Tess MaGregor recovers from her fall off a cliff.

Seen here with Elsa Swenson and Mae, Tess makes a quick recovery after a dreadful fall off of a cliff just outside of Hidden Valley during her outing with the evil realestate mogal, Langley Lohan. It is unknow at this time if Lohan was at fault. Mr. Lohan, Tess and 20 other citizens from Hidden Valley will perform for Sespe Players Community Theater Group at the Sespe School Auditorium this weekend.

Sespe Players' continue their colorful performance of “The Hare-Raising Saga of Hidden Valley” this weekend. It's a one-of-a-kind Melodrama written and directed by Chris Villegas.

Show times are Friday and Saturday at 7:00 pm and Sunday at 2:00. Tickets may be purchased at the door, Student/child:$5 Senior: $10 Adult: $15. Doors open 30 minutes before performances.

Ojai, CA - Come share and celebrate the bounty of the Ojai Valley with a potluck dinner and conversation surrounding ‘The Frontlines of the Good Food Movement’ with documentary film producer and food activist Dulanie Ellis on Friday, November 18th. Ellis, co-chair of the Ojai Valley Green Coalition Food Council, will also preview a sampling of her feature documentary (currently in production), FARMY: An Army of Farmers, which chronicles the emerging social movement of combat veterans who are becoming organic farmers and ranchers.

Hosted by the Coalition at the Chaparral Auditorium at 414 E. Ojai Ave. in Ojai, there will be a meet and greet from 6:30 p.m.to 7:00 p.m., followed by food sharing from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., finishing with Ellis’s talk and film preview 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Every once in a while we just need to get together over a table brimming with favorite foods, bubbling with lively conversation and surrounded by a community of friends - some old, some new. That's really what Thanksgiving is all about, the ancient communal gathering around the harvest, feeling the blessing of hard work applied to the land and the bounty that pours forth.

The Coalition invites you to join us for such an event. It’s free; just bring a tasty dish (chips & dip do not qualify) to share. We encourage organic and local, if possible, and please bring your own plate, cup & utensils to help reduce our landfill waste.

To make reservations email ojaiculinaryclub@gmail.com . If you have questions please also email the same address or call 805-669-8445.

Photographer Susannah Sofaer Kramer

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The Ojai Photography Club welcomes photographer Susannah Sofaer Kramer to its Tuesday, November 15th meeting. The meeting will begin at 7:00 PM, at Help of Ojai’s Kent Hall, 111 Santa Ana Street, Ojai, CA. Visitors are always welcome.

Sofaer will share four digital slide presentations: The Beautiful Faces of Atria, San Simeon and the Elephant Seals, Desert Light of Joshua Tree and High Flight Poetry.

A self-taught photographer, Sofaer is an award-winning fine art landscape, nature and portrait photographer. She was born in the proverbial trunk of an English theatrical family. Her father, Abraham Sofaer, was a well-known classical actor and her mother was a principal dancer in London’s West End Theater.

Sofaer has an extensive biography as a dancer, singer and actress. She danced with the Bolshoi Ballet while a member of the Ballet Concerto of Los Angeles. She was a dancer/singer in the original national touring company of My Fair Lady and in the movie Westside Story and a principal in the musical The Boy Friend with Joel Grey. In 1963-1964 she was a member of the New Christy Minstrels.

She willingly gave up her career to raise a family, but always needed a creative outlet. As her children grew her childhood dream of owning a horse became a reality and she became a competitive dressage rider (ballet on four legs), and started photographing friends and their mounts at horse shows. The magic of seeing a print develop in the darkroom caught her imagination and inspired Sofaer to learn and explore what else she could do with a camera. Her passion for photography expanded to encompass portraits, both people and animals, with the emphasis on capturing and revealing the inner life of her subject.

Later creative explorations led to landscape and nature photography. In Sofaer’s own words. “I love being in the countryside, not only photographing the beauty and grandeur of nature but also those small intimate moments that tell the story of a time and place. Composing a shot is like setting the stage, then one only has to patiently wait for the light and the drama to occur.”

For additional information about the Ojai Photography Club visit: http://ojaiphotoclub.com/ For Susannah Sofaer Kramer, visit Sofaer Photography at: http://www.sofaerphotography.com/

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - Actor Spencer Garrett will talk to California Lutheran University students and the community from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16, as part of the “Conversations With …“ series.

