The Ventura Halloween Regional duplicate bridge tournament is rapidly approaching.   It will be held Oct 24-30, at the Ventura Beach Marriott Hotel on Harbor Blvd.   There will be morning games starting at 10, afternoon games starting at 2 and Monday evening games starting at 7 for all levels of play. 

There will be daily team games which are always fun.  Partners are guaranteed.  There will be some experts playing as well as a daily lecture / lesson by Majorie Michelin who not only is an expert player but a well-known teacher of bridge.  There will also be guest speakers daily.

This Halloween Regional is sponsored by District 22 of ACBL – website www.d22acbl.com/ventura-regional. 

Questions?  Richard  805-659-801 or Rose  805-659-9223 [email protected].

For more listings, additional times and genres go to VenturaRocks.com

Aloha Beach Festival
Promenade Park, Ventura
Sat 9/3: Warren Takahashi, Free Love Project, Jacob Marquez & the Good Vibes, Morie & the Heavy Hitters
Sun 9/4: Warren Takahashi, Jill Martini & the Shrunken Heads, Keyth & the Universouls, The Question, Rising Son

Boatyard Pub
1583 Spinnaker Dr., Ventura
Wednesdays: Frank Barajas
Thursdays: Jim Friery; Bluegrass Jam

Café Fiore
66 California Street, Ventura
Wed 8/24: Donna Butler
Fri 8/26: Rick Whitfield
Sat 8/27: Otis Hayes
Sun 8/28: Urban Dread
Wed 8/31: David Patt
Sun 9/4: Free Love Project

Channel Islands Harbor
3600 Harbor Blvd., Oxnard
Free concert – 4-6 pm
8/27: Ray Jaurique & the Uptown Brothers
9/3: Ignition

Cantara Cellars
126 N. Wood Rd., Camarillo
Fri 8/26: Johnny and the Love Handles
Sat 8/27: Fantastic Diamond
Sun 8/28: Moxey Raven Band
Fri 9/2: Oleander Falls
Sat 9/3: Katie Shorey

Copa Cubana
Ventura Harbor Village
Tuesdays: Blues Tuesdays
Thursdays: Glenn Bennet

Copper Blues
The Collection, Oxnard
Fri 8/26: Raw Honey
Sat 8/27: Fallen Saints

Deer Lodge
2261 Maricopa Hwy, Ojai
Fri 9/2: The Late Knights
Sat 9/3: Devon Thompson

El Rey Cantina
2302 Ventura Blvd., Camarillo
Sat 9/3: The Robot Uprising, Out of Trust, RAW

Four Brix Winery
2290 Eastman Ave., Ventura
Fri 8/26: Inna Rude Mood
Sun 8/28: Déjà vu Three
Fri 9/2: Ray Jaurique & the Uptown Brothers

The Garage
1091 Scandia Ave., Ventura
Sat 8/27: Emily Coupe with full band

The Grape
2833 E. Main St., Ventura
Tuesdays Jazz Jam
Wed 8/24: Nick Gomez Trio with Teryn Re
Thurs 8/25: Water Seed
Fri 8/26: Barrehouse Wailers
Sat 8/27: Doug Webb and Friends
Mon 8/29: Derek Sherinian – Simon Phillips (two shows)
Wed 8/31: Jazz Quartet
Fri 9/2: the Guil Juliao Quartet
Sat 9/3: Doug Webb Group feat. Danny Carey of Tool

Keynote Lounge
10245 E Telephone Rd, Ventura
Thursdays: Open Mic
Sat 8/27: Breaking Bored

Leashless Brewing
585 E. Thompson Blvd., Ventura
Thurs 8/25: Andrew Hart
Fri 8/26: Jayden Secor
Sat 8/27: Animo Cruz
Sun 8/28: Spring Loaded

Libbey Bowl
210 Signal St., Ojai
Sat 8/24: Michael Feinstein
Sun 8/28: Tuxedo Junction Jazz Band
Sun 9/4: Starship feat. Mickey Thomas

Margarita Villa
Ventura Harbor
Fri & Sat 8-11 pm; Sun 5-8 pm
Fri 8/26: Colette Lovejoy Band
Sat 8/27: Vinyl Gypsies
Sun 8/28: CRV
Fri 9/2: Whiskey Business
Sat 9/3: Dive Bar Messiahs
Sun 9/4: DRB – Doc Rogers Band

