The Rotary Club of Ventura South will host its 4th annual Mardi Gras fundraiser in support of Turning Point Foundation on Sunday, March 3. The gala event begins at 3:00 p.m. at the Tower Club, 300 E. Esplanade Drive in Oxnard, and will feature traditional New Orleans jazz and food, silent and live auctions of exciting items, and a view from the foothills to the Channel Islands that only the Tower Club can provide.

For over 30 years, Turning Point Foundation, a local Ventura County non-profit (Tax ID #0213467), has operated community-based mental health programs. Turning Point’s programs address the full range of personal needs, including a homeless shelter to meet necessary physical and safety requirements, supported housing to provide decent, affordable housing for those permanently disabled by mental health issues, and rehabilitation and socialization centers to provide meaningful, productive activities, companionship and a sense of purpose.

Because of the myths and stigmas attached to mental illness, many people struggle with its effects alone and unaware that their symptoms can be controlled by medication and the functional problems they experience can be addressed through rehabilitation and support services. Turning Point works with clients to reverse the devastating effects of their illnesses, such as job loss, homelessness, isolation, addiction, incarceration, and even thoughts of suicide.

Tickets for the event are $50, and there is also a variety of sponsorships available for businesses and individuals. Contact Suki Sir at Turning Point Foundation ([email protected] / 805-947-5400). Proceeds from the event will go directly to Turning Point Foundation and other charitable causes supported by Ventura Rotary South. As they say in New Orleans, “Laissez Les bon Temps Roulez” (Let the Good Times Roll)!

The Rotary Club of Ventura South is one of more than 35,000 Rotary clubs with 1.2 million members around the world. Rotary members believe that we have a shared responsibility to take action on our world’s most persistent issues. Our clubs work together to promote peace; fight disease; provide clean water, sanitation, and hygiene; save mothers and children; support education; and grow local economies. Rotary Ventura South meets at noon every Monday at the Tower Club in Oxnard (300 E. Esplanade Drive, 22nd Floor). Visitors are always welcome. For more information, visit venturasouthrotary.org.

Dates for the 26th Annual Oxnard Salsa Festival are July 27 and 28, 2019. Attracting visitors from throughout southern California, the festival is a celebration of everything salsa – the food, music and dance. It takes place at Plaza Park, Fifth and “B” streets in historic downtown Oxnard from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. both days.

Festival organizers are currently accepting applications from local dance and vocal performers who would like to showcase their talent on the festival’s Community Stage. Fourteen performance time slots are available and will be filled on a first come, first served basis. Acts will be chosen at the discretion of the festival committee. A Community Stage application is online at www.OxnardSalsaFestival.com/Community-Stage.

Presented by the Oxnard Downtowners, the annual event attracts an estimated 35,000 attendees who love spicy foods and sizzling entertainment. Highlights include live salsa bands, salsa dance lessons, a salsa recipe challenge and a “Dancing With Our Community Stars” competition on Sunday. The two days also feature a vendor marketplace, international foods and a kids’ zone.

Event admission and parking are free. Main stage open seating is $5 per person. In the last 10 years, the festival has raised a half a million dollars for the local community by supporting and partnering with non-profits. For festival information, call 805‐535‐4060 or visit www.OxnardSalsaFestival.com and on Facebook.

Avenue Library

Children & Family Events

Bilingual Early Literacy Class 3/4, 11, 18, & 25 Mondays @ 5:30-6:30pm
Join us for storytelling, nursery rhymes, and more!
Lego Play
3/7, 14, 21, & 28 Thursdays @ 3 –5pm
Bring your imagination and experiment with creative designs.

Adult Classes & Events

Laubach Literacy English Classes

3/4, 11, 18, & 25 Mondays @ 10:30-11:30am

3/5, 12, 19, & 26 Tuesdays @ 9-10am & @ 10-11am

3/6, 13, 20, & 27 Wednesdays @ 11:30am -12:30pm

3/7, 14, 21, & 28 Thursdays @ 10–11am

Introductory English classes offered through Laubach Literacy. Make an appointment today, call (805) 385-9584.

Wherever You Are Adult Computer Instruction – by AppointmentCall the Avenue Library to make an appointment for 30 minutes of 1 on 1 computer tutorial.

