Category Archives: This ‘n’ That

Local author writes children’s book about Bertie

Local author Susan M. Webb is pleased to announce the launch of her children’s picture book, “Bertie: The Best Stuttering King” recently. The book highlights the struggles of Queen Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, and how he overcame a severe stutter and physical ailments to become one of the best monarchs of 20th Century Europe. The book’s launch coincides with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee events in 2022, marking her 70 years on the throne following the passing of her father, affectionately known as “Bertie.”

Ms. Webb’s picture book is for children ages 7-12 and features a rhyming tale paired with colorful illustrations created by renowned illustrator Sergio Drumond.

States author Webb, “I wanted to tell the story of King George VI, affectionally called “Bertie,” in rhyme. Repeating rhymes was a therapy technique used by Bertie’s own speech therapist, Lionel Logue, to help the king with his stutter. I hope this book will be a valuable tool for young stutterers.”

Tidbits of royal history are packed into forty pages.

Ms. Webb sailed in Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee Flotilla on the Thames in 2012, and is traveling to London in June for her Platinum Jubilee events. She traces her English roots back to John Alden and Myles Standish of Mayflower fame.

“Bertie: The Best Stuttering King” can be found at: www.TheBookPatch.com or on Amazon in soft cover and e-book format.

For more information on King George VI (“Bertie”), stuttering resources, games for children, blogs, author interviews, and newsletters, visit Ms. Webb’s website at: www.susanmwebb.com.

 

Bookmark

by Mary M. Olson

Although Jill Forman has signed off as author of “The Bookmark” column, the Friends of the Library would like to continue with this great opportunity to spread the news about libraries and our organization to our community. First of all, we would like to express our sincere appreciation to Jill for initiating this column and to the Ventura Breeze for support provided over many years for literacy, libraries and San Buenaventura Friends of the Library.

The Summer Reading Program, “Read Beyond the Beaten Path”, is well underway at the library. In addition to logging your summer reading at https://vencolibrary.beanstack.org, opportunities to explore science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) abound. Whenever you visit any library branch, Grab and Go STEAM kits are available to take home.

At E.P. Foster Library (805 648-2716), the Maker Lab is open again Tuesdays, July 19 & 26, 4 to 6 pm. Crafternoon on 2nd & 4th Wednesdays, 3:30 to 5:00 pm offers a structured craft with materials provided and Lego Play is back on every other Friday, 2 to 4 pm, beginning June 17.

At Hill Road Library (805 677-7180) , Maker Camp on most Thursdays, 3:30 to 5 pm offers STEAM projects designed for children 7-18. Children 3 to 7 are invited to explore STEAM through play with their caregivers at Hill Road Library Tuesdays, 10:30 am to noon.

The Summer Reading programs have long been a favorite activity that the Friends of the Library support through our fundraising and making donated books available for rewards in the program.

The Friends’ bookstore in E.P. Foster Library is a great place to pick up your summer beach reads! And our online bookstore for local sales (accessed through a link at our website https://venturafriendsofthelibrary.org) has added two new categories for the summer: Great Summer Reading and Youth Summer Reading. Audiobooks and puzzles are also available for your road trip or staycation!

We’re also planning another book sale on July 16, 10 am to 3 pm, at the Vons at Telegraph and Victoria. The grocery is a great place to encounter casual shoppers and promote the library and our Friends group. As always, volunteers are needed to set up, work at the sale and take down at the end of the day.

We are always looking for new volunteers – right now we especially need volunteers to help sort and categorize our incoming book donations. We receive a fascinating variety of books and have developed an array of in-person and online outlets to get those books into the hands of readers. Many volunteers are required to make the best use of the donations we receive. If this piques your interest, please contact us.

Please email [email protected] if you’d like to help!

Community volunteer event hosted by Ventura Land Trust to mitigate invasive plant species

by Richard Lieberman

On Saturday, May 21, Ventura Land Trust in conjunction with Safeport Cannabis Dispensary and Topa Topa Brewing Company held a community volunteer activity to help clear invasive plant species from the Harmon Canyon Preserve trails. Invasive plant species like black mustard and milk thistle have begun to choke Harmon Canyon Preserve trails that had been recently restored with native plants.

Two dozen volunteers showed up ready to work at the preserve to remove by hand as many of the invasive species as possible. Black mustard an invasive plant species originates from Europe and Asia. The species can grow up to six feet tall, and when the plants die the plant remains becomes fuel for wildfires as it dries. The species is so pervasive that it has taken over substantial portions of the preserves and the only effective way to remove it is to uproot one-by-one individual plants. The plants produce black seeds and if the volunteers do not uproot and remove them before they dry out and spread seed, they will continue to choke the trails and remain a problem for the long-term health of native species and the canyons trails will be overrun. As these plants die and dry out, they become a fire hazard.