The informal discussion on the craft of acting will be held in the Preus-Brandt Forum on the Thousand Oaks campus. Actor, writer and director Markus Flanagan, who teaches at CLU, will be the moderator for a one-hour talk followed by a question-and-answer session with the audience.

Garrett has appeared in productions ranging from big movies like “Casino Jack” to the indie film “Cruel Will” set for release in 2012. He has also acted in more than 100 television episodes and will appear next year in the new HBO series "Luck" with Dustin Hoffman. The third-generation actor is the son of former two-term Screen Actor’s Guild president Kathleen Nolan and former Film Artists Associates President Richard Heckenkamp. He was raised in New York and Los Angeles and attended Duke University and Fordham University before embarking on his theatrical studies with Sanford Meisner.

Flanagan’s 2007 book, “One Less Bitter Actor: The Actor’s Survival Guide,” explains how to make it in the business of acting while staying sane and focused. The “Conversations With …” talks at CLU take the same approach, providing theater arts students and other aspiring actors with advice from professionals.

Farm Fresh Clothing Co. is sponsoring the series. Donations will be accepted. Proceeds will benefit the CLU Theatre Arts Department.

Preus-Brandt Forum is located south of Olsen Road near Mountclef Boulevard.

For more information, call 805-493-3415 or e-mail dramadpt@callutheran.edu.

Queen Victoria was history's longest reigning female monarch. Her 63-year rule was also the longest in British history, during which the United Kingdom of Great Britain became the world’s most powerful nation and largest empire. Today, we often refer to the years of her reign as the Victorian Age, a time period identified with strict codes of morality and social conformity. Yet Queen Victoria was in fact an independent thinker, which her advisors did a good job of concealing. Learn about her contradictory life and times in Queen Victoria: Torn Between Independence and Etiquette, an exhibition of ¼ life-size George Stuart Historical Figures® of Queen Victoria at various ages, as well as other personalities of the period. The exhibit opens November 15, 2011 and runs through February 5, 2012 at the Museum of Ventura County.

In an accompanying monologue on January 17 at 1:30 pm. in the museum’s Martin V. and Martha K. Smith Pavilion, artist and historian George Stuart will delve into Queen Victoria’s strict upbringing, her loving marriage with Prince Albert of Saxe-Gotha, her attempts to influence national politics, and the trials and tribulations of her public and private lives. Admission to the monologue is $15 for the general public, $10 for museum members, and includes admission to all museum exhibits. For reservations, call (805) 653-0323 x 7.

The Museum of Ventura County is located at 100 East Main Street in downtown Ventura. Hours are 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. For more museum information go to www.venturamuseum.org or call 805-653-0323.

SANTA PAULA, CA - The City of Santa Paula’s California Oil Museum (1001 E. Main St. Santa Paula, Adults $4, Seniors $3 and Youth (6-17) $1) and the Santa Paula Historical Society invite you to explore the curious and colorful collections of your neighbors in its newest exhibit entitled Collecting Curiosities, which opens Sunday, November 6, 2011 and runs through January 22, 2012.

Museums are repositories for collections of priceless artifacts, but often the objects we consider most valuable in the world are the unusual ones we collect ourselves or inherit from family and friends. Now, some of these personal and singular collections will be on display at the California Oil Museum. The inspiration behind the exhibit is guest curator and retired Santa Paula Police Lieutenant Carlos Juarez’s retro lunchbox collection, of which he has collected over 400. For Juarez and many other collectors like him who scour flea markets and garage sales looking for the next big find, his collection “inspires memories.” He adds that, “we all have something we collect.”

In organizing the exhibit, Juarez has quickly discovered that Ventura County residents collect a great many things including antique pedal cars, Hot Wheels, Cub Scout pinewood derby cars and model trains. The items will, hopefully, bring back fond memories of simple childhood fun…times when you were still of an appropriate age to play with such toys! The show also looks at how collections are passed from one generation to the next in the hopes of allowing the special memories of our families to survive.

The California Oil Museum is also excited to contribute to the show with never-before-seen items from its own collection including antique petroliana, an incredible assemblage of decorated belt buckles donated to the Museum by collector Garry Greysen, and its most recent acquisition of a collection of 1930s The Saturday Evening Post magazines, which were beautifully illustrated by artists like Norman Rockwell and J.C. Leyendecker.

