Several local senior table tennis players recently traveled to Henderson, Nevada (Nevada Senior Games) and St. George, Utah (Huntsman World Senior Games) to compete in table tennis tournaments. The Huntsman World Senior Games is the largest multi-sport senior athletic competition in the world. Over 10,000 senior athletes compete in over 30 sports.
At the Nevada Senior Games, Alan Hammerand (Ventura) and Gary Whiddon (Thousand Oaks) won a silver medal in men’s doubles and several at the Huntsman World Senior Games.
Results from the Huntsman World Senior Games:
Men’s Age Singles: David Pessoa – Gold
Women’s Age Singles: Faye Gebert – Bronze
Men’s Doubles: Gary Gebert/David Pessoa (Agoura)- Gold
Women’s Doubles: Amy Akashi/Faye Gebert – Bronze
Men’s Random Draw Doubles: Alan Hammerand/David Pessoa – Gold
Mixed Doubles: Faye Gebert (Canoga Park) Gary Gebert – Bronze
Rated Singles (1000-1199): Faye Gebert – Silver
Super Tiered Round Robin Doubles: Amy Akashi (Camarillo)Alan Hammerand – Bronze
The Ojai Film Festival promises to draw a large crowd for eventful evenings at the Ojai Art Center Theater.
Chloe Zhao will be screening her movie The Rider and doing a Q&A at the 22nd annual Ojai Film Festival. The Rider is a 2017 American contemporary western drama film written, produced and directed by Chloé Zhao and was shot in the Badlands of South Dakota.
It won the Art Cinema Award at the Cannes Film Festival. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a rating of 97% and wrote: “The Rider’s hard-hitting drama is only made more effective through writer-director Chloé Zhao’s use of untrained actors to tell the movie’s fact-based tale.
Chloe is a resident of Ojai and so is coming to support the Ojai Film Festival which is celebrating its 22nd year of honoring the best of local, environmental and spiritual themed films from around the world. This exclusive screening will take place at 7pm on Saturday, November 13th, 2021 at the Ojai Art Center Theater. Limited seating – order tickets online at https://ojaifilmfestival.com/2021-tickets/
Ivor Davis is a British transplant who has lived and worked in Southern California since the 1960s and now lives in Ventura. In addition to his journalism career, he is the author of four books, including the first book ever written on the Manson Murders, “Five to Die,” and “Manson Exposed-A Reporter’s 50 Year Journey into Madness and Murder.”
“I Was There – A Reporter’s Story” is a short, very personal, and intimate documentary about his charmed life from acclaimed Ventura County director and filmmaker John Zilles. Following the screening Sunday, November 7 at 7 pm on the Ojai Art Center patio, the audience is invited to join in for an up-close personal conversation with director Zilles and Davis.
Halloween festivities return to Ventura Harbor Village, and this year’s line-up of events will definitely not disappoint. The spook-tacular seaside destination invites visitors from near and far to stop in for a spell as it hosts free community events for costumed kids, pets and parents.
Festively decorated with vibrant pumpkins, bales of hay, cornstalks and a myriad of photo ops and scenic marina backdrops, Ventura Harbor is pulling out all the stops for Halloween weekend, made possible by community partner, Underwood Family Farms.
Over a dozen skeletons have escaped and are on the loose at Ventura Harbor. Visitors are invited to roam the waterfront Village and locate them all at Seaside Skelton Hunt on October 30 and 31! Take photos of all the skeletons you find and post to social media for a chance to win a Harbor Halloween prize.
Get your furry four-legged friends and their creative costumes ready! The 9th Annual Ventura Harbor Village HOWL-O-Ween Dog Costume Contest is back. The Instagram-worthy pet costume event, set for Saturday, October 30 from Noon to 2PM, is a crowd favorite. Breeze publisher Sheldon Brown will be a judge. Rumors that he can be bribed have not been verified.
A fashionable line up dogs dressed in thematic costumes have a chance to win prizes for the best attire. Owners and their furry com-pet-itors are encouraged to arrive at noon on October 30th to check-in at Ventura Harbor Village before the judging begins. The contest is open to canines only, and a maximum of 75 dogs can enter. There is no entry fee and online pre-registration is encouraged to secure your spot: venturaharborvillage.com/howl2021/
Owners are encouraged to get dressed up in theme too. This year, participants will vie for the top dog spot in costume categories that include: Best in Show, Spookiest, Cutest/Prettiest, Most Creative, and Most Sea-worthy.
Winners will receive a blue ribbon, a $30 gift certificate to a Ventura Harbor Village restaurant, a pumpkin courtesy of Underwood Family farms, and a complimentary pup cone from Coastal Cone.