Namba Arts
47 S. Oak Street, Ventura
Sat 9/3: Esteban Ramirez

Ojai Underground
616 Pearl Street, Ojai
Fri 9/2: Nathan McEuen
Sat 9/3: Little Days

Poseidon Brewing
5777 Olivas Park Drive, Ventura
Sat 8/27: Zeke Berkley
Sat 9/3: Dean & Lisa

The Raven Tavern
1651 S. Victoria Ave., Oxnard
Fri 8/26: Operation 90s
Sat 8/27: Rewind (5 pm); Free Love Project (8 pm)
Sun 8/28: Karen Eden
Fri 9/2: Jayden Secor
Sat 9/3: Brandon Ragan Project
Sun 9/4: Mack & D

Spencer Makenzie’s Music Festival
Ventura Fairgrounds Parking Lot
Fri 8/26: A.D.D.
Sat 8/27: Mandex, Sunny Lefurd
Sun 8/28: Morie & the Heavy Hitters, Rey Fresco

The Twist on Main
454 E. Main St., Ventura
Wednesdays: Americana Night
Thursdays: LA Jazz Connection
Fri 8/26: Littlefish
Sat 8/27: Dive Bar Steve (2 pm); Guy Martin Band (8 pm)
Sun 8/28: 80R2D (12:30 pm); Aaron Burch (5 pm)

Ventura Music Hall
1888 E. Thompson Blvd., Ventura
Thurs 8/25: Aaron Lewis and the Stateliners (sold out)
Sat 8/27: She Wants Revenge
Sun 8/28: Switchfoot
Tues 8/30: Jerry paper,
Fri 9/2: Jesse Daniel
Sat 9/3: Cubensis

The Vine
308 E. Ojai Ave., Ojai
Saturdays: Smitty and Julia and Friends
Sundays: Austin Vallejo

Water’s Edge
1510 Anchor’s Way Dr., Ventura
Sun 8/28: Dean & Lisa

Waterside Restaurant and Wine Bar
3500 Harbor Blvd., Oxnard
Sun 8/28: Sean & Colin

Winchesters
632 E. Main St., Ventura
Music Thurs 5:30; Fri 7 pm; Sat 2 pm; Sun 3 pm
Thurs 8/25: Blown Over
Fri 8/26: Steve and Sally Williams
Sun 8/28: Jayden Secor
Fri 9/2: Cinnamon Whiskey
Sat 9/3: McGuire/Moffet Band
Sun 9/4: Brandon Ragan Project
Tues 9/6: Open Mic w/ Jenna Rose

For more listings, additional times and genres go to VenturaRocks.com

Boatyard Pub
1583 Spinnaker Dr., Ventura
Wednesdays: Frank Barajas
Thursdays: Jim Friery; Bluegrass Jam
Fri 7/29: Two’s Company
Fri 8/5: Teresa Russell

Café Fiore
66 California Street, Ventura
Wed 7/27: Donna Butler
Sun 7/31: Urban Dread
Sun 8/7: Intent

Channel Islands Harbor
3600 Harbor Blvd., Oxnard
Sat 7/30: Decadent Decades

Cantara Cellars
126 N. Wood Rd., Camarillo
Fri 7/29: Kelly’s Lot
Sat 7/30: Caliente 805
Fri 8/5: What the Funk
Sat 8/6: the Paulie Cerra Band

The Collection
2751 Park View Court, Oxnard
Wed 7/27: Twisted Gypsy

Copa Cubana
Ventura Harbor Village
Tuesdays: Blues Tuesdays
Thursdays: Glenn Bennet

Deer Lodge
2261 Maricopa Hwy, Ojai
Sat 7/30: David Palmer and Friends
Sun 7/31: Tobacco City, Brendan Willing James
Fri 8/5: Katie Skene Band
Sat 8/6: Cole Gallagher & the Lesser Saints

Fatty Vegan
325 S. Borchard Dr., Ventura
Sat 7/30: Backhand, Cardboard Boxer

Four Brix Winery
2290 Eastman Ave., Ventura
Fri 7/29: Heathers on Fire
Sun 7/31: Clear Sky
Sun 8/7: Dean & Lisa

The Garage
1091 Scandia Ave., Ventura
Thurs 7/28: Mike Beers unplugged
Fri 7/29: Morie and the Heavy Hitters
Sat 7/30: Brittney and the B Sides
Thurs 8/4: Danny Moa acoustic
Fri 8/5: Jayden Secor
Sat 8/6: The Late Knights

