by Richard Newsham, VMF consultant

Tommy Emmanuel and Mike Dawes—“two of the greatest acoustic guitar players on the planet”—have teamed up for a USA tour and are touching down at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center (OPAC), 800 Hobson Way, on Thursday, January 20 at 8 pm.

It’s the 2022 opener for the 27^th “Onward!” season of Ventura Music Festival, co-presented by OPAC/Canyon/Sterling Venue Ventures.

The two guitar giants discovered “good chemistry between us” when recording a spellbinding acoustic cover of the Gotye smash “Somebody That I Used to Know” that has gone viral with millions of YouTube viewers. Emmanuel’s liquid blues lines and Dawes’ mastermind percussive rhythms add solace to this anthem’s “certain kind of sadness” in sync with our current pandemic mood.

Hailed as “one of the world’s most creative modern fingerstyle guitarists,” 32-year-old Englishman Mike Dawes “slaps, taps, and caresses his way to brilliance,” says Guitar World Magazine.

A foremost guitar workshop teacher, music educator and touring and viral artist, he composes, arranges and performs multiple parts simultaneously live on a single instrument with an “innate melodic instinct and incredible guitar prowess.” Watch his amazing solo performances on YouTube of “Jump” (Van Halen), “One” (Metallica) and “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room” (John Mayer).

Tommy Emmanuel—a child prodigy who became “the greatest guitar player alive” and “Aussie national hero”—is now a U.S. citizen recording in Nashville. He is known for his “needs to be seen maybe more than heard” charisma and unsurpassed technique, virtuoso articulation and breath taking grooves “full of grace, fire and chills.”

Emmanuel performs a gorgeous all melody repertoire that ranges over jazz, blues, bluegrass, folk, country and rock. He is one of only five guitarists anointed as “C.G.P.” or “Certified Guitar Players” by his hero Chet Atkins, joining the august ranks of such guitar legends as Django Reinhardt, George Benson, Larry Carlson and Eric Clapton.

Keep the high vibes of the holidays going in the New Year—don’t miss “today’s foremost acoustic guitar virtuosos” bringing their distinctive styles to “a collaborative concert of perfect equals” on January 20^th in Oxnard.

Tickets are on sale now through Ticketmaster, or save fees by calling the box office directly at (888) 645-5006 for will-call-only tickets. For more information and to watch videos visit VenturaMusicFestival.org.

by Jill Forman

Dang, what a year!

The Ventura Friends of the Library, along with the rest of the world, has had an eventful and challenging year. We started off shut down due to COVID with no libraries, bookstore, book sales or our usual occupations and sources of generating funds for the libraries. But we were not idle. We had started an online store; the warehouse changed its staffing to comply with county COVID protocols and continued to process donations.

Some of us made it our mission to stock the Little Free Libraries around town. Folks were frequently leaving boxes of books on my front porch, since they couldn’t get into the libraries to donate; these went into LFL’s in my neighborhood, at the parks, and so on.

Speaking of donations, people apparently used their at-home time to sort through their books and divest themselves of ones they no longer wanted. As a result, our warehouse was overwhelmed. Luckily, many bookstore volunteers switched over to helping out as book sorters and pricers.

We were able to have a parking lot sale at Foster Library, with all COVID precautions adhered to. And later on, a sale at the Topping Room.

When volunteers could get into the libraries again, we moved the Foster Bookstore to a larger and more open area on the first place of Foster Library. This was a giant effort by many volunteers, spouses, and library staff. This new space has been a success with patrons and volunteers alike.

The Friends of the Library book sale shelves at the Hill Road Library were also restocked and ready for booklovers to find more bargains by the time the libraries reopened.

As a result of all these efforts, the Friends will be able to donate a substantial amount to the libraries for services and supplies despite the obstacles of this unprecedented year. Exact figures will be released after the end of the fiscal year.

And the citizens of our community have had access to books!

Library updates from Dolly
The Minecraft server continues to be used by steady gamers. Discover Science, Storytime (held out of doors), Minecraft Monthly (began in person in November,) and the Mobile Library are all currently active and well received. The Mobile Career Center is actively helping at libraries and the Mac van has its own computers.
The County Library System has applied for a $100,000 grant from the State Library for the Mobile Career Center.

Book clubs

Hill Road – last Tuesday of each month at 5 p.m.

January’s book: The Good Lord Bird by James McBride

Foster – January 8 at 10 a.m.

January’s book: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

From Leslie Bellmore, Online Sales manager

Online bookstore continues to offer quality books at great prices, with easy browsing.

Volunteers wanted

The warehouse needs sorters and pricers Fridays 9-11.

The bookstore needs helpers, varied dates and shifts.

Email: [email protected]

Tentative date for next book sale

Saturday January 22, 2022. No location or time available yet. But mark your calendars to come buy books – or better yet, volunteer!

