Category Archives: This ‘n’ That

Westside Born Learning Trail gets revitalized on Earth Day

Born Learning Trails were developed to support language, literacy and social skills. Photos by Michael Gordon

by Amy Brown

Earth Day often includes collaborations of individual and community groups to celebrate the world in which we live, and learn to improve sustainability to preserve it. In that spirit, local community members, the city of Ventura, volunteers from the United Way and Aera Energy gathered recently to celebrate Earth Day and invest in early childhood development and education by renovating the interactive Born Learning Trail at Westpark Community Center. This colorful, educational trail features ten stations for kids and families to get out, get moving and have fun while learning in different languages and through unique activities.

The original trail was put in ten years ago, and it received a comprehensive upgrade at the event from approximately 30 volunteers, whose hands-on efforts included creating new signs, adding new paint, activities, decorations and structures.  “What happens in a child’s early years matters,” said Mitchel Sloan, interim president and CEO of United Way of Ventura County. “The Born Learning Trail is just an excellent way to really utilize our amazing parks, while helping generate conversations between parents, caregivers and child. It can have an amazing impact early childhood learning, really increasing the chance of a child entering school ready to learn.”

According to Aera Energy—which has helped sponsor 12 such trails with the United Way throughout California, including in Oxnard—the trails are designed to spark a love of learning at an age that sets the foundation for lifelong learning, behavior and health.  “A parent is really a child’s first teacher, and this trail gives them activities to teach kids numbers, shapes, counting along with how to get themselves moving,” said Michele Newell, Corporate Community Relations representative for Aera.  “These trails fit in with our focus on education and trying to give families opportunities to learn things differently, all while getting them out and moving together.”

Born Learning Trails were developed to support language, literacy and social skills development throughout local communities, with displays offering engagement with numbers and shapes, while integrating information about exploring nature. John Thomas, a mechanic with Aera and with the company for 15 years, was among the volunteers jumping in to refurbish the trail. A father of two, and grandfather of a two-year-old, he recognized the value of these projects for young learners. “It was cool to participate in this, especially once you learned the reasoning behind it,” said Thomas. “Aera really puts effort into maintaining relationships with the community and being good stewards, and it’s a big reason why I decided to go out there.”

Sloan was enthusiastic about how the newly refurbished trail is already being received by the Westside community, where a rededication ribbon cutting ceremony was held with attendees including local families, the mayor, and representatives from First 5 Ventura County, the chamber of commerce, and the board of supervisors. “This collaboration was a true testament to the idea that it takes a village, with everyone coming together to bring this to fruition,” he said.

Up Close and Personal with Bob Eubanks

Photos by Yana Khiyod and Patricia Schallert.

On April 28, the Museum of Ventura County presented an interview “Ivor Davis:
Up Close and Personal with Bob Eubanks.” The large crowd enjoyed hearing about
his life and illustrious career and asked him many interesting questions. He also signed copies of “Bob Eubanks It’s In The Book Bob!” Eubanks is best known for hosting the popular TV show, “The Newlywed Game.”

Vol. 15, No. 16 – May 4 – May 17, 2022 – Ojai News & Events

On May 10, at 8:00 pm, Flamenco dancer Savannah Fuentes and singer/multi-instrumentalist, Diego Amador Jr., direct from Seville, will present Eterno, el Flamenco vive, at the Ojai Valley Woman’s Club. Savannah and Diego have forged a unique artistic partnership after a successful summer tour as a duo. Eterno promises to be a dynamic and emotionally charged presentation of authentic Spanish Flamenco music and dance.

Tickets: general admission $27, VIP seating $40 student $18, child $12

link https://www.eventbrite.com/e/273917383267

available at www.eventbrite.com

Local author Elizabeth Kraus will visit the Ojai Library at 2pm on Saturday, May 21, to discuss her book, 3 Sisters, 3 Weeks, 3 Countries (Still Talking). This presentation will be followed by a brief Q&A session.

A late bloomer, Elizabeth “Liz” Moore Kraus enrolled in Ventura College at age forty-two, earning her MA in English Literature six years later. After a much-loved teaching career of twenty years, she retired from Ventura College in 2019. To see more from Elizabeth, visit elizabethmoorekraus.weebly.com.

This event is free and open to the public. For additional information, contact Ron Solórzano, Regional Librarian, at (805) 218-9146 or [email protected].

Join Ojai author and naturalist Lanny Kaufer for a potential once-in-a-lifetime event: a Full Moon Sunset Nature Hike and Total Lunar Eclipse with complete visibility on Sunday evening, May 15, from 7:00 to 9:30 p.m. The next time a total lunar eclipse will be visible in Ventura County before 1 a.m. or later at night is August 6, 2036.

On the way up in the daylight, they’ll stop along the trail to meet some valuable edible and medicinal plants including Blue Elderberry, Coastal Sagebrush, Prickly-Pear Cactus, Horehound, Black Sage, Purple Sage, and Chia Sage. Kaufer will have copies of his new book, Medicinal Herbs of California, with him for sale and signing before and after the hike.

No dogs or smoking, please. Light rain will not cancel. Heavy rain will.