For all of us, there are some things we just cannot seem to part with. Take some time to stroll through the memories of our contributors and see what history has passed down through the generations. The exhibit will be continuously evolving during its run time and we would enjoy showcasing your collectible items…if you can bear to part with them for a few months!

WHO: The City of Santa Paula’s California Oil Museum and the Santa Paula Historical Society

WHAT: Collecting Curiosities, an exhibit of personal collections belonging to Ventura County residents

WHEN: November 6, 2011 to January 22, 2012 (Museum Hours: Wednesday – Sunday 10 AM – 4 PM)

WHERE: California Oil Museum, 1001 E. Main Street, Santa Paula, CA 93060 (Admission: Adults $4.00, Seniors $3.00, Youth (6-17) $1.00)

WHY: We all have something we collect!

Ramona Days are here! Rancho Camulos Museum, where the history, myth and romance of Old California still linger…Please support the historical preservation, restoration, and educational efforts of this 501(c) 3 museum by making your friends, family and business and organizational associates aware via email, your newsletters, posting, and word of mouth of this opportunity to experience Rancho Camulos.

Note: Festival Sponsorship, Volunteer, Vendor, and Exhibit Opportunities are available.

Performances by the core cast and dancers from the world famous Hemet Ramona Outdoor Play at 11:00, 1:00, and 3:00, will highlight the fourth annual “Ramona Days" at the Rancho Camulos National Historic Landmark, November 5, 10-4 . Helen Hunt Jackson’s 1884 classic California novel, Ramona, will come to life at the “Home of Ramona” as we celebrate all things Ramona. In addition to seeing vignettes from the play, watch the 1910 Mary Pickford movie filmed on location at Camulos, view unique memorabilia and historic displays, experience living history and attend presentations by Ramona experts such as “Ramona Memories “ author Dydia DeLyser, and film maker Hugh Munro Neely. There will also be food, music, dance, art and craft sales and demonstrations, original artwork by local artists, museum and garden tours, free children’s activities and more. Visitors are encouraged to come in costume and character for a fun experience. View the 2009 event filmed for Roger Martin’s Out and About series: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UmGbXwCMao .

In order to encourage wide community participation, admission fees are reasonable with advance tickets for $5, and gate admission $10. Ages 12 and under free. Get advance tickets in person at our gift shop, via email, phone, mail, and at will call. Call 805-521-1501 or email info@ranchocamulos.org. Additional details at www.ranchocamulos.org. Vendor, volunteer, and sponsorship opportunities are available for this unique event. All proceeds benefit the historical preservation, restoration, and educational efforts of this 501(c) 3 museum.

Rancho Camulos is located on HWY 126, 2 miles east of Piru / 10 miles west of the I-5 Newhall Ranch Road exit.
Sunday, November 6, 2011, 1pm – 5pm.Attend this Ramona Days benefit reception at Rancho Camulos National Historic Landmark which will be highlighted by a special screening of D.W. Griffith’s 1910 Ramona starring Mary Pickford with live musical presentation of the soundtrack featuring composer Maria Newman and unique insights provided by film historian and the editor of the re-mastered film, Hugh Munro Neely of the Mary Pickford Institute for Film Education. In addition to the movie which was filmed on location at Rancho Camulos, there will be special tours, an elegant small plate buffet, wine, and nonalcoholic beverages. Proceeds will benefit this 501(c) (3) museum’s preservation, restoration, and educational efforts. Seating for this unique experience is very limited and the donation is $100 per person. Advance reservations are required by October 31. For reservations call 805-521-1501 or email info@ranchocamulos.org. Additional details at www.ranchocamulos.org
Rancho Camulos is located on Highway 126, 10 miles west of the I-5 and 2 miles east of Piru.

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - The California Lutheran University wind and jazz ensembles will present a concert in Samuelson Chapel at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18.

The University Wind Ensemble conducted by Director of Bands Michael D. Hart will open the fall concert with John Barnes Chance’s popular and exciting “Incantation and Dance.” The ensemble will close the first half with Alfred Reed’s monumental composition “Russian Christmas Music.” Additional works featured include Frank Ticheli’s “Sanctuary” and Jaime Texidor’s “Amparito Roca.”

The Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Peter Woodford, will close the concert with a variety of favorites from the jazz tradition.

