Category Archives: This ‘n’ That

Haunted Housing Run raises $10,000 for scholarship program

Children participating in Kid’s Dash at Annual Haunted Housing Run.

Triad Properties, an affiliated nonprofit management company of the Housing Authority of the City of San Buenaventura (HACSB) hosted their 3rd Annual Haunted Housing Run on Saturday, October 27, at Ventura State Beach. 150 people attended this community event which consisted of a 5k, 10k, and a free Kids Dash.

This year’s event raised $10,000, with proceeds raised directly supporting the HACSB’S Scholarship Program, which provides six scholarships per year to residents of the HACSB’s public housing and affordable housing communities, and participants/household members of the Housing Choice Voucher Program who are attending/will be attending a four-year college/university, community college, or technical/vocational school in the fall.

The Ventura Police K9 Unit and its members were the 2018 Grand Marshals – Officer Keith Therrien with K9 Yoschi and Officer Juan “JC” Rodriguez with K9 Rover, and kicked off the 5k/10k races. $500 of proceeds raised will be donated to the National Police Dog Foundation, directly benefiting K9’s Yoschi and Rover.

Congratulations to this year’s race winners. 10k race winners include: 1st: Jack K. from Camarillo with a winning race time of 39:14, 2nd: Daniel R. of Oxnard and Robert G. of Temecula. 5k race winners include: 1st: Braden H. from Ventura with a winning race time of 18:51, 2nd: Steven N. of Arlington and Nicholas W. of Antelope. There was also a festive costume contest judged by past HACSB scholarship recipients, where favorites included a group of Ghostbusters in the adult category and a Veterinarian in the children’s category.

To learn more about the Haunted Housing Run, visit: www.hauntedhousingrun.com. To view photos from this year’s festivities, visit: www.facebook.com/hauntedhousingrun.

The Housing Authority of the City of San Buenaventura is the largest residential landlord in the City of Ventura, with 376 public housing units, more than 1,500 Section 8 vouchers, and over 450 nonprofit affordable rental units. The agency is actively working to increase the supply of affordable housing and to improve the quality of life for many more low-income residents throughout the City of Ventura. Interested in learning more about the Housing Authority of the City of San Buenaventura? www.hacityventura.org.

Extra instruction now available for students grades K-5

Ventura Deputy Mayor Matt La Vere spoke on behalf of the City Council. Photos by Michael Gordon

A ribbon cutting was held for Project Understanding Tutoring Center located at Portola Elementary School, 6700 Eagle St.

The Tutoring Centers at Project Understanding provide extra instruction for students grades K-5 with volunteer tutors in one-to-one interaction.  Students are recommended by their instructors.

Project Understanding currently has 11 tutoring centers throughout Ventura County, in El Rio, Oxnard, Santa Paula, Saticoy and Ventura. There are many students, Kindergarten – 5th grade, in need of assistance with their school work.

At the ribbon cutting Deputy Mayor Matt LaVere stated “Many people know the good work that Project Understanding has been doing in our community for over 40 years. They have helped hundreds of individuals go from homeless to housed, and have kept thousands from becoming homeless because of their food pantry. However, what many people don’t know is the incredible work Project Understanding does with our local youth. With the opening of the Portolo Elementary School tutoring center, Project Understanding now has 12 tutoring locations, providing free tutoring services to students throughout our community. Education is the critical key to breaking the cycle of poverty, and through its tutoring centers, Project Understanding is working to ensure Ventura’s youth have all of their educational needs met.”

Vol. 12, No. 3 – Nov 7 – Nov 20, 2018 – Person to (Little) Person

by Jennifer Tipton

I asked some younger Venturans,
“What is the spookiest part of Halloween?”

Eden Felder (Harry Potter)
age 6 ½ / 1st grade

“People dress up and go trick or treating, they put scary things out and make it spooky, like Jack ‘O Lanterns and sometimes graveyards!” Eden’s favorite candy is Jolly Ranchers, chocolate bars and Twinkies and he says, “my parents don’t ever eat my candy”.

