Enlarge Photo

One Step a la Vez is an after school teen and community center where youth learn from each other and mentors, and where responsibility to self and community are modeled and explored daily.

One program of the center is a twice monthly food distribution. One Step youth members organize and hand out food to 80-100 families each distribution.

This program would not be possible without One Step volunteers Paul Benavidez, Bob Carson, Bill Dewey, Tom Wilson, Hank Weishaar. Twice a month, rain or shine, they donate their personal vehicles, fuel, time, physical labor and community spirit to drive to Food Share in Oxnard, choose the best produce and food available and bring it back to Fillmore to be handed out.

Volunteer Rosa Stamm donates her time to help distribute food, clean up afterward and then teach the One Step youth what they might cook with the available produce and food.

Site Director Ricky Miranda notes, "Our volunteers are a constant. Staff and youth members may change but they are a constant. This is so important. They come every time and they create a continuity for us."

One Step food distribution in partnership with FOOD Share occurs the second and fourth Wednesday of each month at 4pm. 421 Sespe Ave. Fillmore, CA For more information call 805-625-7067

Community Memorial Health System will hold a free prediabetes/diabetes seminar on Saturday, April 16, from 9 a.m. to noon at Community Memorial Hospital, 147 N. Brent St., followed by a series of workshops held during April and May.

The seminar, to be held in CMH’s eighth-floor Nichols Auditorium, will provide information on a variety of topics at the following times:

 9 a.m. – What is Prediabetes/Diabetes?, presented by Debra Ouyang, M.D., specializing in endocrinology
 9:30 a.m. – Complications/Prevention, presented by Loquintha Rex, DNP, Nurse Practioner
 10 a.m. – Metabolic Syndrome, presented by David Lyons, M.D., specializing in internal medicine
 10:30 a.m. – Expert panel, presented by Drs. Ouyang, Lyons, nurse Practioner’s Rex, Andrea Ricketts and registered dietitian Jennifer Girtsman
 11 a.m. – Blood sugar screenings and HGBA1c (optional) by CMHS medical residents.

Follow-up, one-hour Wednesday evening prediabetes/diabetes workshops also will be held. They are: What is a Carbohydrate and Label Reading? on April 20; Exercise on April 27; Medications/Self-Management on May 4; and Celebrity Chef Cooking Demonstration on May 11.

The workshops will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. in the eighth-floor Nichols Auditorium. A one-time $10 materials fee must be paid prior to the first workshop. The maximum class size is 24.

For reservations and more information, email healthaware@cmhshealth.org or call the CMHS HealthAware program at 805/667-2818.

Community Memorial Health System is a not-for-profit health system, which is comprised of Community Memorial Hospital, Ojai Valley Community Hospital, along with the Centers for Family Health serving various communities within and located in Ventura County, California.

FARM WATCH: MINDSET OF A THIEF
A message from Detective Chip Cadman:
Farm Watch readers, on Sunday (March 6th), Sheriff’s Deputies were patrolling in the unincorporated area of Santa Paula due to recent avocado thefts. While in the 1700 block of South Mountain Road, Deputies were able to detain and later arrest (S) Jorge Chavez (34 years) for petty theft with priors [666(a) California Penal Code], and receiving stolen property [496(a) California Penal Code], now both Proposition 47 misdemeanors.
During their investigation, Deputies discovered Chavez walking away from a local avocado property carrying sweatpants made into a make shift backpack, over his shoulder, loaded with avocados. Chavez told Deputies, he was given permission from the property owner to harvest the fruit. Deputies contacted the owner of the property and quickly established this was a lie. Chavez then explained to Deputies: It was the ranch owner’s fault for not building a bigger fence to keep him out. Chavez said, he was not responsible for the theft since the fence did not protect the avocado trees very well. Deputies learned Chavez was responsible for similar thefts and booked him into the Pre-Trial Detention Facility, because his criminal behavior was likely to continue.
Several properties in this area have previously been the victims of avocado thefts. If you own property in this area, please take additional steps to protect your property and report suspicious activity to Sheriff’s Dispatch. Based upon Chavez’ statement, it is clear in the mind of a thief, it is the property owner’s fault for not taking steps to prevent a theft from occurring. If you have been the recent victim of a theft, please contact Sheriff’s Dispatch and request a deputy respond to your location to take a crime report, so we can try and tie this suspect to more crimes. Please look at the below posted photograph of the suspect and see if you recognize him as being on your property. A collaborative effort will help us prevail over criminals.

03/06/2016
Jorge Chavez
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.