Hart also conducts CLU’s Chamber Winds Ensemble and the CLU Pep Band, as well as providing lessons to all trombone, euphonium and tuba students and teaching courses in music theory and ear training. A native of Minnesota, Hart he holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from Concordia College in Minnesota and a master’s degree in music from The University of Iowa. He is completing his doctorate in conducting The University of Iowa. Prior to his appointment at CLU, he was a faculty member at Iowa Wesleyan College and a band director in the Minnesota public schools at the elementary, junior high and high school levels.

Woodford, an adjunct lecturer in jazz guitar, has been playing guitar professionally since 1969. For 19 years, he played with The Doc Severinsen NBC Tonight Show Band on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson." He has accompanied a diverse array of musical artists whose styles range from jazz to classical to rock to pop to country. His eclectic career encompasses recordings, television shows, commercials, motion pictures, theatrical productions and concerts. He also works as a fretted instrumentalist for various orchestras in the Los Angeles area.

The chapel is located south of Olsen Road off of Campus Drive on the Thousand Oaks campus. Additional parking is available at the corner of Olsen and Mountclef Boulevard.

Donations will be accepted. For more information, call the Music Department at 805-493-3306 or visit http://www.callutheran.edu.

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Ghost Bikes, a recently completed documentary by Danny Gamboa, concentrates on Southern California’s part in a worldwide phenomenon of white bikes appearing as unofficial memorials where bicyclists have lost their lives in traffic accidents. In Ventura County this year, ghost bikes have been installed in remembrance of fallen riders Nick Haverland and Jose Luis Carmona. The Ghost Bikes film will be shown at both 6:30 and 7:15 pm on Friday, November 18, at the Museum of Ventura County, and the filmmaker will be there to answer questions. Admission is $5 for the general public, free for museum members. It includes entry to all exhibits, including Departures, which features the ghost bike made to honor Nick Haverland, the 20-year old Ventura College student struck and killed on Telegraph Road this past May. For reservations to either screening, call 805-653-0323 x 7.

A ghost bike is first stripped to its basics and painted white. Often local artists contribute elements, and then the bike is anonymously left locked to a street sign near the crash site. The first ghost bikes appeared in St. Louis in 2003, and volunteers tracking the sites estimate that since then, more than 150 have appeared worldwide. Gamboa, a Long Beach based filmmaker, sees ghost bikes as art that can raise awareness about safety and encourage communication about sharing the road. Gamboa is a cyclist who has installed ghost bikes for fallen strangers.

The Museum of Ventura County is located at 100 East Main Street in downtown Ventura. Hours are 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is $4 adults, $3 seniors, $1 children 6-17, members and children under 6 are free. For more museum information go to www.venturamuseum.org or call 805-653-0323.

Photograph courtesy of Don Scanlin
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Written by Ann Scanlin

A group of Ojai women gathered six years ago to make a quilt to donate to a local non-profit. It was so much fun that they decided to create a quilt every year. The Ojai valley Museum is the grateful recipient of their 2011 textile artistry and is being offered as the ONLY item in the museum’s Annual Fall Raffle. This fundraiser supports the museum’s programs and exhibits.

This year the theme of the quilt is “Wildflowers of California” which features twelve, hand embroidered and appliquéd wildflowers. Many of the featured blooms grow right here in Ojai: Matilija poppy, California poppy, sunflower, morning glory and the thistle. The finished size of the quilt is 52”w x 65”h, perfect as a wall hanging or a bed coverlet. The estimated value is $2,500. The overall quilt design is an adaptation from “Wildflowers” by Pearl P. Pereira, P3 Designs, San Marcos, CA.

Early in 2011 this group of textile artists - Heidi DiCapua, Judy Hooper, Glenda King, Susan Leech, Sheryl McArthur, Ann Scanlin and Jane Weirick met to decide on this year’s design. Upon deciding the size and theme of the new project, two or three of the group volunteered to shop for the batik fabric in the appropriate colors. At the next meeting each quilter selected a design block to complete and the fabrics to use in her appliqué and the fun began. Many convivial hours were spent appliquéing and embroidering. After months of concentration and the blocks were complete, the group assembled their blocks in the overall quilt design. The blocks were ultimately sewn together with a border which was appliquéd and embroidered with the California poppy design. The batting was placed on the back of the quilt and finished with a backing fabric and a finishing edge. The textile was then machine quilted by Dee Angus, a master quilter who donates her time to add the “piece de resistance”. This process, from start to finish, took about nine months and approximately 200 collective hours of sewing.