The cost for the hike is $35/person. Senior, student and child discounts are available by request. Paid registrants will receive a confirmation email a few days prior to the event with all necessary info, including what to bring, weather forecast, and directions to the trailhead. Afterwards, they will receive a follow-up email with a list of all plants and wildlife seen. Register now at HerbWalks.com or by calling 805-646-6281.

Vol. 15, No. 16 – May 4 – May 17, 2022 – Community Events

Events by Ana Baker

May 8: 11am-3 pm Murals & Roses -Olivas Adobe 4200 Olivas Park Drive-Ventura.
Join us on Mother’s Day for a stroll through the rose garden and historic grounds of the Olivas Adobe where the famous Margarite Hardeman mural paintings will be on display. Free corsages for visiting mothers, tours of the rancho home, gift shop, art exhibit by artists Laura J Jespersen & Lisa Mahony in the small adobe and new this year displays of women’s fashion through the ages. wwwcityofventura.ca.gov/OlivasAdobe.

May 9: Free Dance Lesson 6:30 p.m. Dance Poinsettia Pavillon,3451 Foothill Rd. 7p.m $10, refreshments, Tropic Star Ban.

May 10: Ventura County Writers Club invites aspiring writers to join their bi-annual “Join a Writing Workshop Group” meeting at 1605 Burnley St. in Camarillo at 7 p.m.
“Anyone interested in writing needs to learn the power of a writing workshop,” says VCWC Vice President Pat Caloia. VCWC is a non-profit volunteer society driven by writers for writers. All club activities are intended to expand writers’ creativity and business skills.
For more information, please call Pat Caloia at 805-643-8959.

May 21-27: National Safe Boating Week is an excellent time to refresh on safe and responsible boating and ensure you have all safety measures before heading out. On Saturday, boaters and their families are invited to attend the Safe Boating Open House at U.S. Coast Guard Station Channel Islands. Local organizations and public safety agencies will be onsite to provide information on the latest boating safety.
You can also visit the website HTTPS://www.safeboating.us which includes safety and demonstration videos, including how to use life jackets, fire extinguishers, flares, and more.
The Safe Boating Open House at U.S. Coast Guard Station Channel Islands will take place Saturday from 10-2 p.m. at 4201 S. Victoria Ave. in Oxnard.

May 25: The College Area Community Council in Ventura will be holding a Zoom meeting on Wednesday at 7 p.m.  An invitation and link to the meeting will be sent to everyone on the CACC mailing list.  CACC represents citizens in the area bounded by Mills Road on the west, Hill Road on the east, city limits in the hillsides on the north, and the 126 Freeway on the south.  Visit the College Area Community Council website @ https://caccventura.com  to learn more, add to the mailing list, and access a link to the Zoom meeting.”

May 28: Saturday, the Ventura County Handweavers and Spinners Guild will hold a hybrid in-person / zoom meeting at the Studio Channel Islands Art Center (SCIART) – 2222 Ventura Blvd., Old Town Camarillo, from 9 – Noon. General Meeting will be from 9 – 10:30 a.m. in the Community Room, and the Program will be from 10:30 – Noon. For more information on Programs and Workshops, please visit www.vchsg.org.

CMH Auxiliary Volunteer Opportunity

Remember a few months ago when you made those New Year resolutions? You had such good intentions! You were going to find something worthwhile to do to get you involved with the community after being isolated because of Covid restrictions. So now time has passed and you still haven’t honored those resolutions.

It’s not too late! The Auxiliary at Community Memorial Hospital needs your help. There are volunteer opportunities in most areas of the hospital, and your assistance is appreciated by both patients and staff. Applications are available at the front desk at the hospital, or call us at 805-948-4299, leave a message, and we’ll get back to you with information and an application. Come join us!

AIDS walk on May 14, starting at Plaza Park in Ventura

Diversity Collective Ventura County is in the trenches fighting to make a positive impact on the ways HIV and AIDS affect us locally. After 2 years of shut down due to COVID19, we will once again walk the walk on May 14, starting at Plaza Park in Ventura.

As you know, there is still no cure for HIV and AIDS, and the incidents of infections is on the rise. Twice as many people tested positive in 2020 than did in 2019, and many of them are youth. Diversity Collective is dedicated to helping our County agencies fill in the gaps of services with our HIV/AIDS Education and Prevention program, funded by our AIDS Walk.

We invite everyone to help us raise awareness and funds for this much needed program! We can only do this work with the generous support of our sponsors, community partners, and those dedicated to making Ventura County a safe and healthy place to live.

For information on participating as a walker or a sponsor, please visit:

https://aidswalkventuracounty2022.funraise.org/

 

The Bookmark

About Libraries and Friends
by Jill Forman

Library Events

Several exciting happenings going on in May!

An Afternoon with George Christie – at the E.P. Foster Library

(press release from the Library) 

Ex-Hells Angels president George Christie will visit Ventura’s E.P. Foster Library to deliver a lecture, slide show, and Q&A at 2:00 pm on Saturday, May 14, in the library’s Topping Room. Christie is the longest serving president in club history and one-time international spokesperson for the club, as well as a rare peacemaker in a brutally violent culture.

