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Courtesy Relay For Life of Heritage Valley Facebook
Thank you so much to everyone who came out and supported our 2020 Relay For Life of Heritage Valley Drive Thru Lumineria ceremony this past Saturday! We had over 100 cars visit and view our Lumineria Bags along with our Photo Tribute at the end of the route. We also want to thank everyone who tuned into our Facebook LIVE Virtual Lumineria Ceremony. If you didn’t get a chance to watch, don’t worry! You can view the Virtual Luminaria Ceremony at: https://youtu.be/hcJqpJE04K8. We are so grateful for all of the support and donations we continue to receive from our community! Please know that you can still make donations to count toward our 2020 Relay For Life of Heritage Valley Season up until December 31st! Special thank you and shoutout to our wonderful event committee who worked tirelessly to create a safe and socially distant event for us all to enjoy. Cancer hasn’t stopped, so neither can we!

Fillmore Fire Department

Courtesy Fillmore Fire Department

During the fall months, the dry Santa Ana winds start to blow and increase the fire danger to our City. Even though we require weeds to be removed around homes in early summer, weeds continue to grow year round in Southern California. If you still have weeds to clear or have unwanted tree trimmings lying around your house, now is the time to start removing all of the fire hazards on your property. To help facilitate your weed abatement process, the City, in conjunction with the Central Ventura County Fire Safe Council and Harrison Industries, will be hosting a free Community Vegetation Drop Off event. Unwanted vegetation including weeds, tree trimmings and brush may be dropped off. No other trash will be accepted. The Community Vegetation Drop Off will take place Saturday, September 19 from 9AM to 2 PM at City Well #4, 728 Goodenough Rd. City of Fillmore residents will be able to drive up and drop off their weeds, please follow all posted directions of City Staff to ensure proper social distancing remains in place. Remain in your vehicle; City Staff will unload your vehicle. Only clean unwanted vegetation will be accepted, no trash or dirt will be accepted.

In observance of the Labor Day holiday, employees of Santa Clara Valley Disposal will be taking the day off on Monday, Sept. 7. As a result, Fillmore residential customers will have their trash, recyclables and green waste collected on Saturday, Sept.
12, one day later than usual. The regular Friday collection schedule will resume the following week. For more information, call 805-647-1414.

The book is titled Life is short, full of trouble, and a waste of time! Unless …

Wiley says the whole idea of this little book (only 70 pages) is for the reader to come to grips with the fact that life really is short and that the world really is in a big mess without much hope. . . unless. So he asks the question, “Why are we here and what happens when we die?” Part 1 presents his thoughts regarding the world and humanity, and Part 2 explores the “unless” which provides hope for both the present and future life.

Barbara Christa, educator and public speaker said, “This book has challenged me to think beyond the humdrum of life and has led me to explore the ‘Th-ifs’ and the ‘Unless’ that have blown open the doors of my thinking! It is very well written, an easy read, and is extremely thought-provoking with a fresh approach at putting things (life/death/time/eternity) in perspective. I give it my highest recommendation!”

Just a few months after graduation, Chuck joined the US Air Force and served four years. After that he started his college education at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, then finished with a BA degree in Sociology/Criminal Justice at The University of Texas in Arlington, Texas. He has served as both a juvenile and an adult probation officer; operated an emergency shelter for children for CPS; was director of a facility for the homeless; has been a teen court coordinator; started and operated a facility for developmentally challenged adults; worked with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Fort Worth, Texas; and taught in public schools. He has also written technical manuals describing how to operate and repair fighter jets, helicopters and postal equipment.

In addition to the book, which is available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble, he has written parenting material for parents and character development material for kids that has been used by thousands in social service agencies, schools and the courts in Texas, Arkansas and Missouri. Feel free to contact Chuck by email at cwiley@kitcareserv.com or by phone (817)479-6321 (it’s a land line).