The quilt will be on display from October 26 until November 9 at Rains Department Store, and from November 10 through November 23 at Ojai Community Bank. Brochures and return envelopes will be at each location for purchasing tickets. The quilt will go back to the Museum over the Thanksgiving holiday and through early December when the winner will be announced. Tickets for the quilt drawing are $10.00 per ticket or 3 for $25.00. The winner need not be present.

The Ojai Valley Museum, established in 1967, is generously supported in part by Museum Members, Private Donors, Business Sponsors and Underwriters, the Smith-Hobson Foundation, Wood-Claeyssens Foundation, City of Ojai, and the Rotary Club of Ojai.

The museum is located at 130 W. Ojai Avenue, Ojai, CA. Admission: free for current 2011 members, adults - $4.00, students - 18 and under - $1.00, children 6–18 - $1.00 and children 5 and under – free. Gallery Hours are Tuesday – Friday, 1 to 4 pm; Saturday, 10 to 4 pm; Sunday, noon to 4 pm. Tours are available by appointment.

For more information, call the museum at (805) 640-1390, ext. 203, e-mail ojaimuseum@sbcglobal.net or visit the museum website at http://www.ojaivalleymuseum.org/

Markus Tomaschitz

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - A top manager with the world’s largest automotive supply company will speak at California Lutheran University on Wednesday, Nov. 16.

Markus Tomaschitz, executive director for the Education & Research Division of Magna International Europe AG, will present “Talents: Competing for the Future” in Lundring Events Center as part of the Silver Anniversary Distinguished Speaker Series celebrating the formation of CLU’s Graduate School of Education and School of Management. The event begins with networking from 6 to 7 p.m.

Tomaschitz asserts there has been a massive shift in the way businesses operate in relation to success or failure in recent years. Ambiguity and anxiety are influencing performance and leadership decisions, negatively affecting companies’ long-term success. He will discuss how we can put an end to poor business practices and implement better ones. He will also talk about how building relationships between companies and universities is the key to the future success of businesses.

Prior to joining Magna, Tomaschitz was executive director of FH JOANNEUM-University of Applied Sciences, one of Austria’s leading universities. He also was senior partner and CEO of Europe–MPO, an international consulting network.

Tomaschitz writes and lectures on management, leadership, entrepreneurship, education and human resource management. He is a member of the Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation board and serves as an adviser on education and research to Austrian federal and state governments.

He holds a doctorate in organization and human resource management from the Institute for Human Resource Management at the University of Graz in Austria. He also earned advanced degrees in social economics and business administration in Austria and an MBA from California State University, Hayward.

Corwin, ELS Language Centers, the Pacific Coast Business Times and the San Fernando Valley Business Journal are sponsoring the free presentation.

Lundring Events Center is located in the Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center, which is on the north side of Olsen Road near Mountclef Boulevard on the Thousand Oaks campus.

RSVP by Friday, Nov. 11, to Lauren Amundson at lamundson@callutheran.edu or 805-493-3445.

Irene Levin Berman

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - An author will discuss what happened to her family and other Norwegian Jews during the Holocaust as part of the 2011-2012 Scandinavian Lecture Series.

Irene Levin Berman will present “Norway and the Holocaust” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15, in Overton Hall. This is the second event in a two-part series featuring personal experiences during World War II.

Berman is the author of ”’We are Going to Pick Potatoes:’ Norway and the Holocaust, the Untold Story.” Born and raised in Norway, she was a young child when she and her family escaped to neutral Sweden as Nazi Germany invaded Norway and began the deportation of 2,000 Norwegian Jews in 1942. Seven members of her father’s immediate family were among the 771 victims murdered in Auschwitz.

After the war, Berman struggled to understand the silence of returning Jews as they tried to rebuild their lives in Norway. Missing relatives were referred to as “having disappeared.” In 2005, she began to examine the label of being a Holocaust survivor and her strong dual identity as a Norwegian and a Jew. She found that the story of the Norwegian Jews had for the most part been overlooked in histories of the Holocaust.

