Conway Spitler

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.
A billion second ago it was 1959. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive. A billion hours ago our ancestor were living in the Stone Age. A billion days ago no-0one walked on the earth on two feet. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending.
While this thought is still fresh in our brain. let’s take a look at New Orleans. It’s amazing what you can learn with some simple division...
Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu is presently asking Congress for $250 billion to rebuild New Orleans. Interesting number, what does it mean?
1. Well, if you are one of 484,6784 resident of New Orleans (every man, woman, child), you each get $516,528.
2. Of, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home gets $1,329.786.
3. Or, if you are a family of four, your family gets $2,066,012. Washington, D C - HELLO!!! — are all your calculators broken??

Farmers Insurance representatives have been inducted into the Farmers' "Topper Club" and invited to attend the 2009 annual meeting of Farmers' top sales producers. These representatives are being recognized by Farmers for outstanding sales achievements during 2008.
Paul Maher, Farmers Insurance Agent in Fillmore is among the honored. "Farmers congratulates and is proud to welcome these representatives to this year's Topper Club. They are committed to providing quality insurance coverage and industry-leading service to Farmers' customers," noted Executive Vice President of Field Operations, Jerry Carnahan.The Topper Club convention will give these representatives an opportunity to meet with other top Farmers agents and district managers to discuss local, state and national trends and activities affecting the insurance business in their communities.

The Ventura Senior Reader’s Theatre will be animating selections from three children’s books on June 24, 2009 at 2 PM. The fun presentation will be held in the children’s section of the Fillmore Library, and will feature readings from “Little Beaver and the Echo”, “Caps for Sale” and “Miss Nelson is Missing”. Surprises and laughs will sprinkle the tales. The group will be sponsored by the non-profit Fillmore Friends of the Library as part of their ongoing support of the Library. Phone 524-3355 for further information. The Library is located at 502 Second Street.

The Gazette received a phone call from a concerned citizen this week. She said her cat was missing, as were several of her neighbor’s cats. She said one of her neighbors saw a man in the neighborhood (800 block Edison Lane) taking a cat. When confronted, the man said he was setting traps all over Fillmore to trap cats, get them “fixed” then bring them back. He may be a good citizen, trapping feral cats, getting them neutered or spayed, then returning them to their area. Or he could be grabbing anyone’s cat and they disappear forever. Two “missing cat” posters were seen at the corner of River and A Streets. And we received a missing cat classified this week.That makes four pets missing. Anyone with any information on this can contact The Gazette and we will pass it on to the cat owners or proper authorities. Or we’ll thank the gentleman who is helping the feral cat population by reducing it responsibly.

The Ventura County Behavioral Health Department is pleased announce the 30 day posting for public comment of our Mental Health Services Act 2009-10 Annual Update. This Update is posted for 30-day review and comment period beginning Tuesday, June 16, 2009 through Thursday, July 16, 2009 on our website:

http://portal.countyofventura.org/portal/page?_pageid=953,1299773&_dad=p...

The Women of Distinction Luncheon committee met and through much discussion and decision making, have chosen the 2009 Women of Distinction. The women honorees are Joanie Young, Val Rains and Kathy Hartley. These women will be interviewed by Girl Scouts Gold Award girls Kathryn Irwin, Zoe Marie Sophos and Lauren Young and introduced to the luncheon attendees. There will also be two speakers during the lunch of Gold Award Girl Scout Katie Foster speaking about her award of collecting mixed (caucasian/latino) bone marrow, submitting it to the National Bone Marrow Center, and her story behind why she chose to do that project along with Girl Scout Dr. Cheryl Lambing from Ventura County Medical Center.

Channel Islands Harbor celebrates the 4th of July with a full-day of activities. Fireworks display begins at 9 p.m., but there is plenty to do before then. Marine Emporium Landing will have activities between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m., including an artist’s market, live music, face painting, petting zoo, inflatable fun zone, a rock climbing wall, food booths and Water Taxi rides. The 4th of July Parade begins at 11 a.m. in front of Harbor Landing and follows Harbor Blvd. south to the parking lot area in front of the Whale’s Tail and Port Royal restaurants. A 10K and 5K fun run/walk begins at 8 a.m. along Sunset Lane, Hollywood Beach, with registration at 7 a.m.