Raelyn Farnsworth (cat)
age 6 / 1st grade

“I think the spookiest thing is getting dressed up with scary costumes, the scariest I’ve seen is a monster with no eyes and vampire Jack ‘O Lanterns are scary too!” Raelyn’s favorite candy is a chocolate bar with cookie crumbs in it and ice cream. Raelyn says no one at her house can eat their candy, “except us”.

See her sister’s comment below …

Kaitlynn Farnsworth (witch)
age 7/ 3rd grade

(turning 8 in November)

Gotta love this one-

Kaitlyn thinks the spookiest thing about Halloween is, “the people who hand out toothbrushes and super healthy stuff!” Her favorite candy is Snickers and she worries about all 3 of her sisters stealing her candy, “especially Raelyn!”

Aliyana Avila (cat)
age 6 / 1st grade

“Scary people that dress up like clowns! And witches are scary too!” Aliyana’s favorite candy is Twix, “my mom and dad sometimes eat my candy when I’m at school, but they only take their favorites”.

 

Kash LeClaire (baseball player)
age 7 / 2nd grade

“When you go to a creepy house! That’s when I get freaked out!” Kash’s favorite candy is “Hersheys and Reeses!” He has no worries about anyone at home getting into his candy but wants us to know his favorite thing on Halloween is, “the hot dog dude!”

See “the hot dog dude!” in this issue.

Timothy Shirk (Power Ranger “with accessories”)
age 6 / 1st grade

“Getting your pants scared off by really scary things like bats, fake bats at houses and puppet bats, that’s all I know about Halloween.” Timothy likes Kit Kats the best and says no one ever gets into his candy because, “I have spy cameras with lasers and evil pumpkins!”

(and a great imagination Timothy!)

Sophia Ornelas (Wonder Woman)
age 6 / 1st grade

“The spookiest part about it is the ghosts, I’ve never seen one, but it scares me! And spiders, I see them on Halloween at my friend’s house, she likes spiders.” Sophia’s favorite Halloween treat is candy corn and sometimes her mom does get into her candy after she goes trick or treating at “the whole place of Ventura”.

Kai Petralba (dragon warrior)
age 11 / 5th grade

“It’s hard to explain but I think the spookiest thing is when you leave someone behind, one time we left our sister behind on accident, we went back, and she was mad at us.”

Kai’s favorite are Hershey bars, but he worries about candy thieves, “like my sisters, my dad, my step mom, my mom, my grandpa and gramma …”

Paso Pacifico responds to viral turtle poaching video

A Paso Pacifico ranger patrols the beach near Ostional, Nicaragua, on the lookout for illegal poaching. Photo by Hal Brindley

Turtle poaching in Central America is not a new issue, but some poachers have recently become even more emboldened to carry out this illegal activity. The current political unrest in Nicaragua has only made the situation worse for endangered sea turtles, as critical resources continue to get diverted to other issues.

Ventura’s own Paso Pacifico has long been at the forefront of protecting sea turtles and their eggs, and developed the award-winning InvestEGGator decoy egg with GPS tracking in 2016 to deter poachers who use the cover of night for protection.

But a new threat emerged recently, as poachers have been seen wading into the water and carrying out nesting sea turtles in broad daylight. One poacher was even captured on video carrying a helpless sea turtle over his shoulder during a busy weekend at a beach in Nicaragua.

Soldiers typically patrol this protected beach and wildlife refuge during the nesting season, but for an unknown reason, soldiers were not present when the viral video was taken. Paso Pacifico does not have jurisdiction to patrol this particular beach, but they are stepping up efforts to increase their presence in nearby areas. Thanks to the power of social media, the Paso Pacifico team was able to quickly spread the word and generate solutions for this urgent issue.

Just days after this disturbing early-August video went viral, Paso Pacifico raised enough funds to hire two new rangers to monitor beaches in hopes of deterring illegal poaching, and the goal is to continue adding to that number. The new rangers began their assignments patrolling Nicaraguan beaches this October.

“We have been so encouraged by the response we’ve received from our dedicated supporters,” said Paso Pacifico Founder and Executive Director Dr. Sarah Otterstrom. “It’s reassuring to know that others in our community, both locally and across the globe, are as concerned about this heartbreaking behavior as we are. Thanks to the generosity of SEE Turtles for matching funds, we have more than doubled our original fundraising goal in a matter of days, but our work isn’t done. The more money we raise, the more rangers we can hire to protect these threatened sea turtles.”