Encouraged by the director of Norway’s Resistance Museum, Berman researched and wrote her book. It is not just about the Holocaust, but also about growing up Jewish in Norway during and after World War II. Originally written in Norwegian and published in Norway in 2008 to good reviews, she wrote an English version that was published last year.

Berman, a resident of Bloomfield, Conn., has lived in the United States most of her adult life. She is a professional translator of Scandinavian languages and has co-translated seven plays by the renowned Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.

Overton Hall is located near Soiland Humanities Center south of Memorial Parkway on the Thousand Oaks campus. Parking is available at the corner of Olsen Road and Mountclef Boulevard.

The CLU History Department and the Scandinavian American Cultural & Historical Foundation are sponsoring the free presentation. For more information, contact Anita Londgren at 805-241-1051 or call the Scandinavian Center at 805-241-0391.

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - The William Rolland Gallery of Fine Art, possibly the country’s only dedicated art gallery housed inside a stadium, will open to the public on Saturday, Oct. 29.

The gallery will open at 11 a.m. A dedication for the $8.9 million William Rolland Stadium and Gallery of Fine Art will be held at 12:30 p.m., just prior to the 1 p.m. homecoming football game against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

The initial exhibit in the 2,200-foot gallery will feature large bronze statues depicting the life of a Native American, oil and watercolor paintings and an Indy 500 racecar that belong to Rolland. In the future, additional pieces from Rolland’s large and eclectic collection as well as visiting exhibits will be displayed. A specially commissioned 7-foot-2-inch bronze statue of a football player, “Heading for the End Zone,” will stand outside the stadium entrance.

The museum-quality interior features a decorative ceiling with a floating panel, a highly polished tile floor and recessed lighting. Bronze-tinted windows look out over the entry terrace.

Rolland, who donated $5.45 million for the stadium, requested that the facility include a gallery that could display his art. The real estate developer and former Los Angeles City firefighter from Westlake Village began buying pieces in the mid-1950s and has amassed a huge collection ranging from 17th-century to contemporary works. A fan of the artistry of high-performance automobiles, he owns race cars dating back to the 1940s including winners of the Indianapolis 500 from three eras. He also has bronze sculptures that belonged to Elizabeth Taylor, a collection of Murano glass and such curiosities as a letter penned by Mark Twain. The cars and artworks will be displayed in the gallery on a rotating basis.

As the feats taking place on the field and the pieces inside the gallery are both examples of what people can accomplish, Rolland sees them as fitting together well. He is also excited by the possibility of exposing sports fans who may not otherwise visit a gallery to various types of art.

CLU officials have embraced the unconventional combination of art and athletics under one roof, viewing it as a reflection of the broad experience that CLU provides to students as a liberal arts university.

The stadium is located on the north side of Olsen Road between Campus Drive and Mountclef Boulevard on the Thousand Oaks campus. Admission to the gallery, ceremony and game is free.

Today we no longer see veiled widows dressed in black, or houses hung with black crepe. But in the 19th and early 20th centuries, grief in the United States had many prescribed customs. On Sunday, November 13 at 3:00 p.m. hear Shelly Foote, nationally recognized expert on costume history, discuss how clothing, accessories and other traditions helped people of that era deal with loss. The illustrated talk will be held at the Museum of Ventura County. Admission is $10 for the general public, $5 for museum members, and includes entry to all exhibits, including Departures: A Century of Death & Dying in Ventura County. For reservations call (805) 653-0323 x 7.

Foote will explore the origins of some surviving customs from that period, such as memory cards, and the demise of others, such as jewelry made from the hair of the departed. She will also explain how, at a time when most deaths took place at home, specific mourning conduct helped families communicate their loss to the community as well as protect their need for privacy.

Shelly Foote’s 30-year career with The National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, included supervision and development of their 1700-1920 Costume Collection. As Assistant Chair of Social History, she was also responsibility for collections including more than 250,000 objects. A Ventura native, Foote volunteers her extensive skills in the Museum of Ventura County’s collections area, and serves on their Accessions Committee. She is president of the Western Region of the Costume Society of America.

The Museum of Ventura County is located at 100 East Main Street in downtown Ventura. Hours are 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is $4 adults, $3 seniors, $1 children 6-17, members and children under 6 are free. For more museum information go to www.venturamuseum.org or call 805-653-0323.