Esmeralda Juarez, Ventura College Foundation’s Weekend Marketplace supervisor, was named a Ventura Chamber of Commerce 2021 Hometown Hero during the chamber’s annual Poinsettia Awards Ceremony December 9.

Juarez, who has worked at the Marketplace for 20 years, was honored for her leadership that enabled the Marketplace to remain open and serve the community during the pandemic. For over 35 years, residents have relied on the Marketplace for their everyday goods and fresh produce. The Marketplace also generated almost 100 percent of the operating revenue of the Ventura College Foundation through vendor rental income. When the county shut down on March 13, 2020, the Marketplace closed, leaving the community without an open-air fresh food and goods market and the Ventura College Foundation with only three months of operating cash.

“The Marketplace reopened 2 1/2 months later after Esmeralda was able to guide her team and marketplace vendors through operating and safety protocols while passing continual health and safety inspections,” says Anne Paul King, Ventura College Foundation executive director. “The Marketplace was the only swap meet in the county allowed to operate almost entirely through the pandemic.”

Initially, Juarez had 149 vendors sell their products at the Marketplace. Each weekend, over 1,200 Venturans shopped for essential goods in a safe outdoor environment. When protocols loosened in July 2021, she brought back 150 additional vendors and raised Ventura College Foundation net revenue to pre-pandemic levels within four weeks.

“Ventura College Foundation now has nine months of operating revenue in reserves and is financially secure,” says King. “We could not have done it without Esmeralda. In the next 10 years, the Marketplace will allow the Ventura College Foundation to support over 30,000 students through scholarships and other services. Esmeralda’s leadership over the past two years will have a tremendous long-term impact.”

In addition to Juarez, the chamber honored hometown heroes Gabrielle Moes (on behalf of Seasons Catering), Ashley Bautista (County of Ventura), Monica White (on behalf of Food Share), Isis Wagner (Veterans Home of California, Ventura) and

Anshul Bajaj (on behalf of Stembassadors).

by Sheila Lowe, MS, CFDe

Every January 23^rd, National Handwriting Day is celebrated by the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association (WIMA), educators, and handwriting analysts throughout the United States and the world. Beginning in the early 1980s, the date was chosen by WIMA because it is generally accepted as the birthday of John Hancock—Remember the Founding Father whose big, bold signature graces the bottom of the Declaration of Independence? Although the story may be apocryphal, rumor has it that Hancock wrote it that way so Mad King George could see his signature without the aid of his spectacles (glasses).

Today, many young adults are unable to read Hancock’s signature or the Declaration of Independence because they were never taught to read cursive (joined-up) writing. Grandparents are often shocked to learn that since 2009, when the Common Core Curriculum was produced, the requirement to teach cursive handwriting in public schools was left out. Consequently, many states simply stopped teaching it. After a few years of seeing the negative aftermath of this omission, the states began to add cursive back. To date, twenty-five of them have returned the requirement to the curriculum and five more have legislation pending. Some leave the decision up to the school districts, and only ten states have absolutely no requirement to teach cursive. California simply requires children to learn to write legibly. However, prior to the onset of the pandemic, the LA Unified School District had a plan to re-introduce cursive to public schools. Hopefully, VUSD will soon see why it should follow suit.

Maybe you’re thinking ‘what’s the big deal? Why bother when everyone uses keyboards these days?’ It would take a much longer article to answer that question, and if you are interested, you are invited to download a free white paper on the current research into why handwriting is still important in a cursive age. It is available in seven languages here: http://ahafhandwriting.org/publications

Bottom line, research confirms that children who learn cursive, do better in spelling and reading, and they retain information better than those who just learn printed writing or keyboarding. Handwriting also helps the young brain develop self-discipline, combatting the effects of video games and TV.

One Ventura school teacher has a strong belief in the benefits of learning cursive. Laurie Curtis Abbe, who teaches 8^th grade at Anacapa Middle School, makes sure that by the end of the school year, every student who entered her classroom will know how to write in legible cursive handwriting and be able to sign their name. Laurie is also an exceptional role model, preparing her students for real life by teaching them good manners and other skills that will serve them well for the rest of their lives. As Laurie says, “all of them know that it will improve their brain’s abilities, help them in reading primary source documents for Language Arts 8 and U.S. History 8, and give them an advantage over their peers for their future in many other ways.”

What can you do to participate in National Handwriting Day? You might want to make a “pencil toast.” Join with the non-profit educational organization, the American Handwriting Analysis Foundation on their Campaign for Cursive Facebook page. It’s easy. On January 23, write a few words and your autograph on a post-it note or other piece of paper; take a photo and post it here: https://www.facebook.com/CampaignForCursive

Below is my pencil toast:

Harrison Industries continues to lead the ecological charge, achieving a noteworthy 12 years of Climate Registered™ Gold status for its ongoing efforts to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

The Climate Registry is a nonprofit organization that operates greenhouse gas reporting programs globally and monitors emissions; using an independent review process, the registry assists companies in measuring, reporting and verifying the carbon in their systems in order to manage and reduce it. Carbon greenhouse gas emissions are responsible for trapping heat the Earth’s atmosphere and causing climate change.

