Hey Kids & Teens! Hungry to read? June 2--August 31, bring your reading appetite to Ventura County Libraries and join the Summer Reading Program. Earn prizes for every 5 hours that you read (or are read to) and enter into an end-of-summer drawing for a Nook HD. For more information about this tasty program or to print more reading logs, visit www.vencolibrary.org.

The Fillmore Women’s Service Club at their May meeting held an installation luncheon to welcome a new board for 2013-2014. This year they installed Jeanne Klittich as President. First Vice President is Mimi Burns, Second Vice Presidents are Valerie Richards and Rita Avila, Third Vice President is Shelly Johnson, Fourth Vice Presidents are Susan Banks and Valerie Richards, Recording Secretary is Glenda DeJarnette, Corresponding Secretary is Carole Rivera, and Parliamentarian is Michele Smith.

Members met at the Movie Train Café for a group luncheon. This past year they have had a very busy time, raising scholarship money, working on the new Facebook page, and setting up their new Web page: www. fillmorewomensserviceclub.com.

The Fillmore Women’s Service Club’s main objectives are to support the City of Fillmore’s youth and community. This year the club awarded 19 educational scholarships, 2 community scholarships and 3 adult scholarships. It was a very exciting year.

The club’s ability to give these scholarships comes mainly from the proceeds generated from the sale of 4th of July Fireworks. Fillmore Women’s Service Club’s fireworks booth will be located in the vacant lot west of “C” street and Hwy 126 (Ventura St.). Please look for the club’s sign and stop by to support Fillmore Women’s Service Club and to provide scholarships for Fillmore graduates. The club members volunteer their time in the fireworks booth and count on community support to raise the scholarship money.

Livingston Visiting Nurse Association will hold Diabetes Classes to introduce basic information regarding diet, medication, exercise, blood sugar monitoring, new developments and common problems. Open to the public and free of charge, no registration is necessary. Call 805-642-0239 for information. The classes are held:

· In Ventura, July 2nd @ Livingston VNA, 1996 Eastman Ave, #109, from 1:00 – 2:30 pm.

· In Camarillo, July 3 @ Camarillo Community Center, Room 3, 1605 Burnley Street, from 2:30 to 4:00 pm

· In Simi Valley, July 3 @ Simi Valley Senior Center, 3900 Avenida Simi, from 10:30 am – 12:00 noon

· In Thousand Oaks, July 24 @ Goebel Senior Center, 1385 E. Janss Rd, from 1:30 – 3:00 pm

UC Merced Chancellor, Dorothy Wilson Leland, Fillmore High Class of 1966.

This will be our last reminder for the big day we have worked so hard on all year. Join us for the 100th Alumni dinner celebration June 15th, 2013 at the Veteran’s Memorial Building. Better hurry, we have close to 500 reservations already and the fun is just beginning. The deadline for reservations is June the 10th, 2013. You can call the Alumni office @ 805-524-0416 and we can mail you a reservation form or you can go on line to www.fillmorehighalumni.com and print a form or drop by Patterson Hardware and pick up a form.

Our guest speaker this year is Chancellor Dorothy Wilson Leland class of 1966. Chancellor Leland earned a bachelor’s degree in English, a master’s in American Studies and a doctorate in Philosophy from Purdue University which awarded her its Distinguished Alumna award. We are honored and proud to have her with us, back in Fillmore where she began her education.

Social time starts at 3:00pm with visits on the patio area and our parade of class pictures hanging in the building. Dinner will start at 6:00pm with a few words from our board and then it’s time for the delicious dinner prepared by DJ’s California Catering. After dinner we will make a presentation to our Scholarship Foundation recipients. There will be plenty to see and reminisce about throughout the evening. There are several classes having their reunion at the dinner and the fun doesn’t stop after dinner. There will more visiting in the patio area and a DJ for those who wish to dance the rest of the evening away.