Be alert and stay safe!
Chip

Geoff Dean – Sheriff
Gary Pentis - Undersheriff
Steve DeCesari - Assistant Sheriff
Guy Stewart - Assistant Sheriff

The Ventura County Rose Society will hold its monthly meeting on Thursday, March 24, 2016 at the Ventura County Office of Education Conference Center at 5100 Adolfo Rd., Camarillo.

The doors will open at 6:30 p.m. for advice from Consulting Rosarians and refreshments, We will have our Little Rose Show at 7:00 P.M. Our presentation will begin at 7:30 P.M.

The VCRS meeting will feature Jolene Adams, former American Rose Society President, who will be speaking about roses. Jolene's expertise and knowledge will certainly provide an excellent lecture.

Visitors are always welcome to our VCRS meetings. For more information contact; Janet Sklar at 818-337-9970 or Dawn-Marie Johnson at 805-523-9003. Our website is http://www.venturarose.org/

We have lived on Galvin Lane for 16 years and started with a blank canvas. We put in all new brick flower beds and walkway to the front porch. We love White Birch trees so planted 2 groups of them in the front yard along with a Forest Pansy Redbud flowering tree.

In the backyard we have a tree that was grafted with 6 different varieties of fruits that is special to us.

I like to plant things I can cut and bring into the house, Roses and Lavender with Mexican Heather as groundcover that has a beautiful purple flower.

The bird bath is special to me; it was my moms. She was a wonderful gardener and loved flowers.

My husband Ray does all the lawn and tree care, I care for the plants.

We take pride in our home and yard.

After six years of a vision and the past 18 months on the job, the new Tom McGrath Teen Study Room at the Boys & Girls Club in Fillmore is now open for teens. Years ago Board Member Tom McGrath had a vision to change the old girls shower room (The Fillmore Club used to be the old girls’ gym from Fillmore High School) into a room for teens to study and do their school work. The Fillmore Club has a daily attendance of 120-165 youth and no place for teens. Tom was able to begin the project about six years ago when he arranged to have the Seabees come in and demolish the shower stalls. They cleared away some of the rubble, but then due to a lack of funding the room sat. Unfortunately in the following years Tom passed away and the room still sat. About 18 months ago the project came alive again and County Supervisor Kathy Long gave now CEO Jan Marholin $25,000 to restart the project and also introduced her to the men and women of IBEW 952 and also Local 150. These wonderful people donated their time and labor on the weekends to help build this room. The project also involved the Tom McGrath family who ran a matching funds campaign targeting friends and family. Jan Marholin was also able to secure donated materials such as drywall, concrete, rebar, etc to help cut building expenses.

The room has cutting edge technology and will soon have maker space platforms. Also, by having this new room , it will be the first time that the Club has been able to house a reading library for kids. The teens will be able to have lessons in financial literacy and instructions on filling out job applications and how to interview for a job. This truly is a team effort of support and a win win for our local teens.

Written by Paul Melvin Benavidez, MFA

Last week I wrote about the growing interest in meditation and mindfulness training due to scientific research. During the weekend, a Gazette reader called me about the article and wanted to know more about “mindfulness training” because he heard the term used by the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Defense Secretary during the 2017 Defense Budget Request held on C-Span February 23rd. During the session, General Dunford responded to several representatives’ questions about mindfulness training. Here is one of his comments: “mindfulness enhances the resiliency of our marines and sailors...of our forces...mitigate PTSD...deal with the challenges...focus on the challenges they are confronted...there is a lot of promise to enhance the capabilities of the force with mindfulness training.” In other words, what the General was saying is that meditation practice does what science is telling us it does, that it creates in the individual the state meta-awareness - heightened visual, intellectual, audio, keenness; spaciousness for creativity; a dramatic decrease in stress levels; less reflexive emotion and much more. The growing popularity of meditation practice is real.

Do a “military mindfulness” internet search. You’ll be astounded at a number of hits you receive. It’s not just the Armed Forces who are using it. Go ahead, do a corporate mindfulness search, then healthcare and dementia. Now, if we can just get the U.S. Department of Education to adopt a meditation program in K through 12 for students and teachers! We’re talking about shaping and reshaping the brain called neuroplasticity, thicker cortical walls, building robust cognitive skills, better attention, focus and decision making. The truth, increased gray matter is not just for the Armed Forces, it’s for all of us young and old.

Stay tuned for more on the Science of Meditation and your health. Next week: Public Enemy #1

Leah Kopp of Ventura has been selected to serve as this year’s Irish Belle for the 2016 County Ventura St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The parade begins at the San Buenaventura Mission on Saturday, March 12, at 10 a.m. and moves up Main Street by the Judges Stand on Chestnut and continues to Laurel Street.