The fang-tastic series of seaside events continue for a Kids Trick or Treat on October 31, from noon to 2pm. Families decked to the 9’s navigate through the Village with over 20 treat stops at participating Harbor boutiques and restaurants. Trick or treaters are encouraged to bring their own treat bags. Treats are available while supplies last.
Kids get creative at a complimentary craft station where each child can decorate mini pumpkins using colorful stickers and sparkles (300 pumpkins and décor donated by the kind folks at Underwood Family Farms). Bring the entire family for a spooky photo op with the Halloween hearse in Ventura Harbor’s courtyard.
Be spooked, bedazzled and bewildered at Ventura Harbor Village as fab-boo-lously dressed witches and warlocks take to the sea at the 3rd Annual Witches Paddle, a community-organized event on October 29 from 3 to 4:30 PM at Ventura Harbor’s Dock C.
Throughout Halloween weekend on October 30-31, kids and adults can meander throughout Ventura Harbor Village and catch a glimpse of professional pumpkin carving each day from Noon – 2pm. Local artist Dawn Reilly, will be on the seaside Promenade Stage carving a massive pumpkin! Also visit Harbor Village Gallery & Gifts where Riley is a contributing artist. Find the full lineup of fall fun: venturaharborvillage.com/events/
On October 22, 2021, Buena High School’s Teacher Librarian, J.D. Levin, will release his second novel, A Different Slant of Light. After twenty years of guiding students through literature – first as an AP English teacher, then as a Teacher Librarian – Levin has flipped the script and offered up his own original writing for publication. A Different Slant of Light, the sequel to Levin’s 2020 debut novel, Incomplete, will be released through Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Apple Books, Books-A-Million, and a variety of other retail platforms.
Levin’s first novel, Incomplete, received glowing reviews:
“A powerhouse work.” – San Francisco Book Review (Five-Star Rating)
“Levin’s relatable debut is a heartfelt coming-of-age story that channels the passions of adolescence into musical revelations.” Booklife/Publishers Weekly (Grade: A)
Levin’s two novels thread together the disparate worlds of public education and punk-rock music, telling the story of an almost-rock-star musician who trades in his guitar for a podium and becomes a high school English teacher. The author knows these two realms very well: outside of the classroom, Levin is a veteran of the local music scene, best known as the singer-songwriter and guitarist for local indie rock band, Far From Kansas.
Ultimately, Levin’s goals is to humanize educators: “It’s far too easy to view teachers as two- dimensional caricatures, which is far from the truth. Every teacher has a life outside of school, replete with talents, hobbies, secrets, family, and friends. Many have accomplished remarkable things before ever setting foot into a classroom, much to the surprise of their students.”
For this teacher-turned-author, publishing A Different Slant of Light is the culmination of seven years’ worth of hard work. “I hope that my students, colleagues, and the broader Ventura community chase their muses in pursuit of creating art,” Levin says. “If I can do it, so can they.”
After the war Beringer earned an MS in geology and took a job as a petroleum geologist.
On Oct 6th, long-time Ventura resident Ret. Air Force Colonel Robert O. Beringer celebrated his 100th birthday with friends and family in attendance. Beringer lives at the Ventura Townehouse.
Born in Wisconsin as one of 8 siblings Mr. Beringer is looking back on a long, fulfilled life of military duty, including a World War II mission as a navigator with “Ken’s Men”, sobriquet for the 43rd Bomb Group, stationed on the small island of Owi off northwest mainland New Guinea. He received the Air Medal and three oak leaf clusters for combat and in 1947, transferred to the active Reserve.
After the war Beringer earned an MS in geology and took a job as a petroleum geologist with Conoco. A company field trip to the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley and Zuni assured him that this is the part of the US where he belonged and he became a lifelong collector of Native American bolo ties and belt buckles and western art.
His work took him through the oil patch of Mississippi, Louisiana, offshore Gulf of Mexico, Texas Colorado, Utah, Arizona and finally to California, onshore and offshore. Conoco created a consortium of oil companies to join in acquiring data for evaluating the hydrocarbon potential of the Santa Barbara Channel. Critical to achieving this goal was a coring program initiated and operated by Conoco. Beringer jumped at the opportunity to supervise coring operations and moved to Ventura in 1966.
After Conoco transferred Beringer to California, he joined the 9378th Air Reserve Squadron , training monthly at the Santa Barbara armory. In 1969, he was appointed Commander and promoted to Colonel in 1970. The Air Force, phasing out ARD units, merged the 9378th ARS with the 0339th ARS in Los Angeles. Beringer was appointed Commander of the 9339th ARS and in 1975 retired after 33 years of active and reserve duty, retiring from Conoco in 1985. His retirement goal was to acquire a better understanding of world history and geology. Pursuing the objective, he visited over 26 counties, the Galapagos Islands, Machu Picchu, Stonehedge, Pompeii, Egypt, Serengeti, the Silk Road and Switzerland and many states of the US.
