by Mary Olson

Ventura County Library has announced this year’s selection for One County One Book.

One County One Book invites you to join your Ventura county community in exploring a common narrative.

This year’s title is Taste Makers: Seven Immigrant Women Who Revolutionized Food in America by Mayukh Sen.

Taste Makers is Sen’s debut and was published in November of 2021. In it he explores America’s modern culinary history through the lives of seven pathbreaking chefs and food writers. The W.W. Norton description of the book asks, “Who’s really behind America’s appetite for foods from around the globe? This group biography from an electric new voice in food writing honors seven extraordinary women, all immigrants, who left an indelible mark on the way Americans eat today. Taste Makers stretches from World War II to the present, with absorbing and deeply researched portraits of figures including Mexican-born Elena Zelayeta, a blind chef; Marcella Hazan, the deity of Italian cuisine; and Norma Shirley, a champion of Jamaican dishes.”

This year’s One County, One Book program is officially sponsored by the Ventura County Library Foundation. Copies of the book will be available to borrow from all Ventura County Library branches. Discussions and related events will run through the month of October.

One County, One Book culminates with a special author event with Mayukh Sen at 2 pm on Saturday, November 12, 2022 on the California State University, Channel Islands campus.

If any friends of the library were listening to the NPR program Fresh Air recently, they might have enjoyed a vicarious pat on the back. Fresh Air’s book critic, Maureen Corrigan, mentioned that, during a brief break in transit, the discovery of a wall of used books for sale near the checkout desk at a library saved her from being trapped and miserable for five plus hours on a plane.

Just a little reminder, that, even if you missed our sale on July 16 and our bookstore in E.P. Foster Library is not open, you can pick up an emergency read from such shelves of used books in E.P. Foster Library and Hill Road Library. The Friends of the Library regularly freshen up the books (for adults and children) on offer on those shelves. And, the money deposited in the box adds to our bottom line which turns into more programs and books at your local library.

Ventura Land Trust’s annual benefit, the Wild & Scenic Film Festival, returns for its 13^th year on Saturday, August 20^th at Ventura County Credit Union headquarters. This signature event raises funds each year to support Ventura Land Trust’s mission to permanently protect the land, water, wildlife and scenic beauty of the Ventura region for current and future generations. Film Festival doors open at 5:00 pm, and films begin around 7:45 pm. A virtual ticket option is available for guests who prefer to enjoy the Film Festival from home.

One of the largest environmental film festivals in North America, the Wild & Scenic Film Festival shares an urgent call to action, encouraging festival-goers to learn more about what they can do to save our threatened planet. For Ventura Land Trust, the festival fosters a deeper understanding of the connection we share with the planet and our role as stewards to keep it healthy.

Ventura Land Trust Executive Director Melissa Baffa is looking forward to the return of the family-friendly event. “The Wild and Scenic Film Festival is a fun gathering of like-minded, community- and Earth-centered individuals. My favorite part of the event every year is getting together with friends in a beautiful outdoor setting and enjoying the creative and inspiring art presented in the form of film, music, and tasty food and drink.”

Baffa also shared that the event raises vital operating funds for the land trust. “General operating funds are the lifeblood of a nonprofit organization. Everything about this event, from corporate sponsorship to ticket and beverage sales, helps raise those important funds for Ventura Land Trust.” Ventura Land Trust owns and manages the 2,123-acre Harmon Canyon Preserve in Ventura, and recently announced the permanent conservation of Mariano Rancho Preserve, 1,645 acres of land in the hills north of Ventura.

The 2022 film festival will feature nearly two hours of films, and food from local food trucks. New to the festival this year is another feature bound to raise even more money: a silent auction in addition to the festival’s traditional raffle.

Beer from Topa Topa Brewing Company, Rincon Brewery, and Ventura Coast Brewing Company will be available for sale, as well as wine. Live music from bands Fish Fry and The Vonettes will kick off the festivities. In the Ventura Vibe VIP Lounge, small bites from Himalaya Cuisine, Aloha Steakhouse, and Olive Branch Provisions, and others will be complemented by wine, beer, and a cocktail by Model Citizen.

A general admission film festival ticket is $40, with $5 children’s tickets available and teen’s tickets (13-17) available for $10. VIP tickets, which include special gift items and admission to the Ventura Vibe VIP Lounge, are $125. Visit www.venturalandtrust.org/wsff2022 for tickets.

Sponsorship opportunities are available. Contact Development Director Chris Chaleunrath at [email protected] for more information.

The Rotary Club of Ventura has selected Margi Wray as club president for the 2022/2023 year. She follows Rob van Nieuwburg, under whose leadership the club sponsored many charitable and community events, including resumption of the popular Independence Day Family Picnic and Fireworks show, Coats for Kids, a free weekly optometry clinic, supporting a monarch butterfly habitat at Camp Arnaz, supporting the Navajo Water Project, youth activities, and more.

