Category Archives: This ‘n’ That

Top notch happy hour at Rhumb Line

Just a few of the wonderful Happy Hour selections at Rhumb Line.

by Jennifer Tipton

A Rhumb Line is the course of a ship that keeps a constant compass direction, good name for a restaurant that delivers consistently great food and service!

Also called “The Sunset Restaurant”, Rhumb Line is located where the old Scotch and Sirloin used to be in the Ventura Harbor. If you haven’t lived in Ventura for long, you probably have no idea where this is – 1510 Anchors Way Drive. With plenty of parking, the location provides beautiful views of the harbor just about anywhere you sit, there are indoor bistro type tables, a more formal dining area, bar seating that faces the harbor and a dog friendly outdoor patio also overlooking the harbor.

Everyone knows the best way to advertise (only second to running an ad in the Ventura Breeze) is word of mouth, so when a friend shared his experience at Rhumb Line, we all went to see for ourselves and what we found was indeed notable!

A Happy Hour is about the “tapas” or “small plates”, the adult beverages and great company, Rhumb Line delivered just that with the beauty of the boats and water as an added bonus.

The menu includes items you may not find anywhere else such as Blackened Ahi Sliders, Beef Sliders with bacon and blue cheese, a variety of Flatbread Pizzas and Oysters. These range from $5 to $10 each. The adult beverages selection offers the usual well drinks, beers and house wine for $5 and specialty cocktails such as Fresh Margaritas and one called a Rubedo (that sounded pretty tasty) for only $8 each.

The clever way to do happy hour is with a group so that each can choose a different selection and then share to taste a variety of tapas. We shared the Baby Back Riblets with a Szechuan glaze, the Ahi Poke served on large fried wontons with a sauce that again was delectable, the Shrimp/Chicken Quesadillas with pepper jack cheese, spinach and Pico de Gallo, Fried Calamari with a lemon aioli, Shrimp Bruschetta Bites with an aged balsamic glaze and the Lamb Sliders with arugula, tomato jam and goat cheese served with shoestring fries! The portions were not small, the flavors were fabulous and not one of us could choose a favorite, two of us even said, “wow, that calamari was good, and I don’t even like calamari!”

Service was good although we were missing a place setting and waited on a glass of water, but our plates were replaced with fresh ones for each dish which I thought was a nice touch and our server was very personable and kind.

A big shout out to Tommy Alizotis who we had a chance to meet, he is one of the 3 new owners that took over Rhumb Line about a year ago and is also the General Manager and Kitchen Manager – very impressive!

Rhumb Line’s Happy Hour is open every day from 3-7pm with all these tempting tapas and refreshing beverages, but bring your own great company (although the staff is very friendly). You could even invite me to join you.

Foundation delivers adventures for kids with special needs

Seth Shinden with a volunteer buddy of the Best Day Foundation.

by Rebecca Wicks

Seth Shinden, 13, is like other Balboa Middle School students. He enjoys live music, bowling, gymnastics, and just being outside. He has always loved the beach and ocean. Seth is however, autistic and epileptic, which at times makes some activities less accessible.

His parents have worked to keep him close to the sea, making regular visits. While he frequently enjoys time in the sand with his sisters and family, some of his most memorable moments are those surfing and kayaking. Many of these adventures have been made possible by the Best Day Foundation, where volunteers tandem surf or kayak with Seth. Last month, he surfed C-Street tandem-style with one of the Best Day Foundation volunteers, as part of a day organized by the group that works to host activity events for families that have children with special needs.

“Seth loves everything about surfing,” said Katie Shinden, Seth’s mother. “He first did it when he was 5. He was a little nervous at first, but the organization’s volunteer buddies that helped out were great about carrying him into the water and getting him comfortable.”

Nancy Pedersen first started working with the organization in 2010, helping out at events. Today she serves as the co-chair of the Ventura Chapter, and sits on the organization’s national advisory board. She explained how she has been drawn further into the organization, how making memories for kids, their families as well as volunteers – all in the span of one short day – is something she thinks is “cool.”

“I just love the community aspect of each event, the fact that the likes of surfers, high school kids, and seniors come together to make it happen,” Pedersen explained. “We start each event on an empty beach and then with the help of volunteers great stuff happens.”