Kopp is a senior at Foothill Technology High School in Ventura. She is a scholar-athlete who played basketball for Buena High School until this year when Foothill for the first time offered boys’ and girls’ team sports in basketball, soccer, cross country, water polo and track. Last year Kopp was selected to First-team All Channel League, second-team All-County and first-team Academic All-County.

Kopp has also participated in two missions to Mexico, one to deliver clothes and food to poverty-stricken families near the towns of San Vincente and San Rafael, and the other to bring supplies and provide sports activities for children at the Door of Faith Orphanage in La Mision, Mexico. Kopp has been a member of the Kiwanis and Culinary clubs at Foothill, and is a continuing member of iLife bible study at Ventura Missionary Church.

Kopp’s duties as the parade’s 5th Irish Belle are to attend promotional activities supporting the parade and to ride in the convertible that leads the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee entry. Tim O’Neil, a committee member and parade announcer, said, “We are proud to have Leah as our Irish Belle this year. Her courage and commitment to community service are reminiscent of the work ethic and pioneering spirit of the families who helped Ventura become a bona fide city in the year 1866.”

The theme of this year’s parade is to celebrate 150 years of Ventura’s history. The Grand Marshals are descendants of five of Ventura’s historic families: The Chumash, E.P. Foster Family, Olivas Family, Smith Hobson Family and Harrison/Moraga Family.

The Ventura County St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee is accepting entries for the parade. For entry forms or more information about the parade, visit www.venturastpatricksdayparade.com, or call 643-4275

The Fillmore 2020 Civic Pride Committee is once again planning for a beautiful Flower Show. The dates for the 2016 Fillmore Flower Show are April 9th and 10th at the Active Adult Center, 533 Santa Clara Street in Fillmore. The theme for this year is “Fillmore in Bloom”. While only Fillmore residents may enter, the public is encouraged to attend. Public viewing is 1-4 pm on Saturday and Sunday.

See the Fillmore Flower Show website for more details. Mr. Bob Crum has a lovely youtube slideshow of the flower show. Both of these places will give you an idea of the beauty of “Fillmore in Bloom”.

Every year local gardeners bring many beautiful roses, iris, other single stem cut flowers, bouquets and arrangements (including the very popular miniature arrangements and bouquets), potted plants and dish gardens to display at the flower show. In addition, there are youth flower arrangements and a youth composition competition.

The Fillmore Flower Show is not only a long-standing tradition, it is also a thoroughly fun event. Whether you would be a first time entrant or have been participating in the flower show for decades, plan to bring something from your garden on April 9, 2016.

Location: Camarillo Police Department Community Meeting Room
Date & Time: March 23rd & 30th, 2016/ 5:30PM – 9:30PM
Do you know how to recognize the signs and symptoms of youth that are in an emotional crisis or developing mental health problems?
Youth Mental Health First Aid is a free 8 hour training course primarily focused on information adult participants can use to help adolescents (ages 12-18) who are experiencing mental health challenges, substance use, anxiety, depression as well as reviewing typical adolescent development.
Participants will learn to support youth developing signs and symptoms of a mental health problem or those in an emotional crisis by learning a five-step action plan:
• Assess for risk of suicide or harm
• Listen non-judgmentally
• Give reassurance and information
• Encourage appropriate professional help
• Encourage self-help and other support strategies
To register please email Mary Ellen Collins, Certified Trainer:
mecollins@voice4families.com or call (805) 657-4408
Made possible through funding from Ventura County Behavioral Health Department
Prepared by: Mark Stadler, CIT Program Administrator

In the 1970’s a few post graduate students most notably Jon Kabat-Zinn at MIT began investigating the effects of meditation with a scientific approach. This was a risky career venture for Zinn and others. At the time, the science community viewed meditation as nonsense. But Zinn, Richard Davidson and a few other young postdoctoral scientists working in the field of neuroscience at different universities could not ignore what they were learning about the health and mind benefits of meditation. They wanted a hard scientific understanding of what was going on in the human brain during meditation and what its specific effects are on the mind and body. It’s not hard to get a sense of what those young research pioneers faced in their professional milieu as they set up experiments to study meditation on people. Even in 2016 if you mention meditation to someone the response is generally dismissive. Well, the science community and the general public have had to capitulate to the extraordinary research findings of the health rewards of mindfulness training thanks to Zinn, Davidson and other scientists who thought out of the box decades ago despite extreme unpopularity in their academic field.