“We have a strong organization thanks to the work of long-standing club members, coupled with new energy and focus of our newer members,” said Margi. Her goals are to serve our community’s needs through corroboration within our club and other service organizations in the community, increase transparency through good communication, and key into members’ talents, expertise and passions to serve our community.

Margi has worked as a sculptor, goldsmith, and wax carver. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of Illinois. She is not new to leadership. She served 21 years on the Murrieta Valley Unified School District Board of Education, including four years as Board President. She says, “That experience will serve me well in goal setting, evaluation of performance and in community interaction.”

Having moved to the Ventura area only 3 years ago, she attributes her time in Rotary to rapidly making her feel at home in a new environment. “I have been instantly connected to so many people who have ‘Service above Self’ at the core of who they are,” she explains, “and it has made my transition to involvement and work in this community seamless. If you have ever wanted to be more involved in the community, we look forward to meeting you!”

The Rotary Club of Ventura celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2019. Its members include business leaders, nonprofit leaders and civic professionals who meet regularly and perform charity and community service in Ventura and throughout the world. It is part of Rotary International, which has more than 1.4 million members in 46,000 clubs in 168 countries. People join the club for fellowship, friendship and to give back to our local community and the beyond. The Rotary Club is actively seeking new members. To learn more, visit https://portal.clubrunner.ca/2868/.

Ventura City Councilmember, Jeannette Sanchez-Palacios is formally announcing her candidacy for the Ventura City Council, District 4 seat. Jeannette Sanchez-Palacios resides in the city of Ventura with her husband of more than 25 years and their 2 children. She holds degrees in Public Administration, Women’s Studies, and Political Science from the California State University – Northridge (CSUN), University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA), and Santa Monica Community College (SMC).

by Richard Newsham, VMF consultant

The Ventura Music Festival’s “Onward!” 27^th season opens tonight with a Free Concert in the Park featuring the gospel, West African and American funk world-fusion mix of the all-female band Adaawe at downtown Ventura’s Mission Park on Wednesday, July 27, at 5:30 pm.

The festival venue then moves to the intimate 400-seat Ventura College Performing Arts Center, 4700 Loma Vista Road, for two weekends of concerts beginning with sensational Irish band We Banjo 3 and its Celtgrass vocal and string blend of “bluegrass and beyond” on Friday, July 29, at 7:30 pm. Direct from Paris the Django Festival Allstars quintet brings us “le jazz hot” style of legendary guitarist Django Reinhardt on Saturday, July 30, at 7:30 pm. And weekend one concludes with local piano virtuoso gone globally famous Sean Chen alluring us with romantic pearls by Mozart, Debussy, Liszt, Chopin, Rachmaninoff and Mendelssohn on Sunday, July 31, at 3 pm.

Weekend two opens on Friday, August 5, at 7:30 pm, with a unique sextet of a soprano, alto, baritone, bass and two tenor saxophones called The Moanin’ Frogs—the moniker is an unlikely contraction of two 1910’s saxophone hit tunes, The Bullfrog Blues and That Moanin’ Saxophone Rag. But the ensemble name aptly fits a repertoire that “electrifies and delights” audiences nationwide—defying genres with every jump from primo orchestral, concerto and chamber arrangements to treasured jazz, burlesque and vaudeville improvisations.

On Saturday, August 6, at 7:30 pm, Veronica Swift—a young chanteuse with deep jazz roots but now branching out with classical, rock, soul, folk and funk selections—is determined as an artist to bring a post-COVID rebirth of hope to audiences everywhere as she breaks down genre barriers, uniting them under an anthem called “Sing”—an uplifting tribute to the positive change that music brings to the world. “There is this thing that’s like touching, except you don’t touch, you sing, just sing,” claims the artist. “The act of singing is a kind of secular prayer, in the spirit of John Lennon’s Imagine.”

The VMF festival concludes on Sunday, August 7, at 3 pm, with what the New York Times calls “America’s most astonishing choir,” The Crossing led by conductor Donald Nally and embracing new music with “a social conscience and fearless technique” created by the world’s most prestigious living composers and performed at marquee venues with the nation’s most adventuresome orchestras and ensembles. Find out why radio host Brian Lauritzen champions this 24-voice winner of two Grammy® awards for Best Choral Performance and 7 more nominations on his weekly “A Joyful Noise” KUSC broadcast of choral music almost every Sunday morning.

Year after year, the Ventura Music Festival is renowned for showcasing a breathtaking multiverse of musical styles from classical to contemporary. Connect with the artists and with fellow listeners in our community who love to discover the joy and excitement of familiar and brave new worlds of sound by attending VMF concerts this weekend and next.

Tickets: $15-65 at www.venturamusicfestival.org and 805.648.3146.