Seth and thousands of other special needs children have enjoyed tandem surfing, body boarding, kayaking, stand up paddling, outrigger canoeing and more through the organization’s many events around the nation. The group conducts events in Virginia, Florida, New Jersey and five communities in California including Ventura. The Foundation has already held four events this year in Ventura and has four additional upcoming events which will take place at C-Street, on September 10, and Harbor Cove, on August 5, August 26, and October 7.

The Best Day Foundation was founded to share the knowledge and experience developed by Ride a Wave, a similar organization started in Santa Cruz. Each year the group’s event count grows, also adding new locations annually. This year the Foundation will hold upward of 50 events across the country.

Pedersen likes what the organization offers to people who don’t have a way to experience these sports on their own, and has witnessed first hand, their impact. She told of a particular father who was certain his son would not get in the water, who worried he would refuse to participate as he hadn’t shown interest in either water, or water sports in the past. Pedersen wonders if it was because the son never had the opportunity.

According to Pedersen, the son had a great time and the father relayed the following to her, “The dad said, the only limitations are the ones I put on him, and I need to stop doing that – we’re getting beach gear.”

 

Hillsides Conservancy serves up “Nature on Tap”

The Ventura Hillsides Conservancy (VHC) is teaming up with Topa Topa Brewing Company to host a series of environmental lectures entitled “Nature on Tap” this summer. The public is invited to join VHC staff once a month in July, August and September to learn about local environmental topics and VHC’s mission, projects and programs.

Monday, 7/24/17: Go with the Flow – The Health of the Ventura River: Listen and learn as Dash Dunkell, Ventura Hillsides Conservancy’s Conservation Director, highlights current projects in the Ventura River and discusses what is being done to protect this unique ecosystem.

Monday, 8/28/17: Our Wildlife Neighbors: From coyotes to crows, raccoon to rattlesnakes, opossums to osprey … Ventura has it all! Join Jessica West, Ventura Hillsides Conservancy biologist, to learn about the wildlife that lives on VHC properties, what is being done to preserve their habitat, and how the public can (and has!) become involved in studying our animal neighbors.

Thursday, 9/28/17: Preserving Ventura’s Open Space – Rivers, forest, and farmland: Dash Dunkell, Ventura Hillsides Conservancy’s Conservation Director, will discuss the past, present and future of open space preservation in and around Ventura.

Each free lecture will begin at 7 p.m. at Topa Topa Brewing Company, located at 104 E Thompson Blvd.

To RSVP, visit: http://www.venturahillsides.org/events and, for more information, call the Ventura Hillsides Conservancy 643-8044.

The Ventura Hillsides Conservancy is dedicated to preserving and protecting Ventura’s hillsides, waterways and wildlife. Founded in 2003, the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization is supported by over 500 members, local business and government partners. The land trust currently manages 80 acres of land along the Ventura River and is working toward the purchase of its first hillside property. Further information about the Conservancy is at: www.venturahillsides.org.

National Night Out

The Ventura Police Department invites the community to participate in National Night Out! The national event, now in its 33rd year, will be held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, August 1 in neighborhoods throughout the community.

National Night Out is designed to:

Heighten crime and drug prevention awareness.

Generate support for, and participation in, local anti-crime efforts.

Strengthen neighborhood spirit and police/community partnerships.

Send a message to criminals letting them know neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.

National Night Out is sponsored nationally by the National Association of Town Watch and co-sponsored locally by the Ventura Police Department. Over 38 million neighbors across 16,000 communities around the nation participate in the annual community building campaign.

Participating neighborhoods are asked to turn on outside lights, lock their doors, and spend the evening outside with neighbors and police. Neighborhoods will be hosting a variety of events. Some event ideas include, but are not limited to, ice cream socials, disaster preparedness, games, contests, discussing neighborhood issues or setting neighborhood goals, food or clothing donations, plan a clean-up day or beautify a common area. It’s up to you! Be creative, have fun and celebrate your neighborhood! For additional ideas or questions, contact VPD Civic Engagement at 339-4317.

Register your neighborhood for this year’s event today on the Ventura Police Department’s website. Registration is free and gives police and other city representatives an opportunity to attend neighborhood gatherings as time and circumstances permit. Register now and begin planning your event with your neighbors!

National Night Out is an opportunity to enhance relationships between neighbors and police officers while bringing back a true sense of community. In 2016, Ventura neighborhoods hosted chalk drawing contests, BBQs, ice cream socials, front yard chats, children’s bike parades and more. National Night Out started in 1984 and has since swept across the nation. It is an annual event in all 50 states, U.S. territories, Canada and military bases worldwide.