Paso Pacifico already has a presence on many beaches in the Paso del Istmo region of Nicaragua, but is looking to expand their reach in light of recent events. For every $5,000 raised, Paso Pacifico is able to hire an additional turtle ranger to monitor Nicaraguan beaches.

The mission of Paso Pacifico is to restore and protect the Pacific Slope ecosystems of Mesoamerica. These habitats include the endangered dry tropical forest, mangrove wetlands, and eastern Pacific coral reefs. By working with local communities, landowners, and partner organizations, Paso Pacifico restores and protects the habitats that form building blocks for wildlife corridors. Paso Pacifico also lends its expertise to help migratory wildlife on the Central Coast of California, including threatened migratory birds and whales that over winter in Mesoamerica. Through its high-impact programs, Paso Pacifico has established itself as one of the world’s leading biodiversity conservation organizations.

2018 Bell Ringing season starts November 12, and runs through Christmas Eve

It takes a lot of people to make this effort a success.

The Salvation Army of Ventura is currently recruiting volunteers to serve as Bell Ringers this holiday season! Shifts are 2 hours long and anyone can participate! We love to have families, kids, groups…anyone at all…volunteer for this program.

It takes a lot of people to make this effort a success, so please join us!

Volunteers are the difference between an empty kettle and one that raises about $30 per hour – enough to provide a family with two bags of groceries. 

For more information please contact Lt. Silvia Simoes at 310-308-0691.

Haunted Housing Run raises $10,000 for scholarship program

Children participating in Kid’s Dash at Annual Haunted Housing Run.

Triad Properties, an affiliated nonprofit management company of the Housing Authority of the City of San Buenaventura (HACSB) hosted their 3rd Annual Haunted Housing Run on Saturday, October 27, at Ventura State Beach. 150 people attended this community event which consisted of a 5k, 10k, and a free Kids Dash.

This year’s event raised $10,000, with proceeds raised directly supporting the HACSB’S Scholarship Program, which provides six scholarships per year to residents of the HACSB’s public housing and affordable housing communities, and participants/household members of the Housing Choice Voucher Program who are attending/will be attending a four-year college/university, community college, or technical/vocational school in the fall.

The Ventura Police K9 Unit and its members were the 2018 Grand Marshals – Officer Keith Therrien with K9 Yoschi and Officer Juan “JC” Rodriguez with K9 Rover, and kicked off the 5k/10k races. $500 of proceeds raised will be donated to the National Police Dog Foundation, directly benefiting K9’s Yoschi and Rover.

Congratulations to this year’s race winners. 10k race winners include: 1st: Jack K. from Camarillo with a winning race time of 39:14, 2nd: Daniel R. of Oxnard and Robert G. of Temecula. 5k race winners include: 1st: Braden H. from Ventura with a winning race time of 18:51, 2nd: Steven N. of Arlington and Nicholas W. of Antelope. There was also a festive costume contest judged by past HACSB scholarship recipients, where favorites included a group of Ghostbusters in the adult category and a Veterinarian in the children’s category.

To learn more about the Haunted Housing Run, visit: www.hauntedhousingrun.com. To view photos from this year’s festivities, visit: www.facebook.com/hauntedhousingrun.

The Housing Authority of the City of San Buenaventura is the largest residential landlord in the City of Ventura, with 376 public housing units, more than 1,500 Section 8 vouchers, and over 450 nonprofit affordable rental units. The agency is actively working to increase the supply of affordable housing and to improve the quality of life for many more low-income residents throughout the City of Ventura. Interested in learning more about the Housing Authority of the City of San Buenaventura? www.hacityventura.org.

What is Mixteco: Tu’un Savi?

Join in as Ventura County Library presents “Mixteco: Tu’un Savi, The Language of the Rain,” presented by Silvia Ventura Luna, M.A., at E.P. Foster Library on Saturday, December 1, at 3pm..