Fillmore High School History
The first meeting of the newly-formed Fillmore High School District Board of Education was held June 28th, 1909. The county superintendent of schools presided at the meeting which elected George N. King, president, and Fergus L. Fairbanks, clerk with R.A. Holly, Hugh Warring and F.A. Case making up the rest of the board. The first classes of the new School were held in the basement of the Presbyterian Church while a building was being erected on land purchased by Mrs. Hattie King. This structure (located on Second Street across from the Ebell Club was erected in 1909 and used as a temporary school. Meantime, on September 11, 1909, the people of this district voted a bond issue of four thousand dollars to raise funds for purchasing the site, erecting the buildings and providing the furnishings. The board then purchased the land and chose a design for a new permanent school building. This, the first Science Building completed in 1911 on the present site, was considered one of the most beautiful in the State. Regular high school instruction commenced with twelve students on September 13, 1909, with three more enrolling the following week. It was not until 1911 that the first class was graduated with our students receiving diplomas.

Vision 2020, Civic Pride Committee, was pleased to present a certificate of appreciation to Michelle Patterson of Patterson Hardware for their support of our down town planter refurbishing project with the sponsorship of two pots near the store entrance.

This hardware store has been a mainstay in Fillmore since the early 1900’s. Fillmore was founded in 1888 and Michelle’s grandfather, Harvey Solomon Patterson, “Pat”, was already working there in 1919. The store was named, Hickey Brother’s Hardware at that time.

In the 1930’s, Harvey S. purchased the store from the Hickey family. Then in the 1950’s, Michelle’s father, Harvey Foster Patterson purchased the store from his father and established the motto of “House of Services”, to express their ideal for serving their customers.

Michelle manages the store for her mother, Emma, the current owner. When asked why they wanted to participate in this project, Michelle said they “wanted to help beautify the community.”

The store has a historical plaque mounted on the front of the building that tells more of its history and the interior has many historical farm implements displayed around the ceiling. Visit this traditional hardware store and experience small town service at its best.

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A message from Detective Ray Dominguez:

Greetings Farm Watch readers, recent activity indicates that avocado thefts are on the rise and thefts have been reported in the Somis, Fillmore, and Piru areas. The majority of the reported thefts are small in quantity, but can add up quickly if not reported in a timely manner and fruit is left on the trees for an extended period of time. If you discover a theft has occurred, please contact the Sheriff’s Office immediately at 654-9511 or 911 in an emergency, and keep people out of the area to avoid contaminating the crime scene.

Another emerging trend is the theft of “trap wagons” or portable refueling trailers. Two trailers of this type have been reported stolen within the last couple of weeks from the unincorporated areas of Camarillo/Oxnard. No suspect(s) have been identified in either case, but Detective Robert Arthur of the Camarillo Station is working on it and would be pleased to hear from you with any information you can provide. One of the trailers stolen is similar to the one depicted in the attachment below. Based on information provided by Detective Arthur, it appears the same suspect(s) are responsible for stealing both trailers, and it is likely the trailers were taken because of the red dye diesel the storage tanks contained.

I’m also pleased to announce that Senior Deputy Steve Buckley of the Sheriff’s Santa Clara Valley Station is working closely with Rosie Castillo of the Limoneira Company on forming a neighborhood watch program. They are in the early stages of developing the program, but are extending an invitation to neighboring farms, ranches, homes, and other businesses in the area of 1141 Cummings Road in Santa Paula. If you’re interested in joining the program, please contact Rosie at (805) 525-5541 Ext. 238 or by email at rcastillo@limoneira.com.

Last but not least, kudos to Deputy Nora Sanchez of the Camarillo Station forlocating and arresting a cucumber thief this past week. As it turned out, the crook found himself in a bit of a "pickle" when confronted by Deputy Sanchez as she got the crook to confess to multiple thefts from the farm! Great job Nora!

The following advice is always wise if you suspect illegal activity on your property:

· Call the Sheriff’s Office immediately at 911.

· Be a good witness

· Note suspect descriptions such as age, height, weight, facial hair, clothing, and shoe type.

· If a vehicle is involved, obtain a license plate number and note vehicle color, body damage, bumper stickers, camper shell, after market tires and wheels, etc.

· Provide the dispatcher with information about the time and last known direction of travel.

If you are not sure of how to address a problem or would like additional crime prevention tips please contact your local Sheriff’s Office substation or me directly at (805) 384-4726 or by email at ray.dominguez@ventura.org.