Democratic Club of Ventura’s “Keep It Blue” fundraiser

The Democratic Club of Ventura will provide a chance for members of the community to meet face to face with elected representatives during the “Keep It Blue” fundraising luncheon. On July 30th from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m, Congressional Representatives, local elected officials, the Democratic Party State Chair, members of the Democratic Club of Ventura and interested community members will mix and mingle in the beautiful grand atrium of Historic Ventura City Hall. Money raised by the luncheon will be used to elect and re-elect Democratic candidates in the 2018 election.

California State Democratic Party Chairman, Eric Bauman, will serve as the official Master of Ceremonies in a brief program featuring Congressman Salud Carbajal, District 24, and Congresswoman Julia Brownley, District 26. Attendees will have the opportunity to directly interact with our elected leaders while enjoying a buffet-style “luscious lunch” with musical entertainment provided by Clarence Ulrich.

“We want to provide an opportunity for Ventura Democrats to meet their elected representatives and Party leaders while raising money to keep our city and county Blue,” said Matty Park, Democratic Club of Ventura’s President.

Both Congressional representatives, Carbajal and Brownley, serve the city of Ventura as well as surrounding areas, and both have very tough races ahead of them. Carbajal is a first term Congressman whose reelection to the district, previously represented by Lois Capps, could be a very tough battle. Brownley’s race has previously been targeted by the DCCC, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, as a high priority race due to extreme amounts of money spent by opponents to defeat her.

Ticket information is as follows:

Cost per person: $45.00 $85.00 (couple)

How to buy tickets: Online: secure.actblue.com/donate/keepblue

Tickets by phone 620-7477

The Democratic Club of Ventura, DCV, club members believe that politics is not a spectator sport! Monthly meetings are held on the 2nd Sunday of the month. For more information please visit venturademocrats.org and Facebook Democratic Club of Ventura.

Home sales expected to soar through 2018

Realty Watch: by Patricia Fasen, Realtor

By now just about every would-be buyer out there knows there simply aren’t enough homes for sale these days to appease the hordes of competition. Yes, there are always the homes on https://www.findnctrianglehomes.com/, but not everyone can be lucky enough to get one of these. Still, despite the shortages, rising prices, and bidding wars, more homes are expected to be sold this year than in more than a decade.

In 2017, the number of sales of homes is expected to rise about 3.5%, to 5.64 million, according to the midyear forecast from the National Association of Realtors®. The group predicts that existing-home purchases will rise an additional 2.8% in 2018, to 5.8 million.

It’s understandable why the sales of homes are still rising, and that is because of the number of people who are in need of a house for themselves, or their family. Plenty of people are buying houses off real estate companies, such as Willam Pitt, because they are either in need of a home or just fancy a change. The market for a home is likely to keep increasing as well.

“The combination of the stock market being at record highs, 16 million new jobs created since 2010, pent-up household formation, and rising consumer confidence are giving more households the assurance and ability to purchase a home,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement. “However, prices are still rising too fast in many areas and are outpacing incomes.”

Sales of brand-new homes, which builders can’t seem to put up fast enough, are expected to jump 10.7%, from 560,000 in 2016 to 620,000 this year, according to NAR. They’re expected to rise an additional 8% in 2018, to 670,000 sales.

New homes are typically more expensive than existing homes, as builders must contend with shortages of land and labor, plus rising costs of materials and difficulty obtaining financing.
The price tags of all homes are expected to keep rising. NAR predicts prices will jump 5% in 2017 and an additional 3.5% in 2018.

“As a result, buyers are compromising on the number of rooms, length of a commute, or other home qualities,” says Senior Economist Joseph Kirchner of realtor.com®. “Meanwhile, builders are mostly building for the mid- to upper-price range. This mismatch in supply and demand is making affordability more acute for those with modest incomes.”

In some white-hot markets along the coasts, prices are rising by double digits because of the dearth of homes. That’s led many current homeowners who might be interested in trading up to a larger, nicer home in their area to hold off-because those homes are simply out of their price range.

Bidding wars have gotten so bad in Seattle that buyers are driving up prices 30% over asking in some cases, says local real estate broker Chris Bajuk, of HomeSmart Real Estate Associates. (Seattle prices were up 12.2% year over year in February, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Schiller report.)