“Community support is needed to help with removal of the dense stands of black mustard and milk thistle” said Leslie Velez, Outreach Director of Ventura Land Trust. She also added “areas of the preserve that had been recently replanted with native plant species are being choked by these invasive plants.”

“We need more volunteers, this is a massive job, but with perseverance we can make this happen,” said Velez. She also added that the event produced two full dumpster loads of the invasive plants.

Congratulations All 2022 Grads!

Everyone at CAPS Media Congratulates all the 2022 Graduates from Buena, El Camino, Foothill, Pacific and Ventura High School as well as all the adult grads from Ventura Adult and Continuing Education and Ventura College.

CAPS Media crews, including El Camino students in the CAPS/VUSD ECTV media education program, are recording and live-streaming commencement ceremonies at Ventura College and all Ventura Unified School District high schools. The kickoff was on May 19 at Ventura College and will be followed by back-to-back celebrations at VHS on June 15, Buena on June 16 and the final all-day ceremonies for Foothill, El Camino, Pacific and VACE grads held at the Ventura College stadium on June 17. CAPS crews will set up and direct the live-stream distributions of every celebration for, enabling the graduation ceremonies to be seen live locally and worldwide on the VUSD and VC YouTube channels as well as live on Channel 15.

CAPS Media crews are staying very busy. Recently the entire CAPS team pitched in on two extensive video productions. The first was for the Ventura County Clerk-Recorder, Registrar of Voters, Mark Lunn, and his supporting cast led by Miranda Nobriga. The CAPS staff, led by senior producer/editor Gary Roll, collaborated with the county staff to produce a series of detailed training videos for county election site workers. The series included step-by-step instructional videos for workers staffing dozens of voting locations throughout the county. The video series demonstrated how to set up and manage the equipment at the voting sites, and how to protect and deliver completed ballots to the county government center for counting. In the past this vital worker instruction was conducted in extensive in-person training sessions. The new video series allows election site workers to be trained online and provides as series of reference materials to use throughout the process.

Speaking of voting – its time for every voter in Ventura County to VOTE! If you haven’t received your ballot in the mail, call the Ventura County Elections Division at 805-654-2664 or go tovoterstatus.sos.ca.gov. Ballots can be mailed in, no postage required, or dropped off at Ballot Drop Boxes locations throughout the county including in front of the CAPS Media Center at 65 Day Road in Ventura. You still have time to vote if you missed the online registration date. Go to a vote center in your community and register and vote up to and on election day.

The second major CAPS Media production was a collaboration with the Ventura County Indian Education Consortium. Led by local coordinator Robin Jacobs, the VCIEC is a federally funded program that provides direct services to American Indian and Alaskan Native students in grades TK-12 throughout multiple Ventura County school districts.

For CAPS Media the end of the school year honoring celebration, was an all-hands-on-deck production that engaged the entire CAPS media team and facilities. The extensive forty-five-minute presentation featured inspirational messages and performances by numerous local Native American elders and community members, as well as individual profiles on Indian Students of the Year from all grade levels, plus personalized messages from this year’s VCIEC Outstanding 2022 Graduates. For more information about this program go to VenturaVUSD.org/students/Indian-education.

As a final note, out of caution the CAPS Media Center has been closed throughout the pandemic. During this time, the CAPS Media staff and board of directors have undertaken an extensive internal evaluation to determine the most effective services to provide to the public once we are fully operational. The CAPS Media mission remains: To create an engaged and informed community through participation in electronic media.

Free Adaawe Concert in Mission Park on July 27th

“It’s a thrill for us downtown to have the Ventura Music Festival present a great band in a great event,” Downtown Ventura Partners Executive Kevin Clerici said

The music of Adaawe, an all-female, LA-based vocal and drumming band, springs from West African roots and is nourished by gospel harmonies and American funk for a contemporary world-fusion sound. The concert is made possible by a grant to the Ventura Music Festival from the Barbara Bernard Smith World Music Fund.

Originally set for July 2020 and among the scores of Covid-cancelled performances worldwide, VMF Executive Susan Scott reports excitement growing anew among both artists and festival-goers since confirming Mission Park as the venue. “We’re committed to building community through music,” Scott said, “and opening with a free Concert in the Park mid-week seems a perfect way to launch the 27th season festival and the six concerts that follow.”

The mission of the Ventura Music Festival is to build community through world-class music and create an inclusive, welcoming environment in which people both see and hear themselves reflected in the music.