For more information on Fireworks by the Sea or the Channel Islands Harbor, visit www.channelislandsharbor.org.

VENTURA, CA – The Ventura Family YMCA will be hosting their 9th Annual Fun and Fitness 5K Run and Walk on July 25th at the Ventura Family YMCA starting at 7:00 a.m. Event proceeds will benefit the Ventura Family YMCA youth and teen programs.

The event includes a 5K run or walk around the city of Ventura, a live performance by New Waters, a local Ventura Christian rock band, family entertainment and a pancake breakfast, after the run, will be catered by Cypress Place for all who participate. Awards will be handed out to the top three places in each division along with amazing raffle prizes throughout the day! Most importantly this is a wonderful opportunity to have fun with family and friends while supporting the Ventura Family YMCA.

All pre-registered participants will receive a 5K T-shirt and the first 100 people will receive a goodie bag filled with items ranging from Dove products, Chipotle gift cards, Malibu Key-rings and more. Also, participants will be able to use the Ventura Family YMCA facility before and after the race. CONTINUED »

Ventura, CA - Ventura County Public Health received news that a swine flu pandemic was declared yesterday, June 11, 2009, by the World Health Organization (WHO). The worldwide pandemic alert level is raised to Phase 6 in response to the ongoing global spread of the novel influenza A (H1N1) virus. A Phase 6 designation indicates that a global pandemic is underway. The long-awaited pandemic announcement is scientific confirmation that this new flu virus is circling the globe and will prompt governments to devote more money toward efforts to contain the virus. WHO’s decision to raise the pandemic alert level to Phase 6 is a reflection of the spread of the virus, not the severity of illness caused by the virus.

“We are seeing small numbers of cases here in Ventura County and no local deaths have been attributed to this virus”, said Public Health Officer, Dr. Robert Levin. “Since the disease caused by the swine flu virus right now is so mild, it seems like pandemic is a strong word. Perhaps the WHO will rethink the definition we use for ‘pandemic’ in the future to incorporate the severity of disease caused by an infectious agent. But even though the severity of the virus appears to be tolerable now, we still need to be concerned about how virulent the virus will be when it returns in the fall.” CONTINUED »

Fillmore High Alumni Association

More than three hundred alumni members and guests filled the Memorial Building on Saturday for the 96th annual alumni dinner. Classes were represented for the years 1932 through 1939, with the last class celebrating its 70th reunion. Classes in each decade were represented for the '40's, 50's, 60's and 70's, and representatives from five classes from the 1980's were present, as were representatives from 1997, 2002 and 2004 and 17 scholarship winners from this year's graduating class. Alumni came from as far away as Alaska, with many coming from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

The evening began with the posting of the colors by Boy Scout Troop 406, followed by the Invocation by Jacob Zellmer, one of the scholarships recipients. An excellent dinner was served by Gary Laird's Butcher Shop and B-B-Q.

Margaret Haskell, class of '42 was recognized for her years of service to the alumni association as Secretary, and also for her many years of assisting with the dinner. Ralph Rees, a retired teacher from Fillmore High was recognized for his 28 plus years of teaching.

Prior to the awarding of the scholarships, Sydia Lopez-Reese, class of '79 and Chad Fore, class of '02 told about their college experiences and how much the local scholarships had helped them during their years in college. Alumni Scholarships were presented to Juliane Sandoval, Brina Suttle, Natalie Garnica, Karli Chessani, Jillian Wilber, Rebeca Herrera, Aimee Orozco, Michael Watson, Jacob Zellmer, Bailey Pina, Kyla Hernandez, Miguel Alonso, Gabriel Manzano, Jonathan Escamilla, Stephanie Bolanos, Nathan Liu and Erica Rodriguez.

The Honored Classes from 1944, '49, '54, '59, and '69 were recognized and welcomed for their attendance at the dinner.