Contacts:

Camarillo Detective Robert Arthur, robert.arthur@ventura.org

Fillmore Detective John Fox john.fox@ventura.org

Ventura Detective Dennis Smith dennis.smith@ventura.org

Agricultural Crimes Detective, Ray Dominguez ray.dominguez@ventura.org

As always, I would like to thank Sheriff’s Crime Analyst Karen Brown for this issue’s great crime and alert update.

Be alert and stay safe!

Ray

Geoff Dean - Sheriff

John Crombach and Gary Pentis - Assistant Sheriffs

Ventura, CA – Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation (CEDC) is happy to announce that one of its own residents has been chosen to be an inspirational speaker at the national Rural LISC conference in Washington DC on June 6, 2013. Angelica Amezcua, who lives at CEDC’s Fillmore Central Station Apartments in Fillmore, was chosen as one of three motivational speakers from across the country to speak and share their personal story about how affordable housing has transformed their lives to affordable housing advocates in Washington DC.

Angelica came to the U.S. from Mexico with her family in 2000 when she was only 11 and entered the seventh grade not knowing a word of English. Before moving into Fillmore Central Station Apartments, her family (two parents and four siblings) lived in substandard housing moving six different times -- always living in one room. She often had to continue studying even when the rest of her family went to sleep in those one-room homes. She says, “My parents and siblings were very understanding and would not mind sleeping with the lights on.” Despite these challenges, she went onto not only learned English, but also went on to graduate among the top 10 students in her high school.

Angelica has learned a lot from her family. One day, when Angelica was young, Thomas, her father, and Concepcion, her mother, took her with them to work in the fields to pick lemons. “My father told me, in Spanish, that he had taken her to work not to help, but for her to realize how difficult life is for someone who does not have an education,” she says. “My father had only graduated from third grade, and my mother graduated from high school in Mexico. They wanted their children to have a better life than they have had as immigrants and agricultural workers. These two individuals instilled in me the values of hard work, determination, and most importantly, the value of education,” she says. This spurred her on to pursue a higher education.

Angelica applied to college CONTINUED »

Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice is pleased to announce the opening of their additional office in Ojai at 202 Canada Street . This new Ojai office joins Livingston’s corporate office in Ventura and their branch office in Thousand Oaks. Livingston remains the trusted provider for skilled and compassionate professional home health and hospice care in the Ojai Valley. Now with their Ojai office, they will be able to fully meet the increased need for home health and hospice care for all residents in the Ojai Valley.

In addition to home health and hospice, Livingston also provides a vast array of community benefits including a full spectrum of free health classes plus several bereavement support groups. Livingston has been serving Ventura County residents for over 65 years and is the only full service not for profit home health and hospice agency in the county. Their mission is to provide care for all, regardless of one’s ability to pay. Livingston is honored and proud to be part of the beautiful Ojai Valley and invites you to stop by their new office, from Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Or call Livingston at 642-0239 or 272-8593 anytime.

Fillmore High School Concert Band entertained the ladies.
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At the May luncheon Meeting the Fillmore Ebell Club installed their officers for the 2013/14 year. The installing officer was Margaret Haskell who did a magnificent installation. Officers for 2013/14 year are: President Charlene Smith, 1st VP Marlene Schreffler, 2nd VP Beverly Brisby, 3rdVP Judy Dressler, 4th VP’s Venita Bloxham and Trisha Armstrong-Roberts, Recording Secretary Melodie Stitch, Corresponding Secretary Glenda DeJarnette, Treasurer Mary Ford and Parliamentarian Margaret Haskell. Also at this meeting a check for $300. was presented to Neva Pickets for the Senior Art Program. After the installation the group of ladies were entertained by the Fillmore High School Concert Band which was wonderful as usual.

Fillmore McDonald’s will be hosting a Fillmore Middle School (FMS) fundraiser on June 5th with 20% of food sales going to the school. The FMS ELAC (English Learners Advisory Committee) is a group composed of parents of bilingual students and Nora Toledo, ELAC President, and Norma Pérez-Sandford, Guidance Counselor, have organized this “Catch Kids Doing Good!” event which will be held on June 5th from 4-7 p.m.

The fundraiser is geared to providing rewards to students who do random acts of kindness, have good grades, show signs of respect to their peers and school authorities, make improvements in their grades and behavior, or transition from ELD (English Language Development) classes to higher level English classes.