The Grape
2833 E. Main St., Ventura
Tuesdays Jazz Jam
Most Saturday afternoons: Fausto Cuevas y La Moderna
Wed 7/27: Fred Kaplan Quartet
Thurs 7/28: Tom McMorran Quartet
Fri 7/29: Matt Harris Band
Sat 7/30: Charles Ruggero plays Monk
Wed 8/3: Jason Fabus Trio
Thurs 8/4: Chieli Minucci & Special EFX
Fri 8/5: Michael Falcone Quintet
Sat 8/6: Brad Rabuchin & Cats have Edge

Heritage Square Summer Concert Series
715 S. A Street, Oxnard
Fri 7/29: Myst
Fri 8/5: Soul Machine

Keynote Lounge
10245 E Telephone Rd, Ventura
Thursdays: Open Mic
Fri 7/29: Zepp Heads
Sat 7/30: The Balance

Leashless Brewing
585 E. Thompson Blvd., Ventura
Thurs 7/28: Christopher Hawley
Fri 7/29: Illunis
Sat 7/30: Blues Bullet
Sun 7/31: Tribe Devine

Libbey Bowl
210 Signal St., Ojai
Wed 7/27: Ojai Band
Sat 7/30: Grateful Shred
Sun 7/31: Grate Shred
Wed 8/3: Ojai Band
Thurs 8/4: Jake Shimabukuro
Fri 8/5: Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers
Sat 8/6: Mark Farner’s American Band

Lucas Sellers Wine
330 Zachary St., Moorpark
Sat 7/30: Jon Ranger

Majestic Ventura Theater
26 S. Chestnut Street, Ventura
Sat 8/6: Third Eye Blind

Margarita Villa
Ventura Harbor
Fri & Sat 8-11 pm; Sun 5-8 pm
Fri 7/29: Colette Lovejoy
Sat 7/30: Vinyl Gypsies
Sun 7/31: CRV
Fri 8/5: Operation 90s
Sat 8/6: Dive Bar Messiahs
Sun 8/7: Doc Rogers Band

Namba Arts
47 S. Oak Street, Ventura
Fri 7/29: Aaron Burch
Sat 7/30: The Dennis and Laura Show

Poseidon Brewing
5777 Olivas Park Drive, Ventura
Sat 7/30: Mitch Bradford
Sat 8/6: Muleskinner Revival

The Raven Tavern
1651 S. Victoria Ave., Oxnard
Fri 7/29: The Remedies
Sat 7/30: Red Rhythm

Topa Topa
104 E. Thompson Blvd., Ventura
Sat 7/30: Spurts, Dry Goods
Sun 731: Illunis

The Twist on Main
454 E. Main St., Ventura
Wednesdays: Americana Night
Thursdays: LA Jazz Connection
Fri 7/29: Masters of the Past
Sat 7/30: Jayden Secor; Crosscut 805
Sun 7/31: Danielle Stacy; Austin Vallejo

Ventura Music Festival
Mission Park, Downtown Ventura
Wed 7/27: ADAAWE
Ventura College Performing Arts Center
Fri 7/29: Django Festival Allstars
Sun 7/31: Sean Chen
Fri 8/5: The Moanin’ Frogs
Sat 8/6: Veronica Swift
Sun 8/7: The Crossing

Ventura Music Hall
1888 E. Thompson Blvd., Ventura
Thur 7/28: Tropidelic, Kash’d Out, Joe Samba
Fri 7/29: Jerry’s Middle Finger
Sat 7/30: gimme gimme Disco
Sat 8/6: Arcy Drive, Oliva Willhite, Late Bloomers, Sour Fin

The Vine
308 E. Ojai Ave., Ojai
Saturdays: Smitty and Julia and Friends
Sundays: Austin Vallejo
Fri 8/5: TD Lind and the Aviators

Waterside Restaurant and Wine Bar
3500 Harbor Blvd., Oxnard
Thurs 7/28: Two’s Company
Sat 7/30: GoletaSound
Sun 8/7: Teresa Russell

Winchesters
632 E. Main St., Ventura
Music Thurs 5:30; Fri 7 pm; Sat 2 pm; Sun 3 pm
Thurs 7/28: Big Adventure
Fri 7/29: Robert Heft Band
Sat 7/30: Steve and Sally Williams
Sun 7/31: Freddy Castro & Friends
Fri 8/5: Illunis
Sat 8/7: Mack & D
Sun 8/8: Debbie Davies

Students for Eco-Education and Agriculture (SEEAG), a nonprofit organization that aims to help young students and the community understand the farm origins of their food and the importance of local agriculture, spread its message to more than 15,000 students and community members in 2021.