The Mixteco language, Tu’un Savi, is an oral language with numerous variants. Mixteco is an indigenous language predominantly from Oaxaca, Mexico; yet, the language has a strong presence in Ventura County and throughout California. This presentation will briefly discuss the Mixtec history, culture and language.

Also enjoy a special dance performance of Baile de China and Baile de Piña, Oaxacan regional dances, presented by children from the El Rio area Mixteco community, who have been practicing their dances weekly through this special Library program.

Ventura County Library is honored to host this event, made possible by funding received from the California Council for the Humanities Library Innovation Lab Grant for the project entitled “Celebrate Mixteco Culture,” and partnerships with MICOP, CSUCI, El Rio NFL, and UCSB.

“Library Innovation Lab: Exploring New Ways of Engaging California’s Immigrant Communities” is a new statewide competitive grant program offered by California Humanities. The program encourages California libraries to develop creative and innovative programs to respond to the needs and circumstances of today’s immigrants and immigrant communities and foster more inclusive communities within our state.

This event is free and open to the public. For additional information, contact Irma Morales, City Librarian, E.P. Foster Library at (805) 256-4414 or Yvonne Becerra, Library Technician and Grant Coordinator at (805) 701-4315.

The Foster Library is located at 651 East Main St. Hours of service are 10am to 7pm Monday through Thursday, 10am to 5pm Friday and Saturday, and 1pm to 5pm on Sunday.

Ten bed shelter provides a safe place to live

Typically a ribbon cutting ceremony is to announce the opening of a new business. Photos by Michael Gordon

On Nov. 25, a ribbon cutting was held at the Turning Point Foundation Our Place Safe Haven located at 536 E. Thompson.

Safe Haven is the first stop on the road to recovery for mental health issues and homelessness. This 10 bed shelter provides a safe place to live where basic needs are met and the most vulnerable receive mental health treatment, assistance establishing a stable source of income, and help obtaining transitional housing with the goal of permanent housing.  Drop in services include hot meals, showers, laundry facilities, phone messages and mail delivery and case management.

We asked Jason Meek, Executive Director for the Turning Point Foundation “why, after being open for many years did they have a ribbon cutting?”

He answered “Typically a ribbon cutting ceremony is to announce the opening of a new business. So why then would Turning Point have this kind of ceremony for a program that has been in existence since the 90’s? The simple answer is this: It is symbolic. The new renovation provided Turning Point additional capacity to shelter and deliver vital services to our community’s most vulnerable members.  It demonstrates that we hear their concerns and are deeply committed to addressing their needs.”

https://turningpointfoundation.org/housing/ 805-652-000.

What the heck are pianos doing downtown?

Cast members from Rubicon’s production of Return To The Forbidden Planet and piano artists singing at a Downtown piano.

The idea of putting the pianos downtown was that of Kirby Ward, Rubicon’s new Education and Outreach Director.

The “Keys to Rubicon” piano project was inspired by a similar installation in Denver, CO. That installation has been in place for over a decade now and is one of Kirby and Beverly (the other new Education and Outreach Director) Ward’s favorite parts of touring through Denver.

Beverly stated, “Kirby and I have worked here at Rubicon many times and are always surprised to hear people around town ask, “What’s Rubicon?”. It catches us by surprise. The Company’s been presenting professional theatre in Ventura for 20 years and yet there are still folks who don’t know that we’re here or what we’re trying to achieve. We felt like the pianos are a terrific way to engage people on the street and either remind them of Rubicon’s presence or let them know about the Company for the first time. These pianos grab you on so many levels – visual, auditory, tactile.”

She went on to say, “I found the pianos in a couple of places – on Craigslist as well as through people who heard about the project and reached out to me. The Craigslist “free” section routinely has several free acoustic pianos listed. I contacted a bunch of owners and came up with a list of 5. Then I hired 4 strapping young men, rented a truck and we drove all over Ventura and even up to Santa Barbara to collect the pianos and get them out on the street. It was fun! Hard work, but really fun. Since the initial pianos went out, we’ve had 2 more pianos donated to the cause by The Arc Foundation Thrift Store and The Child Abuse and Neglect Thrift Store. We had to apply for a temporary art installation permit from the City. We requested the pianos be on the street from late August until January 4, 2019 and got approval.”