As a token to the immensely positive influence Robert Beringer had on others during his long life, in addition to his family and local friends, a group of former colleagues, many of them he had taken under his wings when they were just starting out in their careers, flew out to California from all over the US to celebrate this special milestone with him, stating that it had been 30/40 years since they saw him last but they never forgot the kindness, encouragement and wisdom he represented!
During his birthday celebration Ret. Colonel Robert O. Beringer was represented with a certificate declaring him an honorary member of the United States Space Force!
Council member Lorrie Brown was a featured speaker at the Task Force.
The Ventura Social Service Task Force (VSSTF), Faith Subcommittee sponsored an event on the evening of Thursday 30 September 2021 at O’Brien Hall, Mission San Buenaventura Basilica. Speakers included: Peter Gilli, Ventura City Community Development Director, City Council Member Doug Halter who reminded us of Los Angeles and Ventura’s history of exclusionary & discriminatory housing.
Council Member Lorrie Brown spoke of her life in Montalvo and gave a Call to Action to resolve the housing issues for people with low and moderate incomes. Larry Haynes, Mercy House, kept the program going. Representatives from several low-income housing developers and providers of homeless and housing service.
When Irene Johnson, Jennifer Kelley and Liz Campos offered their personal stories you could feel everyone holding their breath at the different paths to and possibly out of housing.
Part of the evening featured the opportunity to meet many of the service providers who assist people in finding housing and provide services to help people move towards housing. The Faith Subcommittee created a pamphlet outlining provider’s services.
Ventura County Supervisor Matt LaVere stated “It was very encouraging to see so many people joining together to focus on the need for more affordable housing in our community. I look forward to working with our City and nonprofit partners to address the affordable housing crisis in Ventura County.”
City Council Member Doug Halter added “We have to know history to understand how we got to where we are today”. “Now we have to do all we can to create the balance of housing that left on its own would have naturally occurred. We have to insure we have housing for all economic strata and without bias of color, race, ethnicity or sexual identity in order to be a healthy and sustainable city.”
A draft of the Ventura County Master Plan for Aging is now available for the public to review and the Ventura County Area Agency on Aging (VCAAA) is seeking feedback from the community. The draft of the Plan can be found at www.vcaaa.org.
Older adults now make up more than 23 percent of Ventura County’s population, with the number projected to increase to 30 percent over the next decade. In 2019, Governor Newsom issued an Executive Order (N-14-19) calling for the creation of a Master Plan for Aging, which is a blueprint for state government, local government, the private sector, and philanthropy to prepare the State for the coming demographic changes.
The County of Ventura convened a panel of stakeholders in October 2019 to start the process of talking about the reality and the challenges of growing older in Ventura County and what is needed to make the county more livable. The State issued their Master Plan for Aging in January 2021, and the County of Ventura has drafted a more localized Plan.
“The County of Ventura is committed to evolving to navigate the unique needs of older adults and people with disabilities in our community,” the Plan states. “While the focus is on aging, there is an equal focus on optimally aging across the lifespan because a Master Plan for Aging is for everyone in the community. Moreover, we also know that older adults and people with disabilities have common issues, though other challenges are unique.”
The Plan continues, “As the Master Plan for Aging was developed, there was also special focus on areas of import to Ventura County. Those focus areas are diversity, equity, and inclusion. The County has always been cognizant of the diversity in our County, racially, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically and has made continual refinements in how we provide services and connections to resources to ensure we operate through a lens of diversity, equity and inclusion.”
In doing so, the VCAAA is seeking feedback from the community and welcomes comments, feedback, and corrections during the month of October 2021.
“Responses from the community are critical to developing a successful Master Plan for Aging,” said Victoria Jump, Director of the VCAAA. “We want to hear directly from our County’s older adults, people living with disabilities, caregivers, and all those navigating services to optimize aging for themselves and for loved ones. We want this Plan to be reflective of the real-life experiences of those we are serving, and we want the community to have an active role in the final product.”
The Ventura County Area Agency on Aging, an agency of the County of Ventura, is the principal agency in Ventura County charged with the responsibility to promote the development and implementation of a comprehensive coordinated system of care that enables older individuals, caregivers, and individuals with disabilities to live in a community-based setting and to advocate for the needs of those 60 years of age and older in the county, providing leadership and promoting citizen involvement in the planning process as well as in the delivery of services.