“One of SEEAG’s goals is for the public to better appreciate our local farmers, ranchers and farmworkers who grow the food we eat,” says Mary Maranville, SEEAG founder and CEO. “The food supply chain from farms to our tables is a journey we don’t often think about, but we should.”

SEEAG’s Farm Lab at Petty Ranch in Saticoy welcomed over 1,600 second graders, including low-income, Title 1 students, for a hands-on farm experience. “In addition to the wonderful experiential education benefits that Farm Lab gives students,” says Maranville, “it also gets kids outside off their devices and tech, which improves their mental health and wellbeing.”

Another 1,300 students in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties took part in SEEAG’s Child Wellness Initiative designed to educate and inspire children to eat healthy by adding locally-grown fruits and vegetables to their diet. Each student received a bag of fresh produce, recipes and other educational material. Another 200 middle and high school students attended SEEAG’s STEM Career Pathways in Agriculture presentations to learn about technical careers in the industry.

“SEEAG wants to cultivate the next generation of agricultural ambassadors and farmland stewards,” says Maranville. “We’re hoping that learning about the importance of eating fresh fruits and vegetables will create life-long healthy eating habits. We did much of our instruction remotely during the first part of 2021. We were able to return to in-classroom instruction in October.”

After a year off because of the pandemic, SEEAG held its Ventura County Farm Day and Santa Barbara County Farm Day in 2021. More than 12,000 people attended, visiting growers and other agricultural sites to see firsthand how food is grown, harvested and transported to local markets. Visitors experienced a day of agricultural activities, farm tours, tastings, and fruit and produce giveaways.

“SEEAG was able to engage with a large number of kids and adults even during a challenging year,” says Maranville. “We are currently expanding our STEM Career Pathways in Ag outreach to middle and high school students throughout Ventura and Santa Barbara counties and our Ventura County Child Wellness and Santa Barbara County Child Wellness elementary school presentations.”

All SEEAG programs are free to schools and participants. It provides free bus transportation for students attending SEEAG’s Farm Lab.

Major 2021 donors included Haas Automotive Foundation, Gill’s Onions, Sprout’s, Ed and Jeanne Woods Family Foundation and Wood-Claeyssens Foundation.

For more about SEEAG, go to www.SEEAG.org.

The Ventura Unified School District (VUSD) Board accepted a letter of retirement from Superintendent Dr. Roger Rice, effective September 3, 2022.

As the Superintendent who led the District through incredible gains and the pandemic, Dr. Rice worked to prioritize student achievement, innovation, access, and sound financial stewardship during his tenure.

“The last two years have been exceptionally challenging for educators across the State. Yet, throughout the pandemic, Dr. Rice never wavered in his commitment to our community’s children, their bright futures, and safety. Often working around the clock to problem solve in an ever-changing landscape, he led our District with honor, passion, and dedication,” stated Board President Sabrena Rodriguez. “We will forever be grateful for his time as our Superintendent. We wish him all the best in his retirement.”

Under Dr. Rice’s leadership, the District has focused its attention on implementing systems and processes to ensure every student succeeds in the Ventura Unified School District. In addition, the District has focused on equity, alternative educational options, improving educational services, technology, facilities, fiscal responsibility, communications, and professional development during his tenure.

Since Dr. Rice joined the VUSD team in 2019, VUSD has focused on equity and access by transitioning the District to becoming technology-driven, providing each student with a device and Wi-Fi when needed, and implementing the CANVAS content delivery system. In addition, new technology platforms were purchased.

Always a proponent of “access for everyone,” Dr. Rice came in and started the Special Education District Advisory Committee, the African American Parent Advisory Committee, increased

diversity in school and District leadership personnel, and adopted culturally responsible curriculum and instructional materials.

In addition, he focused his attention on providing innovative programs for all students and ensured that all Career Technical Education courses would be A-G compliant. In addition, he envisioned and broke ground on a one-of-a-kind organic farm housed at Pacific High School, Sa’Aliyas Ranch, that will allow students to see all aspects of a successful agricultural farm, including the technology, finance, and marketing that goes along with running it. Finally, under his leadership, VUSD built a Business Advisory Board to ensure CTE courses utilized updated equipment and methodologies and created a pipeline for students into careers upon graduation.

