Foster – Open Mic Night Ongoing Thursdays – 7:30pm to 9:00pm
Free and open to the public! Open Mic night hosted by Phil Taggart. Enjoy a featured poet, then share your own work with the group. All are welcome to just sit and listen as well.

Foster – Ukulele Jam Ongoing Mondays – 7:00pm to 10:00pm
Join folks of all ages and experience levels to jam out on your ukulele! Beginners welcome, every Monday that the library is open.

Foster – Virtual Reality Ongoing Tuesdays- 3:30pm to 5:30pm
Tuesdays @ 3:30-5:30pm on the 2nd Floor. Explore the virtual world with these different gaming VR platforms: Samsung Gear VR, Oculus Go, Oculus Rift, and HTC Vive. All VR Platforms are for ages 13 and up.

Foster – HomeShare Tuesday, April 14, 2020 – 10:00am to 12:00pm
HomeShare is a housing program that matches people looking for housing with people that have extra space and are looking for a roommate. The process includes an application, an interview, inspection of a home provider’s property, background checks and follow-up. Homesharing is an alternative way of meeting housing needs that benefits renters and homeowners alike. Some reasons people share include: companionship, help with chores and light housekeeping, or financial assistance with taxes, utilities and maintenance. A HomeShare Volunteer is here the 2nd Tuesday of the month to discuss this amazing program.

Foster – A California Native Plant Society Lecture Tuesday, April 21, 2020 – 7:00pm to 9:00pm
Please join us for an interesting and enlightening lecture series presented by the California Native Plant Society, Channel Islands Chapter. See you in the Topping Room!

by Tom Marshall (originally published on parentdugout.com)

The day to day heroes in our society are volunteers who make things happen. They step up and coach our children in youth sports. John Cardoza is a volunteer superhero.

I met John Cardoza in late 2019. My son attends Anacapa Middle School and was excited to finish his middle school basketball career playing alongside his friends. The team and the school had a big problem, no coach. One of the players on the team had played on a Cardoza-coached VYBA team. That player’s mom reached out to John about the vacancy and he accepted the volunteer position late in the process. There wasn’t much time to prepare.

My son was hesitant about his new coach at first. After a couple of practices he said, “Our coach is good, he knows what he’s doing.” Not exactly a rave review but if you live with a 13-year-old boy you know that is about 8 more words than they usually utter as they arrive home. The Anacapa team played hard for Coach Cardoza and had fun all season.

Coach Cardoza guided the Anacapa Boys basketball team to a winning record and into the playoffs in his first year at the middle school level. The team was almost always outmanned and wasn’t the most athletic team most games but their effort and will to win was never in question. They were well coached and played hard.

33 years is a career. 33 years of volunteering while practicing law and raising two boys is a rich and full life. John Cardoza has been involved with the Ventura Youth Basketball Association for over 30 years. Today his volunteered time with VYBA is spent on the advisory board but he coached for the bulk of the last 3 decades. John’s youth basketball coaching career began during a normal workday. “A co-worker’s son’s VYBA team didn’t have a coach. She was literally crying about it so 3 of us in the office volunteered to coach the team. That was 33 years ago.” John is married with two grown sons. His wife, Allison, has always been supportive of his involvement with coaching. “She keeps me grounded when I need it.”

John excels at teaching the game without yelling or molding robotic players. His players are disciplined yet are trusted with a healthy level of in-game creativity and freedom. I witnessed a team who enjoyed playing with each other and performed at a high level. The team liked and respected their coach and wanted to win as much for him as themselves.

John Cardoza’s will to win and the desire to improve as a coach and mentor are still present after over 30 years of coaching. Volunteering takes on many shapes. Coaching youths for 33 years in our town has set a positive example for multiple generations to follow and has allowed parents, grandparents, and children to focus on enjoying each other and the game of basketball. His VYBA roots and ideals run deep. That’s where this 33-year run began but it really doesn’t matter where or what age he is coaching. John Cardoza is a volunteer hero and continues to be a solid example for our children to follow.

Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Perla Batalla earns critical acclaim for her distinctive voice, emotional honesty and culture-merging compositions. She was born into a family immersed in music. Her father, a Mexican mariachi and an Argentine mom, who ran the family record shop, Discoteca Batalla, is where Perla received a music education cutting across genre and language. After singing with and recording with numerous groups, including Leonard Cohen, Perla launched a solo career with Cohen’s encouragement. Since then she has recorded seven albums, done film and TV, staged two one-woman shows and performed in prestigious venues around the world. She has been honored with two U.N. awards: The Earth Charter Award for extraordinary devotion to social and economic justice and The Environmental Peace Building Award, for advancing social justice through music.

Sunday, March 29, 3 to 4:30 p.m., Museum of Ventura County 100 E. Main St.

Free to FOTM members, $15 for public; $10 for seniors.

Reservations required. To RSVP visit www.FocusOnTheMasters.com or call 805.653.2501.