New story collection set in fictionalized Ventura

Award-winning author—and Ventura native—Dallas Woodburn’s new short story collection How to Make Paper When the World is Ending (Koehler Books) releases on June 28, and locals might find something familiar about the settings of many of the stories. The pier… the beach… the boardwalk… Yes, many of the stories take place in a “fictionalized Ventura,” Woodburn notes. 

This is not the first time her hometown has made its way into her fiction. Woodburn’s story collection Woman, Running Late, in a Dress also featured familiar settings such as the beach, lemon orchards, and downtown Main Street. And readers will recognize Ventura in her latest novel, Thanks, Carissa, For Ruining My Life. “I was definitely picturing Ventura in my mind as I wrote,” she says. “The high school was Ventura High. The bowling alley was Buena Lanes. Their favorite restaurant is based on Snapper Jack’s Taco Shack. There are little clues throughout the book.” 

Woodburn says that the setting for her fiction is not something she logically plans out, but rather rises up organically through the creative process. “I wrote the first draft of my novel and many of these stories when I was a grad student at Purdue University in Indiana,” she continues. “I was homesick for Ventura, and escaping into my fiction felt like visiting home.”

How to Make Paper When the World is Ending is a collection of short stories that explores and reimagines the ghost story. Reedsy Discovery praised the book as “a magnificent compendium of slightly spooky stories that will chill, delight and amuse you” and author Gregory Spatz called it “smart, moving, inventive, funny, and always surprising.”  

Woodburn grew up in Ventura, graduated from Ventura High School, and has been part of the Ventura County literary community for more than two decades. She founded Write On! For Literacy (www.writeonbooks.org) as an eighth-grader at Cabrillo Middle School to empower youth through reading and writing. Her Holiday Book Drives have collected and donated more than 14,000 books to underprivileged children throughout Ventura County.

A former John Steinbeck Fellow in Creative Writing, Woodburn’s fiction has been honored with the international Glass Woman Prize, second place in the American Fiction Prize, and four Pushcart Prize nominations. She also hosts the Thriving Authors Podcast, interviewing authors about the creative process. 

This is a big year for Woodburn, as her YA novel Thanks, Carissa, For Ruining My Life and her collection of stories How to Make Paper When the World is Ending are both being published. She wishes she could go back in time and give herself a peek of 2022. “When I was a grad student, I remember feeling pulled in two directions—like I had to choose,” Woodburn explains. “Even though I loved both genres, I worried that I couldn’t write and publish both. But I was wrong! I’ve learned it’s important not to set limits on yourself.” 

Woodburn’s books are available everywhere, but she encourages people to purchase them through Ventura’s own independent bookstore Timbre Books.

Vol. 15, No. 18 – June 1 – June 14, 2022 – Community Events

Events by Ana Baker

The Ventura Senior Men’s Group continues to meet for a social lunch and program at the Poinsettia Pavilion on the first and third Tuesday each month. Men of all descriptions are always welcomed to stop in to sample our shenanigans. Bob Likins at 805-587-1233 or Rick Follenweider at 650-520-1098 can supply details.

June 1: BCNN (Beach Cities Neighbors and Newcomers) will meet at 9:30 a.m. at the Ventura Yacht Club in lovely Ventura Harbor. Warren Takahashi, a local favorite guitarist /vocalist will entertain. His set list features a full range of music spanning the oldies, from Frank Sinatra, & 70’s, 80’s, & even Hawaiian favorites. Our organization serves women from Ventura, Oxnard and Port Hueneme. Newcomers are welcome and there is no charge to check us out and learn about our many activities. Just show up.

June 4: Sespe Fly Fishers of Ventura will be conducting our monthly “First Saturday” introductory Fly Rod Casting and Intro to Fly Fishing clinic. There is no charge and all are welcome. Whether you are an experienced fly fisher or a complete novice, we want to help you improve your casting and learn to enjoy this great sport. If you do not yet have a fly rod, do not worry, just come and use one of ours. Located at Chumash Park, Petit and Waco, 9-11a.m., in East Ventura, off Telephone Rd. For more information: Casting Program Coordinator Thomas Hall 805-377-5249 www.sespeflyfishers.org

June 4: Join Laura Bauer from the Ventura County Chapter of Surfrider Foundation and learn how small changes in your home landscape can make a big difference to our local ocean water quality, water conservation, and wildlife habitats. The event is at the Toppings Room at E.P. Foster Library at 651 East Main Street. All proceeds from the event will go to the Surfrider Foundation to support its mission to protect the world’s oceans. Event tickets are $10 per person.