Fillmore Middle School administrators, teachers, staff and parents will be serving food to McDonald’s clients between 4 and 7 p.m. Other FUSD employees are welcome to support this good cause.

Should you have any questions, want to join in, or donate, please contact Norma Pérez-Sandford, Fillmore Middle School Guidance Counselor, at 524-6074, or email at npsandford@fillmore.k12.ca.us.

There are awesome kids in Fillmore and Piru. Please help us recognize some of them for the great job they are doing! We invite everyone to come and purchase your meals on this day to make this a successful event for this excellent school and its students.

The Fillmore Library will have it's Summer Reading Program Kick-off, Monday June 3rd at the Youth Building 511 Second Street. The program will start at 3:30 p.m.

Nifty Balloons artists, David and Shana, will delight the audience with their silly and outrageous antics! Find out why "Reading is So Delicious!"

Learn more about this exciting summer reading program at your Ventura County Library at: www.vencolibrary.org
Hope to see you!

The 2012-13 Ventura County Grand Jury’s completed investigations to date appear in published reports on-line at the website: http://grandjury.countyofventura.org. There are other pending investigations that may result in additional reports. If more reports are published before the end of the 2012-2013 term, those reports will be available on-line as well.

June 28 is the last working day of the term for this current Grand Jury, at which time applicants for the 2013-2014 Grand Jury will attend an orientation meeting presented by the 2012-2013 Grand Jury. The official photograph of the 2012-2013 Grand Jury panel is attached. The new Grand Jury will be selected and sworn in on July 1, 2013, at a ceremony in the Hall of Justice at Government Center.

The civil Grand Jury is charged with the oversight of all aspects of the county and its ten city governments, special districts and agencies to ensure that the best interests of Ventura County citizens are being served. To find out more about the mission of the Grand Jury, to download complaint forms, and to view previous years’ reports, visit the website.

Premiering at the California Oil Museum on Thursday, June 27, How it Works: Hydraulic Fracturing, will explore the technology of hydraulic fracturing: from what it is, how it works, to the equipment and processes used. Diagrams, models and products used for hydraulic fracturing will be displayed. With this topic being so prominent in the news today, this exhibit will provide insight for those interested in learning more about the production process. Museum hours Wed – Sun, 10am to 4pm. Admission is $4 Adults, $3 Seniors, $1 Students, 5 years old and younger are free. Members are free.

Hydraulic fracturing is not a new concept. The first commercial application of hydraulic fracturing as a well treatment technology designed to stimulate the production of oil or gas likely occurred in either the Hugoton field of Kansas in 1946 or near Duncan Oklahoma in 1949. In the ensuing sixty plus years, the use of hydraulic fracturing has developed into a routine technology that is frequently used in the completion of gas wells, particularly those involved in what is called “unconventional production,” such as production from so-called “tight shale” reservoirs. The process has been used on over 1 million producing wells. As the technology continues to develop and improve, operators now fracture as many as 35,000 wells of all types (vertical and horizontal, oil and natural gas) each year.

Hydraulic fracturing has had an enormous impact on America’s energy history, particularly in recent times. The ability to produce more oil and natural gas to develop new sources once thought impossible has made the process valuable for US domestic energy production. With hydraulic fracturing, as much as 20 percent of unconventional production from formations such as gas shales is now, on a practical basis, possible.

California Oil Museum
1001 E. Main Street, Santa Paula, CA
805-933-0076
www.oilmuseum.net
Museum hours: Wednesday - Sunday, 10am to 4pm. Admission is $4 Adults, $3 Seniors, $1 Children over 5. Children 5 years old and younger are free. Members are free.

With the approach of the 100th anniversary of the Fillmore High School Alumni Association, I thought that a photo from the early 1940s would be interesting to the graduates. We believe this photo was taken after WWII began because of the number of men in uniform seated at the tables. Note the use of orange field boxes, boards and sawhorses used for seating and tables - a very common practice at the time. J.M Horton, Fillmore High School's first principal-1909, is seated towards the center of the photo.

The Board of Directors of the Fillmore Historical Museum congratulates the alumni on their anniversary. We hope that all graduates will be able to visit the museum, 340 Main St., where there are more photos and stories of Fillmore High School on display.