“It is crazy,” Bajuk says. “There’s strong demand and lack of supply.”
Buyers are coping by putting ever-higher percentages of their incomes toward homeownership-even when it means eating at home every night and doing without new clothes or annual beach vacations. Sometimes they’re spending half of their take-home pay on housing, he says.

Others are purchasing homes farther from the city center where they work, settling for smaller homes or even purchasing residences in need of some work.

“They may need to spend more of their disposable income,” Bajuk says. “Or they may need to lower their expectations on what kind of home they get.”

Fainer/Tauber, MD Awards

Ventura County Medical Resource Foundation (VCMRF) has announced the recipients of the 2017 Fainer/Tauber, MD Awards. They will be honored on Thursday, August 17 at Ancient Creek at Petersen Ranch, in Somis.

Hospital Physician of the Year: Deborah Carlson, MD Community Memorial Health System-Pacific Inpatient Physicians

Community Physician of the Year: Richard Rothschild, MD Cabrillo Cardiology Medical Group-affiliated with Dignity Health/St. John’s Regional Medical Ctr.

Vision Care Specialist of the Year: Michael McQuillan, OD Owns a private practice Camarillo

Oral Health Specialist of the Year: Joel Goldenberg, DDS Goldenberg Family Dentistry, Ventura

Hospital Nurse of the Year: Amy Querol, RN, BSN Community Memorial Health System

Community Nurse of the Year: Shirley Scott, JF Charge Nurse California Forensic Medical Group at Juvenile Facilities

Behavioral/Mental Health Professional : Patrick Zarate ntura County Behavioral Health – Chief Operations Officer/Substance Use Disorder Services

Community Service Award: Denise Carter Mission Home Health – Regional Director of Sales

Allied Health Professional of the Year: Bonnie Subira, MSW Community Memorial Health System – Director, Social Service/Case Management

Trailblazer Award: Kaiser Permanente (Mary Jarvis, Public Affairs Director is the contact)

The $225- plate event ($195 for past award winners) includes a champagne reception, entertainment by the Midnite Band), dessert, live and silent auctions, formal dinner and the awards ceremony. Funds from the event will benefit oral health and vision care services for low-income children and seniors, homeless outreach for those less fortunate, and survivorship wellness retreats for low-income women undergoing cancer treatment at local hospitals through the InnCourage program. The event MC’s and Live Auctioneers are Bonnie & Rich Atmore

Founded in 1956, Ventura County Medical Resource Foundation’s mission is “To improve, in partnership with others, access to needed health care for the most vulnerable and underserved residents of Ventura County.”

For more information please contact Victoria Chandler at the Ventura County Medical Resource Foundation 641-9800, email at [email protected], or visit website at vcmrf.org.

“Wet Wednesdays” are drenched with fun for the entire family

Ventura Harbor Village packs in a rousing good time every Wednesday in July and August, when locals and visitors can take off midweek and enjoy great dining discounts and specials along with one-of-a-kind retail shopping offering everything for a perfect day seaside on the waterfront.

Entertainment abounds with live steel drum entertainment from noon to noon to 3 p.m. This weekly attraction entices visitors and locals to discover weekdays seaside at the Village, with selected stores, boutiques and restaurants offering specials and discounts.

Stop by the Wet Wednesday booth from noon to 3 p.m. for special giveaways and to send a postcard to a friend for free, postage paid by Ventura Harbor Village Harbor shops and restaurants to take advantage of Wet Wednesday offerings.

For a complete list of everything that’s offered for Wet Wednesday, visit www.VenturaHarborVillage.com.

Ventura Harbor is a vibrant, working harbor village and fishing marina boasting 35 shops, galleries, restaurants and waterfront activities including a Village Carousel & Arcade, Comedy Club, Harbor Cove Beach and Surfer’s Knoll Beach, dive and fishing boats, harbor tours, boat, kayak and peddle boat rentals, and a beautiful walking Promenade. The Village offers visitors an escape to a sun-kissed, seaside playground with transportation to and from the Harbor via the new Ventura-Downtown Harbor Trolley, annual special events, live weekend entertainment, dog-friendly facilities, soft adventure, and spectacular sunset views of the Pacific coastline. Home to the Channel Islands National Park Visitor Center, this coastal playground features its own viewing tower, exhibits and bookstore, it is easy for travelers to visit the five islands right off the Ventura coast. It is here that visitors can experience world-class island diving, snorkeling, hiking, kayaking, sea cave exploration, photography, camping and wildlife viewing.