by Richard Senate

We have few markers or monuments to recognize the many contributions of the Chumash people on Ventura.  I have been thinking that the city should mark important sites linked to our early residents. They need not be large, perhaps no more than a plaque to list the accomplishments of the Native People, in some places an appropriate work of art could be installed.  Some sites were so important that the Spanish Speaking people recognized them as well as the Yankees.

One such location is the site of the sacred “Wind Sycamore” or the “Aliso del Viento” located at Casitas Springs just North of Ventura. It was the site of a bent Tree, a tree deliberately bent into an arch on the trail to the Ojai Valley. Accounting to   reports from Candelaria Valenzuela and her son Jose Juan Olivas, the arch in the tree once hung a wooden image, a sort of puppet that could be manipulated to ask for services of the Gods of the Chumash pantheon.  Offerings were made in the form of shell beads and other items. These prayers were always whispered, and they say the tree became known as the “Whispering Tree.”  Here they also hung offering of banners made of feathers, colored cloth, ribbons and other ornaments.

Such pagan worship was discouraged by the Spanish Padres  when the small chapel of Santa Gertrudis was constructed not far away at Casitas Springs. New Legends sprang up with the coming of the Yankees that may well be a continuation of the rites of the Chumash. The Tree became known as “The Wishing Tree” where wishes could be asked–a sort of wishing well.  It was also said that when young lovers came and whispered their vows it could only mean “True Love.”  and the Tree acquired a new nickname, “The Kissing Tree.”  A kiss under its branches would ensure a happy marriage.  Maybe a plaque should be set up to mark this important shrine where modern lovers could whisper their vows and kiss? Another Chumash site could be marked at the Botanic Gardens over the city. Here at the very top of the Hill of the Cross, over the Mission, was once a shrine, with two tall poles, to mark the location, visible far out to sea.  These were to watch over Chumash in the Channel to focus upon and offer protection from the winds and offer protection to those fishing and traveling in the Channel between the mainland and the islands.

The Spanish removed the shrine and replaced it with a large pinewood cross.  That cross was blown down in a great storm in the 19th Century, and the present cross was restored in 1914 to serve as a site for Easter Sunrise services and it its not on the crest of the hill. That sacred site could be used to honor the Chumash people. There are other locations within the city that could be used to mark, sacred places to the Native People.

Just in time for the holidays, Rubicon Theatre presents the World Premiere of Estella Scrooge: A Christmas Carol with a Twist, a magical new holiday musical which originated and was developed at Rubicon over two seasons in the company’s Plays-in-Progress program (under the title Little Miss Scrooge). Estella Scrooge was recently filmed in New York and is the first fully produced green screen streaming musical shot from beginning to end during the pandemic against a green screen using new cutting-edge technology.

The production uniquely blends theatre, film and animation. Sure to become new a holiday tradition – the World Premiere of Estella Scrooge: A Christmas Carol with a Twist! debuted Saturday November 28, 2020 and is available for streaming through the holidays. Tickets are now on sale and may be purchased through Rubicon’s website at https://www.rubicontheatre.org/estella-scrooge.

The production features a cast of 24 award-winning Broadway notables, and is the creation of John Caird, (the Tony and Olivier Award-winning director of Les Misérables and Nicholas Nickleby), and Tony Award nominee Paul Gordon (Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice). Caird and Gordon also paired to create Daddy Long Legs, which also originated at Rubicon and then became one of the most produced plays in the American theatre over the next few years before enjoying a successful Off-Broadway run (Drama Desk Award for Caird).

The story of Estella Scrooge follows a modern-day Wall Street tycoon with a penchant for foreclosing. A hotelier in her hometown of Pickwick, Ohio has defaulted on his mortgage and Estella fancies the idea of lowering the boom personally.

A modern day take on Charles Dickens’ beloved 1843 novella “A Christmas Carol,” Estella Scrooge also wittily incorporates characters and plot lines from Dickens’ other great classic novels “Great Expectations,” “Little Dorris” and “Bleak House,” among others.