The Museum will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 15th.
Martha Gentry
Executive Director

FARM WATCH: SPECIAL ALERT

A message from Detective Ray Dominguez:

Sheriff's Office Sexual Assault Investigators are asking for your assistance in solving two recent sexual assaults. Please see the attached media releases for further details.

The following advice is always wise if you suspect illegal activity on your property:

· Call the Sheriff’s Office immediately at 911.

· Be a good witness

· Note suspect descriptions such as age, height, weight, facial hair, clothing, and shoe type.

· If a vehicle is involved, obtain a license plate number and note vehicle color, body damage, bumper stickers, camper shell, after market tires and wheels, etc.

· Provide the dispatcher with information about the time and last known direction of travel.

If you are not sure of how to address the problem or would like additional crime prevention tips please contact your local Sheriff’s Office substation or me directly at (805) 384-4726 or by email at ray.dominguez@ventura.org.

Contacts:

Camarillo Detective Robert Arthur, robert.arthur@ventura.org

Fillmore Detective John Fox john.fox@ventura.org

Ventura Detective Dennis Smith dennis.smith@ventura.org

Agricultural Crimes Detective, Ray Dominguez at Ray.Dominguez@ventura.org

As always, we would like to thank Sheriff’s Crime Analyst Karen Brown and Det. Ray Dominguez, for this issue’s great crime and alert update.

Be alert and stay safe!

Ray Dominguez

Geoff Dean - Sheriff

John Crombach and Gary Pentis - Assistant Sheriffs

The Fillmore Ebell Club will be welcoming the Concert Band Tuesday, May 28th at the Veterans Memorial Building.

Lunch will be served promptly at 12:30pm, Cost only $12.00 for a delicious lunch. Followed by a short business meeting and then the 99th installation of officers for the 2013-2014 year. After the installation the ladies will adjourn to the big room for a wonderful concert under the direction of Mr. Greg Godfrey. The ladies look forward to the band concerts yearly and are always amazed at the talent of the youngsters.

For more information and reservations please call Glenda at 524-4949.

Fillmore Family Coalition in partnership with the Ventura County Public Health, Tobacco Education Program is excited to announce its completion of the tobacco merchant education campaign for retailers in the City of Fillmore. With support from the Fillmore City Council and Fillmore Sheriff’s Department, Fillmore Family Coalition members along with Tobacco Education Program staff visited all tobacco retailers in Fillmore and Piru.

Did you know? According to Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (2012) 90% of smokers began at or before the age of 18. Given current smoking rates, 596,000 youth alive in California will ultimately die from smoking*. The best way to prevent this is to limit the access youth have to tobacco products. Regardless of the fact that for over 100 years it has been illegal to sell tobacco products to minors, youth still state they find it easy to purchase tobacco products.

These educational visits CONTINUED »

Vision 2020, Civic Pride Committee presented a certificate of appreciation to Kennedy Smith for participating in our Central Avenue planter refurbishing project.

Kennedy is a senior at Fillmore High School where she also participates in playing softball on a team. She plays both catcher position and outfield.

She already knows that she will be attending Colorado State University at Pueblo in the fall where she will continue to play softball and major in psychology.

As vice president for her Piru 4 H group, Kennedy said she focuses on community service projects rather than raising animals and this fit perfectly with her response to the question, “Why did you want to be involved with this Central replanting project?”

Her answer, “I think it is important for the community to come together and take pride in how it looks!” displays this focus.

Fillmore is fortunate to have young people like Kennedy putting their studies and ideals into action with community service projects.

Grad Nite Live had its 'Giant Yard Sale' which netted us $834 . We now will continue to sell our "Tri-Tip sandwiches, chips and a soda at SUPER 'A' MARKET (available week-ends only) The seniors are selling the tickets now until the 7th of June - Graduation is the 13th of June. We will be having a CAR WASH (watch for the date) also we will be selling LEIS at the Festival. We are $8.000 short, and the checks have to go out by the 25th. help if you can. thanks Mrs Chaney.

Fillmore High School is raising money for the Make-A-Wish foundation on May 21, 2013! We encourage the community of Fillmore to come support. It will be held on the Fillmore High School track from 8am-5:30pm. There will be face painting there for $0.50, bracelets for $1, and t-shirts for $12 to help raise money for the make a wish foundation. Also any donations are accepted!
Jordyn Vassaur and Savannah Bullard