Camarillo, CA - Oct. 21, 2011— Watercolor, oil and acrylic paintings, ceramic sculptures and fused glass will be on display in the newest Studio Channel Islands Art Center’s exhibit, “Show and Tell,” which will open on Nov. 3 and continue to run through Nov. 26.

The gallery will host a reception and awards ceremony open to the public on Saturday, Nov. 5, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Guests are invited to join the artists while they share the stories behind their pieces.

37 artists have chosen their finest works for the show. Featured artists include Rich Brimer, BiJian Fan, Maggie Kildee and Bob Privitt.

Awards for the best two- and three-dimensional pieces will be given during the reception. First prizewinners will receive a joint solo show in the gallery in 2013.

Studio Channel Islands Art Center in Old Town Camarillo is open regularly on Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wednesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The resident artists welcome the community to Open Studios on November 5, 10am to 3pm.

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - Tommy Lasorda will give the keynote address at the 32nd annual "Sparky" Anderson/CLU Baseball Golf Tournament on Tuesday, Nov. 1, at Moorpark Country Club.

Celebrities will be on hand prior to an 11 a.m. round of golf and during a social hour starting at 4 p.m. Celebrities who have attended in the past include Mike Scioscia, Vin Scully and Matt Franco.

Guests who are not golfing are invited to come for the silent auction and dinner, during which the former Dodger will speak.

Proceeds benefit the CLU baseball program. Since becoming a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III and the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 1992, the CLU baseball program has amassed a record of 566-268 (.678). Kingsmen baseball has captured nine conference championships in 19 years of SCIAC membership. In addition, 11 NCAA West Regional bids have been awarded to the club. In 1992, 1993, 1996, 1998, and 1999, CLU advanced to the NCAA Division III World Series. Most recently, CLU finished third at the World Series in 1999.

Registration begins at 9 a.m., and a shotgun start for the event is set for at 11 a.m. The social hour and silent auction run from 4 to 5 p.m. followed by dinner and the awards ceremony.

Tournament fees for individual players are $225. The price includes lunch, dinner, range balls and prizes. Team rounds of golf are available at several price levels, including opportunities for signs honoring corporate sponsors. The admission fee for the auction and dinner is $50.

Moorpark Country Club is located at 11800 Championship Drive.

For more information or to register, go to http://www.clusports.com/baseball or call Marty Slimak at 805-493-3398.

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - Ib Melchior of Los Angeles will discuss his exciting careers as a counterintelligence agent, writer and director as part of the 2011-2012 Scandinavian Lecture Series at California Lutheran University.

“Ib Melchior: Writer, Producer, OSS Agent” will be presented at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13, in the Roth Nelson Room. This is the first event in a two-part series featuring personal experiences during World War II. On Tuesday, Nov. 15, Irene Levin Berman will speak of her family’s escape from Norway during the Holocaust.

Melchior, a Denmark native, toured with a British theatrical company, first as an actor and later as stage manager and co-director. In the United States with the troupe when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, he volunteered his services to the U.S. Armed Forces, operating with the "cloak-and-dagger" Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and the U.S. Military Intelligence Service. He also served in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) as a military intelligence investigator attached to the Counter Intelligence Corps. At the lecture, he will have a gun that was used to try to kill him. Adolf Hitler had presented the weapon to the person who used it against Melchior. The U.S. Army and the King of Denmark decorated Melchior for his work in the ETO.

The dangers Melchior encountered inspired him to develop espionage stories that evolved into novels and films. His books include “Order of Battle: Hitler’s Werewolves,” “Quest: Searching for Germany’s Nazi Past” and “Case by Case: A U.S. Army Counterintelligence Agent in World War II,” an autobiography that will be re-released in a new edition next year.

Melchior directed some 500 New York-based television shows ranging from the musical "Perry Como Show" to the dramatic documentary series "The March of Medicine." Beginning in the late 1950s, he wrote a number of low-budget science-fiction films including “The Angry Red Planet," "Journey to the Seventh Planet" and "The Time Travelers." His 2009 book, “Six Cult Films From the Sixties,” provides the inside scoop on the production of some of his films.

In 1976, Melchior received a Golden Scroll for Best Writing for his body of work from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. He is still writing at 94.

The Roth Nelson Room is located on Mountclef Boulevard near Memorial Parkway on the Thousand Oaks campus.