A gathering held in Bardsdale in 1890. The crowd is looking across the Santa Clara River towards Fillmore.
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Willow Grove School.
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[Story & photos courtesy Fillmore Historical Museum]

Mrs. George King, known as Hattie, was born Harriett Busick in El Dorado, California, the daughter of a pony express rider. She came to Bardsdale at age 12 to live with her aunt, Mrs. S. A. Guiberson. She married George King, who was property agent for Thomas Bard, in 1896. Together they had two daughters, Ona and Agnes.

Mrs. King had many interests but two were the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (when she registered to vote it was as a member of the Temperance Party while her husband was a registered Republican), and education. She financed the construction of building that was used for the first high school in Fillmore while the permanent building was completed.

This is an excerpt from a History of Bardsdale Mrs. King wrote in either 1915 or 1922.

An Excerpt from The History of Bardsdale By Hattie Virginia King (1915)
. . .In these early days of Ventura County, before Bardsdale had a name, there were trials, seen and unseen, to endure. The county was infested with thieves and outlaws, and the settlers had to watch their stock, especially their horses, night and day or they were driven away. The settlers finally had a meeting and decided upon a plan to catch these thieves. The decided each one would watch and shoot the first man they caught driving away stock. The men patiently watched their stock, while women and children bared [sic] the doors and also watched, in daytime, with loaded guns. The time came. One man was shot and killed, several wounded and the horse thieves quit coming. Then the settlers had another trial when, as they supposed they were settled on government land, they were driven off by the Spanish grant owners -- period. Many of them went away. But a few stayed and fought it out in the courts and got their land. It was proved the grant owners were claiming twice as much land as really belonged to them. The troubles over water, and troubles went on until that terrible crime was committed the murder of Tom More, the grant owner, 1877.
After the death of Tom More, his sons, the More brothers, farmed the land that is now the Bardsdale tract. Wheat and barley were raised. The Bardsdale land was assessed in 1876 at $9.00 per acre. It was not until January, 1887, that the Bardsdale tract was opened for settlement. After the death of More, Thomas R. Bard bought the land of the More heirs, held it several years, then sold 15,000 [acres] to R. G. Surdam, who divided the land into small tracts and began to colonize. This was in January, 1887, just 35 [years] last January. The only buildings now standing in the Bardsdale community that were standing when Bardsdale was opened for settlement are the houses of John Burson, the first home of the writer, the home of Mr. Lou Henry, the second home of the writer, and the two houses on the More place where Tom More was shot. ...
The first and second year of Bardsdale's life, things was [sic] lively. Mr. R. G. Surdam did everything in his power to advertise the place, and when the railroad was finished through the valley he bought a large bus that would seat 18 persons comfortably and hired a driver and met each train. For awhile, he had the local [train] to Santa Barbara stop two hours in the morning, when he would take as many as his bus would hold on the drive, first to Mr. G. W. Edward's, where the only orange orchard was located, inviting them to partake of all the oranges they could eat, then to the Bardsdale town site [where] with the assistance of his map [he] would point out the principle business houses, churches and school house. He also had a collection of news which passed away the time in showing the tourists. If anyone wanted to stay over and investigate, all arrangements were made with an entertaining housewife to entertain them. Strange to say, many people came and the place was settled quickly. But there were many changes. Some came only staying a few months, others a year or two, and going nearer the city. For some time the Bardsdale bus met the train, and it was the delight of the young people of the county to take that ride as well as the tourists. The bus was around Bardsdale for a number of years, and the young people often took party rides in it.
Mr. R. G. Surdam was a very kind-hearted and liberal man. He gave away nearly all he made and all the children and young people were his friends. The first Christmas after Bardsdale was open, the Christmas tree and exercises were held in the Willow Grove school house, and Mr. Surdam gave everyone present a nice Christmas gift. It was estimated that he spent $500 on Xmas presents. The boys he gave drums and horns, and the young men pocket knives, the little girls dolls, the big girls scrap book and autograph albums, and the ladies woolen dresses. Everyone, of course, had a joyous Christmas. Mr. Surdam loaded the tree with candy and everything good and acted as Santa Claus. So after that, the children called him Santa, and it pleased him. There was nothing too good for the children, and as long as he had money he used it freely. . .