Door prizes that were contributed by Carmen Zermeno, Lupe Vasquez, Conway Spitler, Nancy Wallace, Gertrude Lovelace and the alumni association were awarded to twenty lucky attendees.

The present board of directors of the alumni association were returned to office for the 2009-2010 year, and they are already planning next year's alumni dinner for Saturday, June 12 at the Memorial Building, so put that date on your calendar, alumni members.

The evening was closed with the singing of the alma mater, lead by Mark Ortega, being assisted by Rebeca Herrera, Natalie Garnica, Aimee Orozco, and Jillian Wilber.

Next year's honored classes will be all those classes whose graduating years ended in 0 or 5.

Conway Spitler

ALUMNI BANQUET
Probably there will be another article about the alumni dinner in the news; however, is great to be able to write
about the alumni dinner in my column. In my opinion is was one of the greatest since these dinners have been given. It is a shame; however, that more local people do not come to visit, find out where classmates are at this time, etc. The out-of-towners are always asking where is this graduate, or that graduate, who live in Fillmore. What can the locals say to these graduates who have come distances—in fact there was one present from the State of Ohio? The food was great, the tables with the class signs were attractive and helpful signs guided you to the correct year of graduation for the settings. It was delightful to have the dinner inside the memorial
building too! There were a great number of scholarships given to the seniors. It is always interesting to see the seniors who join the alumni memberships as they are acknowledged for their deeds at Fillmore High. This year there were a great number of graduates receiving scholarships. The graduates, the activities, the dinner, and the awarding of scholarships was done with lots of class. Richard Mosbarger and the officers did a great job and we graduates do thank them for all the work and preparation for the alumni dinner.

NORMANDY LANDINGS
The Normandy Landings were the first operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy, also known as Operation Neptune and Operation Overlord, during World War II. The landings commenced on June 6, 1944 (D-Day), beginning at 6:30 British Double Summer Time (H-Hour). In planning, DDay was the term used for the day of actual landing, which was dependent on final approval. The assault was conducted in two phases: an air assault landing of American, British and Canadian airborne troops shortly after midnight, and an amphibious landing of Allied infantry and armoured divisions on the coast of France commencing at 6:30. The invasion required the transport of soldiers and materiel from the United Kingdom by troop carrying aircraft and ships, the assault landings, air support, naval interdiction of the English Channel and naval fire-support. There were also subsidiary ‘attacks’ mounted under the codenames Operation Glimmer and Operation Taxable to distract the Kriegsmarine and the German
army from the real landing areas.[3] The operation was the largest single-day amphibious invasion of all time, with 160,000[4] troops landing on June 6, 1944. 195,700[5] Allied naval and merchant navy personnel in over 5,000[4] ships were involved. The landings took place along a 50-mile (80 km) stretch of the Normandy coast divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword. The Allies had previously invaded mainland Europe September 3, 1943 with the landings in Italy.

Jr. High was a very hard time for many young people, and I was no exception. Mrs. Knappen not only taught English, but took the time to listen to a 13 year old, and was always available. She had a class of monkeys, and was quite gracious when we all decided to bend down and tie our shoes at 2:00. She tolerated several boys who shall go unnamed, who were something else. When my friend and I were desperately trying to find a ride to Ventura, to see Robert F. Kennedy at the BuenaVentura shopping center, in June of 1968, she offered to give us a ride over there. Mrs. Knappen, I never got the chance to tell you how special you were, you were so sweet to us!
God bless you, Rest in Peace., Peter Recicar

The Ventura Family YMCA announces the kick-off of its 2009 Campaign for Youth. Proceeds from Campaign for Youth will help meet the growing needs of Ventura and its surrounding communities by providing financial assistance for individuals and families who want and need YMCA programs but may not otherwise be able to afford them. Campaign for Youth will start on February 6th and commence on March 6th; during that month volunteers will work together to raise $115,000.