Alzheimer’s disease is a brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills, and, eventually, the ability to carry out the simplest tasks. In most people with Alzheimer’s, symptoms first appear later in life. Estimates vary, but experts suggest that more than 6 million Americans, most of them age 65 or older, may have dementia caused by Alzheimer’s.
Alzheimer’s disease is currently ranked as the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, but recent estimates indicate the disorder may rank third, just behind heart disease and cancer, as a cause of death for older people.
Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia among older adults. Dementia is the loss of cognitive functioning — thinking, remembering, and reasoning — and behavioral abilities to such an extent that it interferes with a person’s daily life and activities. Dementia ranges in severity from the mildest stage, when it is just beginning to affect a person’s functioning, to the most severe stage, when the person must depend completely on others for help with basic activities of daily living.
The causes of dementia can vary, depending on the types of brain changes that may be taking place. Other dementias include Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal disorders, and vascular dementia. It is common for people to have mixed dementia — a combination of two or more types of dementia. For example, some people have both Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.
Alzheimer’s disease is named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer. In 1906, Dr. Alzheimer noticed changes in the brain tissue of a woman who had died of an unusual mental illness. Her symptoms included memory loss, language problems, and unpredictable behavior. After she died, he examined her brain and found many abnormal clumps (now called amyloid plaques) and tangled bundles of fibers (now called neurofibrillary, or tau, tangles).
These plaques and tangles in the brain are still considered some of the main features of Alzheimer’s disease. Another feature is the loss of connections between neurons in the brain. Neurons transmit messages between different parts of the brain, and from the brain to muscles and organs in the body.
How is Alzheimer’s disease diagnosed? Doctors use several methods and tools to help determine whether a person who is having memory problems has Alzheimer’s disease.
To diagnose Alzheimer’s, doctors may:
Ask the person and a family member or friend questions about overall health, use of prescription and over-the-counter medicines, diet, past medical problems, ability to carry out daily activities, and changes in behavior and personality.
Conduct tests of memory, problem solving, attention, counting, and language.
Carry out standard medical tests, such as blood and urine tests, to identify other possible causes of the problem.
Perform brain scans, such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or positron emission tomography (PET), to support an Alzheimer’s diagnosis or to rule out other possible causes for symptoms.
These tests may be repeated to give doctors information about how the person’s memory and other cognitive functions are changing over time.
In honor of National Preparedness Month, all residents are encouraged to take action by developing an emergency response plan. Water is an essential resource for survival and a necessary part of every emergency supply kit.
Following a disaster, clean drinking water may not be available. Prepare yourself by building a supply of water that will meet your family’s needs during an emergency. Make sure to stock enough tap or bottled water to last three to seven days. Anticipate each family member will need one to two gallons of water per day. Additionally, customers should be prepared to disinfect available water by boiling water or using regular unscented chlorine bleach products that are suitable for disinfection and sanitation as indicated on the label. To learn more about how to safely disinfect drinking water during an emergency please visit the Emergency Preparedness page.
Remember, water disaster preparedness involves four easy steps:
1. Store water
2. Build an emergency kit
3. Make a plan
4. Stay informed
Residents and businesses are encouraged to register online at VC Alert to receive emergency updates and critical messages like evacuation notices. Be sure to visit Ready Ventura County or VC Emergency for more information about how to prepare for the unexpected.
Due to prolonged drought conditions and extreme heat throughout California, Governor Gavin Newson recently declared a Drought State of Emergency in 50 counties across the State. While Ventura County is not included in the current proclamations, the Governor is encouraging all Californians to voluntarily reduce water use by 15 percent.
Looking for ways to save? Ventura Water is here to help! Apply for one of our water conversation programs or schedule a free consultation with a Water Conservation Specialist by calling Customer Care at (805) 667-6500.
Water Wise Landscape:
Receive a cash rebate for converting your lawn to a low water-use landscape.
Upgrade your irrigation System: Apply for a free smart irrigation controller, drip irrigation, and high-efficiency sprinkler nozzles.
Low-Water Appliances: Install a high-efficiency toilet and washing machine.
Use Recycled Water: Check out Ventura Water’s Recycled Water Mobile Reuse Program
As a reminder, the City will continue to enforce water waste prohibitions, offer water efficiency programs/ incentives, and pursue multi-benefit water supply projects, such as the State Water Interconnection Project and the VenturaWaterPure Program.
Ventura Water extends its sincere appreciation to our customers for their continued commitment to improved water efficiency as the State of California shifts towards “making water conservation a California way of life”. For more information about Ventura’s current water supply situation, visit Ventura Water’s Water Shortage Update webpage.