Through attrition, Dr. Rice led Human Resources on a project to reevaluate every open position to determine if it was needed or if the resources may be needed in other areas. In addition, he led the 7-11 Committee process that declared several District properties surplus, allowing the District the freedom to consider renting, repurposing, or selling properties not currently being used for student learning. He also worked to support and pass the Parcel Tax Ballot initiative.

Under Dr. Rice’s leadership, the District opened up all schools to the Schools of Choice process, which now allows all families to put in for a lottery drawing for any school in VUSD they feel is the best choice for their child. This year, the District increased its K-8 offerings by opening Lemon Grove School and expanding ATLAS Elementary to K-8 for Fall 2022. In addition, he implemented the new FLEX program that allowed multi-site attendance and distance plus live classroom attendance for each student in the program.

Dr. Rice’s leadership, professional development opportunities grew exponentially. He saw talent within the District and began an Aspiring Administrators Academy that allowed current staff to learn from, be mentored by, and shadow the District’s most exceptional administrators. He also implemented the VUSD Gratitude Awards recognizing employee, student, volunteer, and administrator excellence.

In addition to all of the above, Dr. Rice navigated the District through the COVID-19 crisis. He advocated ensuring that the State considered how decisions would impact students at the state level. He led the Ventura Unified staff to be the first District to return to full-time, in-person learning and offered multiple options for families who were not ready to return in person.

Driven to educate and innovate, he was honored in 2022 with the Superintendent of the Year Award for Region 13 by the Association of California School Administrators.

To celebrate Earth Day, the Ventura High School PTSA sponsored a volunteer beautification day. They planted three trees (Arbutus Marina and Western Redbud), many drought-tolerant shrubs, and added mulch to the campus quad area. Students will appreciate the attractive new landscaping. Project leaders were Cherie Egbert, Liz Rose, Kerry Weisel, Sheryl Miller and Mayra Benitez Tadillo.

venturatreealliance.com

Housing Trust Fund Ventura County (Housing Trust Fund VC) announced that Housing and Community Development (HCD) Director Gustavo Velasquez will keynote the nonprofit’s signature event – Compassion Campaign 2022 on Thursday, May 12th at Maravilla Gardens in Camarillo.

“We are honored that Director Velasquez sees the work we are doing here in Ventura County to provide safe, equitable homes for all and will be sharing his perspective on the state of affordable housing in California,” said Linda Braunschweiger, CEO, Housing Trust Fund Ventura County. “This year’s Compassion Campaign will be an unforgettable immersion experience, highlighting that our lives are connected through one common need – housing.” Similar to immersive experiences offered by the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, guests will take a deeply moving journey as they experience housing challenges faced through the eyes of members of the local community, from farmworkers to bankers, students to teachers, baristas to veterans. Tickets for Housing Trust Fund Ventura County’s Compassion Campaign may be purchased at www.HousingTrustFundVC.org.

“I’m excited to be back in Ventura County and be a part of the 2022 Compassion Campaign event,” HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez said. “As we all know, housing is the foundation for everything else one needs to live a decent life, and this administration has made it a top priority to create the affordable housing our state so desperately needs. From the recent release of our new Statewide Housing Plan to big developments in many of the programs HCD administers, we have a lot to talk about, and I look forward to an insightful discussion.”

In May of 2020, Gustavo Velasquez was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to be the next Director of the California Department of Housing and Community Development. In this leadership role, Velasquez leads California’s housing policy agenda and administers a wide range of programs that produce, preserve, and protect affordable housing and communities of opportunity across the state. Velasquez was a senior director at the Urban Institute, a renowned national research organization working to provide data analysis and insights to policymakers and practitioners. Velasquez served for nearly three years as assistant secretary for fair housing and equal opportunity at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and served on behalf of president as the strategic lead of the fair housing and inclusive community agenda for the Obama administration. During his tenure, HUD achieved groundbreaking enforcement victories in fair lending and in major housing discrimination cases. Velasquez led efforts to promulgate the landmark Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, a key tool for cities, states, and other HUD funding recipients to reduce inequality and disparities in access to opportunity.

Housing Trust Fund Ventura County – Launched as a 501c3 nonprofit corporation in 2011, Housing Trust Fund VC is the local trusted leader in helping to increase affordable housing options throughout Ventura County by leveraging public-private partnerships to provide low-cost, flexible loans early in the housing development cycle. As of April 1, 2022 Housing Trust Fund VC has invested over $22.3 million through its revolving loan fund, creating 870 affordable apartments and homes for very-low, low- and middle-income employees, transitional age foster youth, veterans, farm workers, and the homeless.