Betsy Wolfe (Waitress) stars as Estella, a descendent of her famous great great-great-great-grandfather Ebenezer. Clifton Duncan(The Play That Goes Wrong) stars as Philip ‘Pip’ Nickleby. 2020 Tony Award nominee Lauren Patten (Jagged Little Pill), who has performed at Rubicon numerous times, stars as Dawkins. The production also stars Tony Award nominees Patrick Page(Hadestown) as Mr. Merdle, Carolee Carmello (Parade) as Marla Havisham and Danny Burstein (2020 Tony Award Nominee, Moulin Rouge!) as Ebenezer Scrooge.

Tickets for Estella Scrooge make great holiday gifts for family and friends, and are $29.99 for 72-hour viewing for each household, or $44.99 for a VIP Premium Theatre Experience, which includes unlimited viewings, a download of the CD and exclusive behind-the-scenes footage. To order, visit Rubicon’s website at www.rubicontheatre.org.

Supporting Ventura County Foster/Resource Families, Kinship Families, Adoptive Families, and Bio-families currently working with Kids & Families Together Kids & Families Together (K&FT) is a nonprofit that has been serving foster/resource, adoptive, kinship, and birth families throughout Ventura County since 2000. K&FT works with children who have experienced trauma, abuse, neglect, loss, and multiple placements. K&FT also works with caregivers who need specialized education, support, and strategies to help raise safe, healthy, nurtured children that thrive.

Kids & Families Together in partnership with Heart 2 Heart, and our community partner, Crosspointe Church Ventura, will be hosting the annual Cozy Holiday Gift~Away event on Saturday, December 12th for the Ventura County foster/resource, kinship, adopted and birth families we serve in our programs. This annual event has always captured the heart of holiday season and this year will be no different! Cozy Holiday 2020 will be a contactless, drive-thru event set up with beautiful holiday themes throughout. Families will be able to drive through and view … a Train Depot, Gingerbread Village, the Grinch’s Sleigh and Santa’s Toy Shoppe. Children will be able to drop off letters (in a safe way) to Santa & Mrs. Clause as they drive by Santa’s Living Room.

Children and families will be provided items such as store gift cards, toys, electronics, pajamas and throw-blankets. Despite the current situation, this will be a fun family event with music, lots of holiday decorations and treats! We are encouraging all of our families attending the event to dress in their favorite holiday outfits, maybe even their favorite “ugly Christmas sweater”!

We are grateful to our Cozy Holiday partners and event sponsors that come from all over Ventura County to support our families: The Gene Haas Foundation, Crosspointe Church Ventura, James Storehouse, Toys for Tots, Kelsey Contreras & staff of Old Navy Pacific View Mall, Roxanne & Keira Danielsen representing Camarillo Amber’s Light Lions Club, and the Helpful Honda Team!

Volunteer opportunities are available both prior to the Cozy Holiday event, to help sort, organize and prepare, along with time slots for the day of the event. To keep staff, families and volunteers safe, we are following current public health and safety regulations. All attendees will be required to wear a mask at all times. Please click on the link to volunteer and review our volunteer guidelines. There are also many ways to donate or even Adopt A Family this Holiday Season! Full information follows below!

All information regarding our donation drive and volunteering:

Gift~Away Events

To sign-up for a volunteer shift: http://www.volunteerventuracounty.org/agency/mgrNeeds/?agency_id=53693

Island Packers Whale Watch gift certificates can now be purchased over the phone through the holiday season. Customers have the option to have gift certificates mailed or emailed to you or your special someone. Make shopping for the nature enthusiast on your list easier by purchasing a half-day Whale Watch or an all-day trip that lands on Anacapa or Santa Cruz.

A winter Whale Watch is a perfect way to gather with family and friends to view Pacific Gray whales migrating through the Santa Barbara Channel from their feeding grounds in Alaska to their breeding grounds in Baja. Pacific Gray Whales are normally sighted in the National Marine Sanctuary near Anacapa and Santa Cruz Island starting mid-December and extending through early April. This mammoth migration of over 10,000 whales and 6,000 miles remains a major attraction in Southern California.

Other possible sightings include Humpback, Fin whales, and occasionally Orcas, all of whom visit the productive waters of the Channel to feed on the rich resources found here. Common Dolphin are enjoyed year-round, delighting passengers as they frolic with the boat, and ride the bow and stern waves.