The CLU History Department and the Scandinavian American Cultural & Historical Foundation are sponsoring the free presentation. For more information, call Anita Londgren at 805-241-1051 or the Scandinavian Center at 805-241-0391.

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - Areté Vocal Ensemble will open its third season at California Lutheran University with a concert program that ranges from the Johann Sebastian Bach to contemporary composers.

"Bach and Beyond, Part 1" will be performed at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13, in Samuelson Chapel.

The goal of “Bach and Beyond” is to make a relevant connection between the timeless cantatas of J.S. Bach and new music by living composers.

This first concert pairs J.S. Bach’s famous cantata “Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild, BWV 79” (“God the Lord is Sun and Shield”) with a new cantata composed for Areté by East Coast composer Kevin Jay Isaacs titled “On The Nature Of:” The new piece is scored for voices, alto saxophone, piano and percussion. The men of Areté will also perform “evening morning day” by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang.

Areté is an innovative professional ensemble of vocal artists in residence at the Thousand Oaks university. Music Director and Conductor Wyant Morton, CLU's music department chair, created the ensemble to perform and record the widest possible choral repertoire, including works from essentially all periods of music history. Special attention is given to contemporary, experimental, improvisatory, crossover and ethnic music.

The ensemble was designed to fill a need in Southern California for groups that can perform the many vocal works that visionary composers are creating today. Areté, which takes its name from the Greek word meaning striving for excellence, focuses on performing the new, the unknown and the unconventional with energy, passion, expertise and virtuosity.

The chapel is located south of Olsen Road near the corner of Campus Drive in Thousand Oaks. Additional parking is available at the corner of Olsen and Mountclef Boulevard.

Tickets purchased in advance are $20, $15 for seniors 65 and older, and $10 for students with ID. Tickets purchased at the door are an additional $5. Children under 12 are free. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit http://www.aretevocalensemble.org, email aretevocalensemble@me.com or call 805-493-3308.

“Art About Agriculture” is an agricultural themed art exhibit which will be held November 5, 2011 through February 26, 2012 at the Santa Paula Art Museum, 117 N. 10th Street, in historic downtown Santa Paula. The purpose of the exhibit is to promote Art About Agriculture by exploring all of the facets of agriculture from workers to water, from machinery to soil and to the food that goes on our plates.

Portions of the exhibit will also be on display at the Museum of Ventura County’s newly opened Agriculture Museum, located within walking distance of the Art Museum at 926 Railroad Avenue in Santa Paula. The Agriculture Museum is open Tuesday-Sunday from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. Be sure to visit both museums to see the entire show.
The public is cordially invited to the opening reception on Saturday, November 5 from 4 to 6 pm at the Santa Paula Art Museum. Cost is $15 for museum members and $20 for non-members. Refreshments will be served. All work in the exhibit will be for sale. The Agriculture Museum will be open to guests of the reception as well from 4 to 6 pm.

Art About Agriculture features art by over 45 artists working in both two and three dimensional media who create art that in some way draws its inspiration from our agricultural heritage and/or contemporary agriculture. That inspiration includes, but is not limited to, depictions of rural landscape, farm animals, farm products, rural life, and art that in a more abstract way deals with issues and ideas related to agriculture.

The Ag Art Alliance was formed in 2007 by Gail Pidduck and John Nichols to promote a greater appreciation of the place of agriculture in our lives by revealing the many facets of agriculture through the eyes of artists. The Art Museum is thrilled to be hosting the exhibit once again.

The Santa Paula Art Museum is also the repository and exhibition hall for the Santa Paula Art Collection. The valuable assemblage represents the accumulation of award winning entries in the Santa Paula Art Show which began in 1937. Also currently on exhibit is the 18th De Colores Art Show, celebrating Latino art and culture. The Museum is open Wednesday-Saturday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm and Sunday from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Admission: Adults $4, Seniors $3 and members and students are free.

WHAT: Ag Art Alliance 4th Annual Exhibit “Art About Agriculture”

WHERE: Santa Paula Art Museum, 117 N. 10th St. Santa Paula, CA
and
Museum of Ventura County Agriculture Museum, 926 Railroad Ave. Santa Paula, CA

OPENING RECEPTION: Saturday, November 5 from 4 to 6 PM at the Santa Paula Art Museum, cost is $15 for museum members and $20 for non-members

EXHIBIT DATES: November 5, 2011 through February 26, 2012