Special invitation to educators and students: The Artist Spotlight is open to students with valid ID free of charge. FOTM is happy to assist with tracking attendance and sign-in sheets.

AfterGlow Fundraising Event: The public is welcome to join the artist for a celebratory fundraising dinner at the home of Betsy Chess located in Ventura. Paid reservations are required prior to March 23. We expect this AfterGlow to sell out. Maps will be given to paid guests at the interview.

$30 FOTM members, $40 Non-members.

Sponsored by Betsy Chess and Tony & Barbara Hirsch

Ventura Botanical Gardens is announcing two photography tours, both Saturday mornings on March 28 and April 12, limited to the first 10 people aged 18 or older who sign up. A digital SLR or mirrorless camera and tripod required. The tour is geared towards the intermediate to advanced level enthusiast. The cost will be $20.00 for members, $25.00 for non-members. Former commercial photographer, Brooks graduate, and past high school/college photography instructor Phil Ranger, with thousands of VBG images and a VBG DVD will be conducting the tour and emailing an outline of what to expect, ideas and tips to each participant. The 1st tour begins at 5:45 am to 10 am, the 2nd at 6:30 am to 10:30 am. For more information call or text Phil Ranger at 805-797-6308.

Broken Spoke Challenge is on March 28th. It starts and ends at MadeWest Brewery off of Donlon st. Neutral roll out is at 7am.

Packet Pick Up is the day before. Friday March 27th. 5pm to 8pm also at MadeWest.

Let me know any other specifics you might want to know. Thanks Sheldon.

It started with a question and an idea: How can we ensure sustainability of Ventura’s newly acquired public lands? Event Producers Ben Dewitt (FGR.inc-founder of Mountains 2 Beach Marathon and Half) and Marty O’Malia wanted to do their part in raising funds and awareness. Because their passion lies with active living as well as the outdoors, starting a local gravel event seemed like a great way to pursue their passions and help the local land conservancies build long lasting sustainable trail networks.

Born from this idea was the Broke Spoke Challenge. 80 or so miles of cycling bliss, up and down some never before ridden local trails. Looping through Ojai into some classic local trail networks, then eventually working its way back into Ventura. Along the way riders will encounter BS Zones that will present a challenge or game to the rider. If they pass the challenge onward towards the finish line. If they fail punishment will ensue… all in good fun of course. Riders from all over the country are invited to take part in the 1st ever Broken Spoke Challenge.

Their participation will help raise funds to maintain existing trails, as well as build new ones in a sustainable way to last generations. The hard work of trail conservation and development from the local conservancies; the Ventura Land Trust (VLT), the Rancho Ventura Land Conservation, and the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy (OCLV) is in direct alignment with Broken Spoke’s Mission.

Gravel Cycling is a relatively new concept but it has been gaining popularity over the last few years. Bike manufactures are creating bikes capable of splitting the road and dirt terrain seamlessly. The desire for discovery and adventure is driving the popularity of this sport we call “gravel riding.” Which is exactly why public access to trails is so important. The Broken Spoke Challenge gravel event aims to cover as much local dirt trails as permitted. “With 35%-40% of the route already dirt we are just scratching the surface on what is possible for the future.” Says Marty O’Malia. As these new trails are continually built over the coming years, the Broken Spoke routes will become more intricate and exciting.

Have you noticed animal tracks while visiting Ventura Botanical Gardens or in your own backyard and wondered what animal made those tracks? Explore the world of animal tracking with Wyatt Harris, President of Ventura Wildlife Trackers. Ventura Wildlife Trackers monitors animal tracks and signs to inform research and conservation planning efforts and promote public appreciation of the region’s unique natural diversity.

The program includes an informational presentation and the opportunity for attendees to spot and identify animal tracks within the Ventura Botanical Gardens.

Saturday, March 14
9:30 am at Summit Plateau.

Free to members.
Non-member: $10 fee includes $7 non-member admission.
Registration is required.
Maximum 15.

Directions:

Method 1: Arrive at 9:00 am at the VBG entrance kiosk and hike the trail for approximately 20 minutes, cross the roadway (Summit Drive), walk through the Fynbos Garden to the plateau OR

Method 2: Drive up N. Kalorama St., turn left at Summit Dr., park along the roadway near Rotary Plaza and the tall eucalyptus trees. Walk up through the Fynbos Garden to Summit Plaza.

Questions? Call Jo Ann at 805.231.4672.

The Ventura County Writers Club critique group is looking for fiction writers to join their semimonthly workshop. The group currently has three novelists but is open to other fiction genres.

“We meet at my house in Ventura at 11:30 AM on second and fourth Thursdays but are open to other dates/times. Our procedure is to email up to 10 pages, usually a chapter, to the other members by Sunday evening before the meeting,” says Pat Caloia the group’s coordinator. “Upon receipt of submitted work, members print, read and annotate the documents. During the meetings we share our observations about each person’s submission.”

Interested parties should call Ms. Caloia at 805-643-8959 and leave a message. Writers should be prepared to submit 10 pages of their writing for membership consideration.