Interface Children & Family Services' 211 has teamed up with Fillmore Unified School District and MORRIS CHEVROLET to get school lunches to kids in need. Many schools have continued offering school lunches for students who have qualified for free or reduced lunches, but some families haven't had the means to get their children to the free lunch sites every day.

Interface reached out to a popular food delivery service to ask if they would help provide free school lunch delivery to the students from Fillmore Unified School District. The delivery service agreed, but shortly after realized that there aren't drivers for delivery in the Fillmore area, leaving many at risk children even more vulnerable to food scarcity. Interface's 211 Assistant Director, Angela Barosso said, "We thought it was such a worthy program, we didn't want to tell Fillmore we couldn't do it, so we decided to do it ourselves while still trying to find help from other agencies."

Until a reliable food delivery solution could be identified, three of 211's Specialists volunteered to start delivering a week's supply of lunches to eligible children and families. The volunteers delivered for two weeks in a row but continuing to deliver these door to door lunches would require a new partnership and collaboration between caring community entities.

Interface's 211 Director, Kelly Brown, reached out to former Fillmore Mayor and Interface board member Manny Minjares, who connected 211 with Bill H. Morris of MORRIS CHEVROLET who quickly responded to the call for assistance. Morris recruited 3 volunteer drivers who used the MORRIS CHEVROLET vans to pick up 100 bags for 54 families over the last two weeks. In addition to this service, Morris has been providing medical appointment and other transportation needs, exposing a stark reality of lack of transportation services available to vulnerable populations across our communities, particularly in rural areas.

Jason Corona, the Director of Child Nutrition Services at Fillmore Unified said, "Our Child Nutrition Services staff have really been amazing in all this to prepare 2000 meals bags in a few hours with the support from the Superintendent Dr. Palazuelos. Our families have really appreciated the help 211 and MORRIS CHEVROLET has been providing." The school lunch services will continue through the end of July, and MORRIS CHEVROLET said they are happy to help as long as they can. 211 is proud to partner with the Fillmore Unified School District and MORRIS CHEVROLET to create innovative solutions during these challenging times.

About Interface Children & Family Services
Interface is Ventura County's leading nonprofit social services agency, providing free, proven, and responsive services to address the complex physical and emotional needs of 59,000 local clients every year. Its 30 programs utilize 10 evidence-based practices to serve children, teens, adults and families who are typically low-income and struggling with poverty, domestic violence, human trafficking, homelessness, incarceration, child abuse, neglect and abandonment. Interface also connects 150,000 clients per year to a vast network of health and human services in 21 counties through its 2-1-1 Information and Assistance program.

Interface's core program areas are: Mental Health and Trauma Treatment, Domestic Violence Intervention and Child Abuse Prevention, Youth Crisis and Homeless Services, Human Trafficking Intervention, Reentry Services, Early Child and Family Development, and 2-1-1 Information and Assistance. The agency has pioneered several programs including launching California's first 2-1-1 call center, initiating Ventura County's Pay for Success Program, and was one of the first agencies in the state to open a domestic violence shelter. Interface opened the only human trafficking shelter for adults and is the only state funded provider of child abuse treatment in the region. The agency operates out of five locations including Camarillo, Moorpark, Oxnard, Santa Paula and Thousand Oaks, and will be providing early education and parent support at an additional 13 First 5 Neighborhoods for Learning Powered by Interface sites.

This important work is sustained through donations and grants from individuals and organizations, as well as by the work of dedicated volunteers and staff. For more information please contact Interface Children & Family Services at 4001 Mission Oaks Blvd, Suite I, Camarillo, CA 93012 by telephone at 805.485.6114 or visit www.icfs.org.