Space is limited so be sure to sign up soon. If you would prefer to reserve your spot in person or over the phone, visit us at the Welcome Center or give us a call at 805- 232-3113 x2

June 5. Open house tours of the 1892 Dudley Historic House Museum will take place on Sunday, from 1- 4 p.m. Admission is free. The museum is located at the corner of Loma Vista and Ashwood streets (197 N. Ashwood). For information, please call 805- 642-3345 or visit the website at dudleyhouse.org.

 

June 5: Old-Time Country Bluegrass Gospel Music Assoc. will be having Live Music on stage. Jamming in the Canada Room. Sunday, 2-4 p.m. at the Poinsettia Pavilion 3451 Foothill Rd.

Free Admission. Free parking Open to the Public. For more information call 805-517-1131 or visit Facebook: OTCBGMA

June 13: Poinsettia Pavilion Free Dance Lesson. Dancing 7Pm $15.00

Contact Rick 805415-8842

June 18: The Dudley House monthly plant and collectibles sale continues on the grounds from 8-2 p.m. Bromeliads, orchids and succulents will be on sale along with a variety of collectibles. Vendors please call Charlie at 805-746-4317 for details. The museum is located at the corner of Loma Vista and Ashwood.

June 16: Join in the fun at our luncheon and help raise funds for Ribbons of Life Breast Cancer Foundation. 11a.m., social hour; 12 noon meeting and lunch. Las Posas Country Club, 955 Fairway Drive, Camarillo. $40 per person – Advance reservations and payment required. [email protected] or 805-263-7759 www.channelislandsgulls.org.

June 21: Free Admission for the Summer Solstice at Ventura Botanical Gardens

Tuesday 9 – 5 p.m. Bring your family and friends to soak in the extended summer day at the Gardens. Leashed dogs are welcome. Be sure to stop into our Courtyard garden shop, and browse our plants and pottery.

June 22: The College Area Community Council in Ventura will be holding a Zoom meeting on Wednesday, at 7 p.m. Council meetings include speakers and discussion on topics of neighborhood and community interest. Visit the College Area Community Council website @ https://caccventura.com to learn more, to be added to the mailing list or to access a link to the Zoom meeting.”

Fundraiser for Cabrillo Middle School Music Department

On May 21, at Boccali’s Pizza and Pasta in Ojai, a fund-raiser was held for the Cabrillo Middle School Music Department. The night included live music, dinner and a silent auction to benefit the award-winning middle school music program.

All funds raised benefit the school’s music program.

This will be the first time the annual event is being held in two years due to COVID-19. It was attended by hundreds who enjoyed the great Italian food and music. They listened to jazz music from both student and professional groups including Cabrillo Middle School Jazz Band A, The Thatcher School’s Jazz Ensemble, Ventura High School Jazz Band and professional jazz musicians.

“This event has always been an important event for our program both from a fundraising standpoint and just a super fun event be able to showcase the students’ hard work,” said Cabrillo Middle School Music Director, Mr. Mario Boccali. “All the groups – professional and student – are delighted to perform, especially after COVID which put a lot of groups off the stage for so long.”

The program provides a positive and fun environment where music students have the opportunity to participate in clinics with music professionals and perform at music festivals and other fun events throughout the community. The school’s top groups perform at nationally adjudicated festivals each year on the annual Spring Tour.

To donate to or learn more about the program, go to: https://sites.google.com/view/cabrillomiddleschoolmusic/.

Ventura County Library urges families to get ready, get set, go to the library

Ventura County Library launched its “Read Beyond the Beaten Path!” summer reading challenge on May 15, 2022. Over the summer, the library will host a range of free activities for children, teens, and adults to encourage and support a love of reading.

Participants may win prizes for reaching their reading goals. “We’ve planned a wonderful program for kids to make the library a great place to read, learn, and discover what’s available for their enjoyment,” said Molly Krill, Youth Services Manager.

Themed events include bi-weekly STEAM Kits and challenges, participation in the library’s online reading and activity log (register at vencolibrary.beanstack.org), themed Storytimes, and a closing party hosted by Kona Ice. This year Ventura County Library is giving away 13 Nintendo Switch Grand Prizes as well as smaller STEAM prizes throughout the summer. In addition, once a child has logged 500 minutes, they may visit their local branch to choose a free new book to add to their home libraries.

There’s so much to see, so much to do at your library! It is one of the best places to take your kids, especially during the summer months when children are out of school. The library is a place to learn, read, and have fun…a place the entire family can enjoy. The amount of time children spend reading outside of school is linked to improvements in reading achievement. Many studies show that access to books and other reading materials is directly related to higher reading achievement.

Registration continues through August 14, 2022. To learn more about the summer reading adventure at the library, please call your local branch or check out the library’s website at vencolibrary.org.

This event is free and open to the public. For additional information, contact Molly Krill, Ventura County Library Youth Services Manager at (805) 677-7170