In a recent letter, Climate Registry officials thanked Harrison for opening its corporate books to again complete the registry’s emissions inventory report and congratulated the Ventura-based trash and recycling hauler for its 12th consecutive year of top-level recognition on the elite registry.

“We thank you for your exceptional climate leadership,” the registry’s Ryan Cassutt, manager of verification and registry services, wrote in the Oct. 22 letter. “Harrison Industries will receive a Climate Registered Gold physical certificate and will enjoy enhanced eligibility for a Climate Leadership Award.”

Earlier this year, The Climate Registry rewarded Harrison for surpassing net zero in emissions by a remarkable 21 times.

“As you can imagine, any company just trying to get to net zero is hard,” said Bill Camarillo, CEO of Harrison partner Agromin, “but the Harrisons have been able to average, over 10 years, 21 times greater than net zero, which is a tremendous accomplishment.”

“The numbers are remarkable but not unexpected,” said Nan Drake, Harrison’s director of governmental affairs and public relations. “Harrison has a well tracked history of avoided emissions – including a fleet of trucks that run entirely on clean fuel – and of following all the protocol. At Harrison, we see this as our greatest responsibility and our foremost success as a trash/recycle company.”

In 2019, Harrison was honored to be the only waste hauler to ever be distinguished with The Climate Registry’s Member of the Month commendation.

Throughout its nearly 90-year history – since long before global warming became a sweeping social issue – Harrison has strived to reuse waste material and avert it from the landfill, where methane gas emissions have caused the atmospheric warming that’s led to climate change.

In 1990, at the dawn of the recycling movement, Harrison launched its Gold Coast Recycling facility. Using state-of-the-art equipment – which has been updated several times over the decades, including in 2019 – Gold Coast has remained consistently at the top of national environmental performance rankings.

Among the company’s proudest achievements has been its annual high ranking on the prestigious Climate Registry, which has been governed by U.S. states and Canadian provinces and territories since its design and creation in 2007.

Since joining the registry in 2008, Harrison has remained far ahead of the clean-air curve every year, proactively and voluntarily reporting the company’s greenhouse gas emissions annually through The Climate Registry.

Details on these avoided emissions from recycling, composting and averted landfill use are available in the full report from The Climate Registry, at www.theclimateregistry.org.

A holiday event for families was held at the Arise Ventura church building located at 831 N. Olive on Saturday, Dec.18.  Pre-registered families picked out a toy for each child, a gently used coat, receive a new pair of shoes for each kid, a lunch, a visit with Santa and a pair of custom made earrings for mom. From 1:00-3:00 pm, there were toys and coats for walk up families with lunch.

This event included Arise Ventura ,Boys & Girls Club of Greater Ventura ,Rotary of Ventura ,Rotary of Ventura – Coats for Kids ,CHP and Kicks for Kids.

Patti Birmingham, CEO Boys & Girls Club of Greater Ventura stated “We served over 300 kids at the event. Each child or teen was provided with a gently used coat, a visit and photo with Santa & Mrs. Clause, a plush toy & candy cane from Santa, Moms and some teen girls got to choose a pair of home-made holiday earrings, pick out some Christmas wrapping and or bows, given a Christmas story book and was able to choose a couple of toys for each child (including teens). Two CHP vehicles and officers were onsite in the afternoon for photos and interaction with the kids. Kicks for Kids also made soft tacos for everyone and families were given a food box, provided by Food Share on the way out.”

“In addition to providing some much-needed relief to West End families, it was an incredible example of what can be done when non-profits pull together and pool resources. There was such a feeling of warmth and comradery. Between Ventura Rotary, BG Club and Arise Ventura, we had about 50 volunteers throughout the day.”

“As we pooled our resources and partners together, the Boys & Girls Club brought Rotary of Ventura, Interact (the High School arm of the Rotary Program), Coats for Kids (Rotary Ventura Program), SoCalGas (who provided a $5,000 grant for Coats for Kids), and Kicks for Kids (a program that provides new sneakers and education programs to underprivileged youth).  Arise Ventura had connections with CHP Chips for Kids, City Kids and Spark of Love who all provided toys for the event and Food Share provided food boxes.  Members of the Arise Ventura church also provided coats and some gift cards for families.”

The Boys & Girls Club of Greater Ventura will be opening a Teen Center on the West End in January.  The new center will be located in a building owned by Arise Ventura Church at 831 N. Olive Street and will provide critical mentoring, homework and job readiness, life skill and social wellness programming to middle school and high schoolers on the West End.