The half-day Winter Whale Watch Cruise provides stunning views of the Ventura coastline or the Channel Islands; depending on where the whales may be sighted.

Visit www.islandpackers.com or find us on Twitter to follow our most recent sightings.

Winter whale watching off our beautiful coast runs from December and extends to mid-April. Rates for half-day trips are $40 for adults, $36 for seniors, and $29 for children 3-12. Children 2 years old and younger ride free.

Island Packers, boat concessionaire to the Channel Islands National Park, starts Whale Watching Dec.26th with scheduled winter whale watching excursions from Ventura and Channel Islands Harbor departing at 9:30 a.m. and/or 1:30 p.m.

All-day trips with landings to Anacapa and Santa Cruz Island are also available year-round. All-day trips run from $ 59.00 to $ 82.00 per adult. Camping is also available on the Channel Islands.

Prices for camping range from $ 79.00 to $ 147.00 per adult depending on island. Advance reservations are advisable by calling 805-642-1393 or visiting our web site at www.islandpackers.com.

Also available in the Ventura location are souvenirs, books, t-shirts, sweatshirts for sale that make a nice addition with your gift certificate. You may also view popular items on our website and then email [email protected] to place an order for shipment.

In its 17th year of helping provide clean warm coats to those in need, Ventura Rotary’s “Coats For Kids” project is seeking donations of used coats, jackets and heavy sweatshirts of all sizes. Donations can be made at more than 25 area business and office locations, including Trader Joes and Green Thumb Nursery. For an interactive map, including nearest locations and directions visit VenturaRotary.org.

“It’s a great way to help out those in need, while also cleaning out your closets of coats that you or your children no longer use,” says project director, Kristin Taylor. “Simply drop them in the large, marked box at any collection site. We pick them up and have them expertly cleaned.”

“Not everyone can write a big check to charity, but many can find a coat or two in the back of the closet and then feel good about making a very real and practical difference to someone in their community,” says Kristin Taylor. “We’ve collected, cleaned and distributed over 65,000 coats, jackets or sweatshirts over the past 16 years. With the weather turning cold and the number in need growing, we challenge the community to fill those donation boxes and help us collect 4000-4500 more this year. Due to the pandemic the need for coats is greater than ever before. At the same time, many of our valued collection sites, including 15 schools in Ventura, are not accessible. Your support is greatly appreciated!”

After cleaning, the coats are provided immediately and throughout the year to various local organizations to ensure that everyone truly in need can have access to a warm coat. These organizations include the Ventura Boys & Girls Club, Project Understanding, Casa Pacifica, Rescue Mission, The Salvation Army, The Hope Project and local churches.

“We’ll be collecting right up until the New Year,” says Club president, Saurabh Bajaj, “but the distribution and positive impact on those less fortunate will continue on all year long. It’s a lot of work, but the payoff is in knowing that we’re making a difference in the lives of others throughout Ventura County, one coat at a time.

Ventura Rotary gives thanks to the many merchants and offices that serve as drop off sites. From restaurants and banks, to dentist offices and gyms, these drop off sites assure that making a donation of a coat is easy! “We’re also very happy to have the help of our friends at the Rotary Club of Ventura South who are managing 11 of the drop off sites for the program this year,” says Taylor. “This is truly a project by our community, for our community!”

Vital to the success of the project is the support of its generous business partners, including: Hilford Moving & Storage, Gold Coast Broadcasting and KVTA, FASTSIGNS of Ventura, Olas Express Laundromat, Halter-Encinas Enterprises, Team Dembowski Realty and MJP Technologies.

Every year Jewish people around the world celebrate the holiday of Chanukah, the Festival of Lights. Chanukah begins on the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev, but the starting date on the western calendar varies from year to year. This year it started on sundown on Dec.10 and ends on Dec.18.

In the land of Judea there was a mean (boo) Syrian king, Antiochus. The king ordered the Jewish people to reject their God, their religion, their customs and their beliefs and to worship the Greek gods. There were some who did as they were told, but many refused. One who refused was Judah Maccabee(hooray).

