prompt and effective treatment, and to move away from jailing low-level mentally ill offenders. It is our hope that this directive to conduct a review and assessment signals a better understanding by leaders that it is in all of our best interest to provide compassionate care and treatment and a continuum of care for this vulnerable population.”