E.P. Foster Library

Local Author Talk- Florencia Ramirez

3/9 Saturday @ 1-2:30pm 

Join author Florencia Ramirez in her discussion about her book “Eat Less Water.” Ms. Ramirez’ book “takes the reader on a journey to meet American’s food producers growing food with less water. The author exposes the seldom-seen connection between dwindling water resources and the choices we make when shopping for groceries for our families and offers us the solution that begins in the kitchen.”

A Matter of Balance Class

3/5, 12, 19, & 26 Tuesdays @ 1-3pm

The Ventura County Area Agency on Aging presents this practical, award-winning fall prevention class. For more information and to register please contact: Dina Ontiveras 805-477-7343.

Venture (a) Out In The County…a Sierra Club Educational Series

3/12 Tuesday @ 5:30-7pm
Join us as we learn about hiking, camping and natural resources in and around Ventura County.

Children’s Events

Early Literacy Class

3/5, 12, 19, & 26 Tuesdays &

3/6, 13, 20, & 27 Wednesdays @ 10:30am

Join us for stories, poems, music, movement, a simple craft, and fun!

Teen Happenings

Virtual Reality

3/5, 12, 19, & 26 Tuesdays @ 3:30-5:30pm

Explore the virtual world with different VR platform including Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. This event is for ages 13-17.

Hill Road Library

Family & Children’s Ongoing Events

Early Literacy Class
3/6, 13, 20, & 27 Wednesdays @ 10:30am
Join us for stories, poems, music, movement, a simple craft, and fun! Aimed at ages 0-5.

Children’s Special Events
Discover Science
3/12 Tuesday @ 4pm

Explore science concepts through hands-on experiments with Rachel Chang. Ages 8+

Adult Events
Medicare 101
3/14 Thursday @ 2:30pm
Join us for this workshop about Medicare basics. Learn how to sign up and file claims. Ask the expert all your questions! For adults.

Book Club: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
3/26 Tuesday @ 6pm
Join us for this lively book discussion. Ask for a reserved copy from a staff member at Hill Road Library.

Saticoy Library

Children & Family Events

Early Literacy Class

3/5, 12, 19, & 26 Tuesdays @ 10am
Join us every week for stories, poems, music, movement, a simple craft & fun!

Paws for Reading

3/23 Saturday @ 12pm

Read aloud to registered therapy dogs. For additional information or to schedule an appointment, call 805) 671-5148.

Adult Classes & Events

English Classes

3/4, 11, 18, & 25 Mondays &

3/6, 13, 20, & 27 Wednesdays @ 3- 5pm
One on one instruction in English hosted by Laubach Literacy of Ventura County

March 3, 8:00 am Work Day Hedrick Ranch Nature Area, Leader: Sandy Hedrick 805-340-0478.

Arrive at 8:00 for self-guided birding which usually yields some interesting birds. Work from 9am – noon. Long pants and boots or closed shoes are required. Bring water, gloves & sun protection.

March 10 2019, 8:30 am Port Hueneme Exploration/Bubbling Springs, Walter B. Miranda Park, and J Street Canal to the Port Hueneme Beach

Leader: Kay Regester 805-258-1025

Bubbling Springs is a fantastic place to view many gulls and ducks up close such as Mallards and Widgeons, warblers and hummers. Then we will check out J St Canal and walk the Hueneme Beach to the East, towards the estuary, and then to the West toward the pier where we will see a variety of gulls, grebes and shorebirds.

March 12, 7:30 p.m. VAS Monthly Program: Ventura Seabird Restoration on the California Islands… with Annie Little (USFWS) at the Poinsettia Pavillion – 3451 Foothill Road, Ventura (Free to the Public)

The presentation will highlight restoration efforts for seabirds on the Channel Islands and Baja California Pacific Islands, including invasive species removal, habitat restoration, and social attraction.

March 16, 8:00 am Carpinteria Salt Marsh, Leader: Tevin Schmitt 661-904-1563

The Salt Marsh Reserve is an excellent birding location due to the estuary, wetlands, and upland habitats. Special birds of concern can be found here, including Belding’s Savannah Sparrow, and White-tailed Kite. Several species of heron are often seen at once.

March 17, 8:30-10:30 am Camino Real, Leader: Reann Koener 805-701-1919

Camino Real is a grassy park surrounded by pines and eucalyptus and is an excellent place to see birds. Target birds will include Red Shouldered Hawk, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Yellow Warbler and Townsend’s Warbler.