Usher in the age of Mindfulness which is the state of meta-awareness. I use the term meta-awareness to describe the bountifulness of this practice. It’s simply amazing and it’s all scientific fact! What you thought were essentials in the American fast lane eventually drop off from the meditator like the bulky first stage of a spacecraft on its way to Earth orbit. Being mindful moment to moment is a bit indescribable.

Stay tuned for more on the merits of meditation and your health.

Paul Benavidez, MFA
Fillmore Active Adult Meditation Class, 805-524-3030

Ivy rain barrel features: • Made in the USA • 100% recycled plastic • Dimensions 42.5”H x 22” W x 18” L • Child proof, bug proof lid • Best-in-class overflow set up • 3/4" ball valve easily connects to garden hose • Three rain barrels easily fit in the backseat of a mid-sized sedan • All parts included and ready to set up • Gravity fed. No pumps required • Link two or more barrels together using existing overflow hose

Ventura County, Calif. (February 16, 2016)--Ventura County Community for a Clean Watershed is offering 50-gallon rain barrels through its new rain barrel program. The rain barrels are available at a discounted price to encourage residents to conserve water resources as well as to protect water quality.

Residents can use the barrels to capture rainwater from their rooftops, which can mean thousands of gallons of reusable water. Just 1” of rain yields 600 gallons per every 1,000 sq. ft. of roof space that can be collected and reused.. This water would typically flow down streets and be sent down the storm drain. Water collected by rain barrels can be used to water trees, gardens and lawns.

The rain barrels are made from 100 percent recyclable materials, connect to existing downspouts or rain chains, and come with a childproof and mosquito-proof lid. They can be purchased directly through the program’s website, www.rainbarrelprogram.org/venturacounty, using a credit card. To place a phone order or to request a mail-in form, call 919- 835-1699 and ask for the Ventura County rain barrel program price. The normal cost per barrel is $149 but the discounted price is $75 plus tax.

Order by March 6 for a March 12 pick up at one of two locations: Ventura County Government Center (Parking Lob B and C, 800 S. Victoria Ave., Ventura) and Calleguas Municipal Water District (2100 E. Olsen Rd., Thousand Oaks). All rain barrels must be pre-purchased. Bring a copy of your email confirmation to pick up your rain barrel.

Residents may also be eligible for a $75 rebate per barrel for up to four barrels. To check eligibility, go to www.socalwatersmart.com.

For more information about Ventura County Community for a Clean Watershed, visit www.cleanwatershed.org.

My name is Mark Trimble, I am a retired Police Commander, and a resident of the City of Fillmore for 19 years.
For Citizen(s) of The Year, I would like to nominate the Landeros family, Laura, Daniel, David, Cristina, Elden, Gabby and Mia. For Lifetime Achievement Citizen of the Year, I would like to nominate Rigo Landeros.

As a retired police officer, I understand the dedication and sacrifice the family members of a First Responder make. Their loved one has made a decision to serve and protect the community in a job that may require the ultimate sacrifice; the giving of their life to protect and save the lives of members of the community in which they serve. It also entails much time away from the family of the First Responder.

Laura, Daniel, David, Cristina, Elden, Gabby and Mia, served the community of Fillmore in the most sacrificial and dedicated manner by their love and support of Rigo. Only their family truly knows the sacrifice they made in their support of Rigo in the demanding and dangerous profession of professional Firefighter. They worried together, laughed together, and cried together in their support of Rigo. Each time Rigo went on a call, the Landeros family understood the potential of Rigo’s dedication to community safety; and I am sure Rigo would say their love and support gave him the inspiration and courage to protect the citizens of Fillmore.

I feel confident Rigo would say his family was the source of his ability to serve the community in the outstanding manner in which he did.

The Landeros family are ‘The Citizens of The Year.’
Nomination for Lifetime Achievement Citizen of The Year:
Rigo Landeros.

I feel confident the members of the Chamber of Commerce understand why Rigo is worthy of this award.

Since I have lived in Fillmore, I know of no one else who has served our community in so many different facets, with great skill, for so many years, with such honorable duty.

Respectfully,
Commander Mark A. Trimble (Ret.)

The Ventura County Garden Club will meet on Wednesday, March 2, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. for a tour of the RED HOT SALSA CO. in Santa Paula at the corner of Railroad Avenue and 9th Street.

We will get a tour of the hydroponics and the facility. The facility was featured on Oprah.

Lunch will follow at 12:30 pm at Rabalais Bistro located within walking distance.

Members and guests are welcome.

For more information email Marlene at wmewait@aol.com