The Ventura Family YMCA has made many changes to ensure that no one is turned away from the YMCA due to their inability to pay, especially during these tough economic times. The YMCA’s Open Doors scholarship program allows children and families the opportunity to benefit from, family strengthening, YMCA programs such as child care, day camp and programs for at-risk youth. Campaign for Youth also supports members in programs such as aquatics, resident away camp, youth sports and helps assist members in need with membership fees.

This year’s campaign theme, “Red, White, and Blue” was designed to symbolize the patriotic resurgence that Ventura is sharing along with the rest of America. Last year, the Ventura Family YMCA Campaign for Youth raised $110,721, which allowed more than 1,200 kids and families the opportunity to participate in programs. These funds were made possible through the hard work of over 80 volunteers and generous contributions from more than 359 local business and individuals.

This year, The Ventura Family YMCA is asking for help from the community. The goal is to raise $115,000 in one month. To reach this goal the YMCA is looking for team campaigners, phone campaigners and donors. In addition to monetary donations the YMCA is looking for food donors to help support campaign report night dinners as well as product donors for door prizes, which will be given to campaigners to show appreciation for their efforts
If you would like to donate or volunteer during Campaign for Youth 2009 please contact Amy Bailey at amy.bailey@ciymca.org or call 805-642-2131 ext 24.

Curves of Fillmore is offering free weight management classes to teach its proven method for losing weight and raising metabolism. More studied than any other program, Curves’ classes are based on the groundbreaking new research findings of the Exercise & Sport Nutrition Laboratory at Texas A&M University. Now, the women of Fillmore can learn the powerful secret that has helped millions of women lose millions of pounds and keep them off for good. Classes are open to members and non-members.

Classes include: Start-Up Class (90 minutes) for firsttime participants; Phase 3 (30 minutes) to teach the last and most important stage of the Curves Weight management Plan and the secret that makes the plan work; Special Topics Classes (30 minutes) will cover a different topic each month, including Smart Grocery Shopping, Choosing the Right Carbohydrates, Eating Out, Emotional Eating and more.

Classes will be taught by Curves’ Registered Dietitian, Nadia Rodman, and facilitated by weight management
coaches from Curves of Fillmore, through a series of DVDs that will alternate teaching with hands-on activities.
Participants will be encouraged to make a weekly appointment to weigh in with their weight management coach, who will provide accountability. CONTINUED »

Piru-Fillmore Road Trip to Chumash Casino, Monday, June 15, 2009. Leave Piru/San Salvador Church at 10:00 am, Leave Fillmore/Senior Center at 10:30 a.m., Arrive Chumash Casino at 12:30 p.m. Leave Chumash Casino at 8:00 pm, Arrive Fillmore/Senior Center at 10:00 p.m., Arrive Piru/San Salvador, Church at 10:30 .pm., Only $25 person, Limited to 45 persons, Sign up today! Andy Arias @ 805-521-1554, Piru to Chumash, Monday, June 15, 2009.

Lap Swim: Starting June 9, 2009 $4.00 per visit / Splash Pass - 10 visit $35.00
Tuesday & Thursday (Morning) 6:00 AM - 8:00 AM
Monday, Tuesday & Thursday (Evening) 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Water Exercise: Starting June 16, 2009 $6.00 per visit /Splash Pass –
5 visit $25.00 / 10 visit $45.00 / 20 visit $80.00
Tuesday & Thursday (Morning) 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM
Tuesday & Thursday (Morning) 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM Low Impact for Seniors
Tuesday & Thursday (Evening) 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Family Night Swim: Starting July 3, 2009 $25.00 per family
Friday (Evening 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
STARTING: July 6 – July 10, 2009 & July 13 – 17, 2009 (1:30 PM - 3:00 PM)
& (6:00 PM – 8:00 PM)
Testing only from 1:30 PM - 3:30 PM (pool site only)
Sign-ups for Swim Lessons – 1:30 PM – 3:30 PM & 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Recreation Swim: Starting July 20, 2009 $2.00 per visit / Splash Pass – 10 visit
$18.0 / 20 visit $38.00
Monday – Friday 1:15PM – 3:45 PM
Participants can sign up at City Hall or at the pool site
during times that classes are being offered.