Judah and his four brothers formed an army and after 3 years of fighting, the Maccabees were finally successful in driving the Syrians out of Israel and reclaimed the Temple in Jerusalem.

When Judah and his followers finished cleaning the temple, they wished to light the eternal light, known as the N’er Tamid, which is present in every Jewish house of worship. Only a tiny jug of oil was found with only enough for a single day. The oil lamp was filled and lit. Then a miracle occurred as the tiny amount of oil stayed lit not for one day, but for 8 days.

Jews celebrate Chanukah to mark the victory over the Syrians and the rededication of the Jerusalem Temple. The Festival of the Lights, Chanukah, lasts for eight days to commemorate this miracle of the oil. The menorah candles are lit to celebrate the 8 days that the oil stayed lit.

The spellings of Chanukah has caused some confusion. Part of the reason for this confusion may be due to the fact there is no exact English translation of the Hebrew word for Chanukah. So to help clear up some of the confusion here are just a few of the different spellings one might encounter. They all celebrate the holiday.

Chanukah, Chanukkah, Hanuka, Hanukah , Hannukah ,Hanukkah. In the United States it is most common to use the spelling Chanukah.

The CAPS crew are lending media support to the Ventura Unified School District as they prepare to reopen various schools following the county and state guidelines. Along with Ventura Unified’s Superintendent Dr. Rice, Marieanne Quiroz, students and faculty, we are producing a series of videos to walk parent’s through what to expect and how to help keep their children safe. These videos include instruction on what to bring to school, how to ride the bus and follow sanitizing protocols.

With some VUSD students returning to the classroom, CAPS is hosting the remarkably talented ECTV students in the award-winning El Camino High School communications program. The ECTV crew has returned to the CAPS Media Center once a week, with all appropriate COVID protocols in place, to continue their media education studies and production of a variety of programs of interest to everyone. Episodes of three series, ECTV, Creative Community and Puntos de Interes they produce are already on the air. Guests include Arcelia Martinez sharing her Esperanza project that focuses on mental health issues and Latinas, Raquel Baker from Cal State Channel Islands, Carmen Ramirez who shares her experience of the Chicano Moratorium. They all air on Ch. 15, stream on the CAPS Media website and are broadcast on KPPQ.
CAPS crews continue to record the County’s COVID-19 updates, edit and distribute the valuable information in English and Spanish. The updates are available to view on the County website at ventura.org and on capsmedia.org. CAPS crews are also producing a set of videos for the Ventura County Medical Center and the Ventura County Fire Department and the Elections Division.
For the City of Ventura, CAPS is supporting community outreach with the Environmental Sustainability, City Master Plan outreach and Parks and Recreation and the Ventura Police Departments with several video series. We are currently in production on a second set of docent directed tours of the Olivas Adobe. This 2nd series captures the essence of the annual Candlelight Tour of the historic setting just in time for the holiday season. Due to COVID restrictions the popular tours are not open to the public. The first season of Heart of Ventura County introduces Don Raymundo and Dona Teodora Olivas who built the first adobe on Rancho San Miguel in the 1840’s. Subsequent episodes follow the many families who called the Adobe their home. All can be viewed on channel 15, on the CAPS website and on the City of Ventura’s Parks and Recreation webpage.
KPPQ, CAPS’ radio station is on the air 24 hours a day. Local music, musicians and up-to-the-minute music news are featured on Pam Baumgardner’s Music Hour. You can listen to deep cuts of rock and roll featured on nationally known Pure Rock Show with Mark Levitt. Double K shares his love of oldies music every week making some of us feel very old. Producers Kathleen Good, Nadine Piche and Mary LaBrie continue their shows featuring important and influential guests from Ventura County and beyond. The schedule can be found on the radio page of the CAPS Media website. Check out the new podcast page to listen to past shows on demand.
Due to the COVID-19 emergency the CAPS Media Center is closed to Members and the public until further notice. CAPS Member/Producers can submit programming via the online portal at capsmedia.org for broadcast and streaming on CAPS public access television Channel 6 and on CAPS Radio KPPQ 104.1FM.
All of us at CAPS Media hope everyone is Staying Safe and Healthy during this challenging time.