Beverly met local artists Sarah Flesher and Michelle Nosco at a community meeting for the Ventura Arts Council. It was happenstance but very fortuitous! Michelle enlisted Erin O’Brien to help with her first piano. Both Michelle and Sarah are each painting two pianos.

There are currently three on the street. Two more will be out soon. They are unlocked and available for anyone and everyone to play during day time hours. So, gather some friends and have a sing-a-long.

The pianos will be removed on January 4, 2019. At this point there are no plans to try and save them as the weather will have taken quite a toll. That said, for anyone who falls in love with the artwork, the Rubicon may offer them up to the highest bidder.

Altrusa supports our community in many, many ways

From Altrusa Beverly Mueller, Treasurer; Sharon Knapp, President; Angel Golesorkhi, Member and Susan Leonard, Secretary (past President).

Altrusa International of San Buenaventura, Inc. has been a service organization here in Ventura since 1948.  It was founded in 1917 and just celebrated 100 years. The focus of their founder, Mamie L. Bass, was literacy; however, Altrusa has also supported and donated many volunteer hours to other endeavors to better our community.

Altrusa is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization where all their services, scholarships and fund-raising projects go to the local community. Altrusa is an acronym.  Amity – Loyalty – Talent – Reciprocity – Unity – Service – Achievement.

On Oct. 17, four amazing Altrusa ladies delivered a car load of school supplies to the East side’s Westpark and to Anita Diaz. Even though they purchased most of the supplies at a discounted rate, Altrusa still had to pay for them.

Anita Diaz, Westside Youth Programs Coordinator Westside Community Center, with the wonderful PEAK kids.

Members have been involved in projects for women and men in transitional houses, supported Family to Family in supplying meals to folks who need them, participated in Make a Difference Day, volunteering at the Veterans Home to keep their library in order, make books available to the teens of Santa Paula through the Teen Scene Program at Blanchard Community Library, have read to students on “Cat in the Hat” Day and other projects over the years.

Altrusa International has clubs in eight countries. Altrusa’s mission statement is ”Our country is as great as we, it’s citizens make it. Therefore, we pledge our loyalty to its ideas and its endeavors for the welfare of mankind. We strive to fulfill our civic obligations.”

Altrusa offers to the business and professional people of the community an opportunity to touch each other’s lives and be broadened by an interchange of interests and by a sympathetic consideration of the viewpoints of others. They are always seeking volunteers (and contributions).

Regarding their relationship with Westpark, Susan Leonard stated, “Our partnership with Westpark has existed for nearly twenty years. We started our relationship at the request of one of our members, Margot Martin.  Margot was a strong volunteer force in the City of Ventura and was famous for recruiting our club to join her on her journey.  The club started our support of the children of Westpark by donating school supplies.  Children need “tools” to learn, so this project was a good fit of our club.  A few years ago our members gained the renowned title of “the pencil ladies”.  Since then we have made other contributions as needed to help the center grow under the direction of Anita Diaz.  We have seen the wonderful development and transformations that have taken place over the years.  It has been our pleasure to be a small part of this positive place for children.”

About 70 PEAK kids formed a single line as they entered the gym to accept the supplies. As they passed by the row of adults welcoming them, they shook the hands of each (with a few hugs thrown it). PEAK is an after-school partnership that includes the City of Ventura Department of Parks & Recreation, Ventura Unified School District and Ventura Police Activities League (PAL). PEAK was formed in 2002 to develop and implement an inclusive after school program for elementary and middle school children to provide a safe and supervised after-school education, enrichment and recreation programs for students.

Coordinator Anita Diaz told the Breeze, “Altrusa has become very special to Westpark’s after school program. Their support of providing after school homework and art supplies has allowed our children to have materials needed for them to do homework and creative projects.  In addition to school supplies, Altrusa has also donated money to our scholarship fund which helps us provide for youths who may not be able to afford some of our sports and camp programs. Altrusa has been a part of Westpark for nearly 20 years and their unselfish support of providing for our children cannot be measured.”