March 19, 8:30 am Lake Casitas. Leader: Adele Fergusson 805-415-4304

Join us for a walk by the lake. We will be looking for hummingbirds, western bluebirds, blackbirds, grosbeaks, gnatcatchers as well as ducks, geese and waterfowl.

March 23, 8:30 am Lake Los Carneros and Santa Barbara Hot Spots, Leader: Adele Fergusson 805-415-4304

We will walk around this lovely lake, we should see a variety of shorebirds and possibly some rails, blackbirds, munia, white tailed kites, etc. Afterwards we will stop at a park in downtown Santa Barbara to see if there are any migrating vagrants. Bring your lunch and if we have time we will stop at the creek in Carpinteria on the way back to Ventura.

March 31, 8:30 AM Canada Larga; Leader: Linda Easter 818-519-2833

Meet near the beginning of the road off Hwy 33. We will carpool from that location as we walk and drive this long county road. Target species will include Barn Owl, Western Bluebirds, Lark Sparrow, Roadrunner, Phainopepla and various species of swallows.

The Gold Coast Concert Chorus (GCCC) combined with Ventura College Chorus, under the direction of Elizabeth Helms, will present their second concert of the 2018/2019 season on Saturday, March 16, 2019 at St. Columba’s Episcopal Church in Camarillo. The concert will feature three remarkable choral works by renowned American composers. Frostiana: Seven Country Songs, a seven-movement suite of songs composed by Randall Thompson to selected poems of Robert Frost will be followed by Requiem written by Mack Wilberg for the legendary Mormon Tabernacle Choir in 2007. However, the centerpiece of the concert is Words, a short composition focused on bullying at school and on-line culture authored by Joan Szymko, an acclaimed composer and dynamic choral conductor based in the Pacific Northwest. GCCC has jointly commissioned this piece as a part of choruses to benefit the programs and services of Chorus America.

Szymko explains the purpose and the structure of her composition, ”Words attempts to both reveal and to reach three distinct groups: the bullied, the bullies and bystanders who enable bullying by doing nothing.”

GCCC is a non- audition community chorus that brings together a diverse group of 100-plus singers who desire to expand their musical talents and share their love of the choral music with the community of Ventura County.

For more information, go to GoldCoastChorus.org or call 805-616-7269

by Sergio Coppa, MBA Marketing Manager

Ventura small businesses and organizations have been challenged to unleash the power of their community. Joining forces with Vitalant, formerly United Blood Services, is a winning formula for patients in our community. Together, we transform lives each and every day, right here at home. Opportunities to be an agent of positive change don’t come by every day, but by accepting this challenge and by challenging your employees, vendors, friends, family, and social media tribe to transform lives, that’s just what you’ll do. Take the challenge to build a donation team who will use their gifts to promote your own blood drive in Vitalant’s Ventura donor center.

Patients supported by Ventura area blood donations require 100 donations every day. Many people believe that most blood is needed after major disasters. However, daily personal emergencies and ongoing medical needs of local patients require a constant and ready blood supply. It’s the blood already on hospital shelves that saves lives. Over the past 5 years the community’s donor base has been shrinking as the donor population ages. Because of this, the call to action for new donors is a continual process by Vitalant and blood donation centers across the country.

Oftentimes, the reason a person donates is because someone close to them is in need of a transfusion and then they become very passionate about blood donation and influence their friends and family to donate. Educating potential donors to ignite that passion before someone is affected by a personal tragedy is one reason for this challenge, the more donors we have as a community, the more secure our blood supply will remain.

How you can participate: Dedicate and book a day to sponsor your drive from April 1 through June 30 and recruit a minimum of 10 team members to sign up to be ready to donate. Donors who donate at your drive will receive credit for your challenge team. The team with the most donations from April 1 – June 30 will not only receive bragging rights, but will receive a trophy, an advertisement in the Ventura Breeze, with a write up about how awesome your team is. With a congratulatory post on Vitalant’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages. Plus, your team will receive a scrumptious coffee and pastry breakfast.

Contact Laura Segura to join the challenge at 1.805.406.7602 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Vitalan, 2223 Eastman Ave, STE A, Ventura, CA 93003