George Christie, Jr. was born in 1947 in Ventura to a family of Greek immigrants. He grew up as an only child and from an early age was fascinated by motorcycles and outlaw culture. He became a full-patch Hells Angel in the Los Angeles charter in 1976 and, six months later, became president of that charter before founding the Ventura charter in 1978.

In 2011, he resigned his presidency of the Ventura charter and left the club. He spent a year in a Texas Federal prison as part of a plea deal, and in August of 2014 he was released from custody. Since his release, Christie has starred in the History Channel TV show, Outlaw Chronicles: Hells Angels, and written his memoirs, Exile on Front Street. Christie currently serves as a consultant for defense attorneys and news outlets, and works with first-time offenders helping them navigate the judicial process. He has been in Spain for the last two-and-a-half years working on TV and writing projects, and has returned to Ventura to produce his stage play Outlaw.

A book signing will follow this presentation, with books available for purchase on site.

The E.P. Foster Library is located at 651 East Main Street in Ventura.

Local Author Talk at Hill Road Library – on the subject of Alzheimer’s Disease by someone who knows it on a scientific, legal and personal level

Michele Artiz Smith, J.D. will visit the Hill Road Library on Sunday, May 15th, 2022 at 11:30 a.m. to discuss her book My Husband’s Keeper: A Memoir. 

Smith takes the reader through the early, middle, and late stages of Alzheimer’s disease. After her husband’s diagnosis, she vowed to learn as much as possible about the condition, becoming a State-Certified Ombudsman and gaining a window into the world of dementia and Alzheimer’s through visiting long-term care facilities and meeting with other families that experience this illness. 

More information can be found on her website: myhusbandskeeper.com 

The Hill Road Library is located at 1070 South Hill Road in Ventura.

Rescheduled Music Event

In previous columns we learned about the music presentation “Lyrical Literature, The Songs and Theatre Music of Ross Care,” a concert of original musical settings of well-known poets and excerpts from theater scores performed by an ensemble of singers and instrumentalists.

Originally scheduled for Saturday March 26 at Foster Library it unfortunately had to be cancelled due to a water leak. It has been rescheduled for Saturday May 21 at 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. in the E.P. Foster Library Topping Room.

All events are free and open to the public.

 

 

 

 

Time to vote!

Official County Ballot Drop Box located at CAPS.

The June Primary Election is closing fast, and CAPS Media is honored to have an official County Ballot Drop Box installed in our parking lot to convenience voters in Ventura. For this year’s election Ventura County will fully implement the California Voter’s Choice Act (VCA) which allows voters to choose how, when, and where to cast their ballot.

To start, every registered voter in Ventura County will be sent a vote-by-mail ballot by mid-May. Ballots can be completed and mailed back to the County registrar at no cost to the voter. Or, completed ballots can be dropped off at any of the 38 official ballot boxes throughout the county or delivered to one of the county’s 51 Vote Centers. A list of ballot box drop boxes and Vote Centers can be found at VenturaVote.org.

For those who want to exercise their right to vote in person, the county has you covered. As outlined by Mark Lunn, County-Clerk, Registrar of Voters, “For those who want to vote in person, they can visit one of ten Vote Centers that will open beginning May 28, or one of the 41 additional Vote Centers that will open beginning June 4.” Mr. Lunn added, “Plus no matter how they send in their ballot, voters will be able to track it by registering at WheresMyBallot.sos.ca.gov.”

In addition to providing the official ballot dropbox location, CAPS Media is also assisting the county by producing a series of instructional videos designed to facilitate training of Vote Center workers. In the past the training was conducted in person in large group settings. The new video series will allow Vote Center workers to learn, review and reference all of the important tasks and responsibilities online. The videos include step-by-step instructions and demonstrations on how to set up and operate a Vote Center, as well as explanations of the rules, regulations and procedures required of the vital Vote Center worker.

Out of caution the CAPS Media Center has been closed throughout the pandemic and will remain closed until the staff and board of directors deems it safe to reopen. Despite the closer of the center, the CAPS Media staff has stayed extremely busy throughout the crisis managing, scheduling, broadcasting and streaming programming on CAPS Media Channel 6 and 15, and CAPS Media Radio KPPQ on 104.1fm, capsmedia.org and on myTunerRadio.

CAPS Media productions services have continued nonstop to the City with CAPS facilitating meetings at City Hall, and by producing informative videos for Mayor Sofia Rubalcava, City Police, City Fire and other agencies.

For VUSD and other school districts in the county, CAPS is producing an honoring ceremony for the Ventura County Indian Consortium. In a few weeks CAPS crews will record and live-stream graduation ceremonies for Ventura College on May 19, Ventura High on June 15, Buena High on June 16 and Foothill, Pacific, El Camino and VACE (Ventura Adult and Continuing Education) on June 17.

As mentioned, as a precaution, the CAPS Media Center remains closed to the public. During this time the CAPS Media staff and board of directors are using the break to undertake an internal evaluation to determine the most effective services to provide to the public once we reopen the center and are in full operational mode. The CAPS Media mission remains: To create an engaged and informed community through participation in electronic media.