Vision 2020 Civic Pride Committee has selected Mr.& Mrs. Aureo Melgoza at 360 “C” St to receive their December “Holiday” Yard of the Month award which includes a $25 gift certificate from Otto & Sons’ Nursery.

The Melgoza family has lived at this corner in Fillmore for 36 years and take great pride in their display of decorations which includes a nativity scene. Racquel has the creative talent to design the display and her husband handles all the outside installation. Some of the decorations, such as the candy canes, were gathered from relatives. We were invited inside to see that her talents worked “magic” inside also, with beautiful angels on the wall and side tables, and another nativity display surrounded by an entire miniature village, complete with lights and carousel in motion.

This year it was even more difficult to select a winner because there were so many more decorated yards than last year. Some were simple, but very “classy”, matching the architecture of the home.

Civic Pride Committee tries to spread the winners around to different areas of the community, so that the same excellent yards don’t win again and again.

We would like to encourage people to take a tour of the community and see all the decorating efforts, so we are including a group of addresses that are very worthy, as well as previous year’s winners, that are still inspiring.

Honorable mentions: 441 Hume, 1120 Shady Lane, 408 Robin, 310 Foothill Dr., 739 Central, 957 Meadowlark Dr., 1026 Meadowlark Dr., 983 Sante Fe, 62 Orient, 56 Rio Grande, 555 Finch, 556 Finch, 558 Finch, 562 Finch, 401 Sierra Vista.

Previous year’s winners: 910 Taylor Lane.818 Hinckley

The Civic Pride Committee greatly appreciates Otto & Sons’ Nursery supporting our “Yard of the Month” award program and we do see that it has been effective in encouraging yard beautification and holiday participation with all the lovely seasonal displays.

Ojai, CA - Atrial Fibrillation – the most common heart rhythm abnormality in the United States – will be the focus of a free seminar the Community Memorial Health System is holding on Saturday, Jan. 14.

Ishu Rao, M.D., a board-certified Cardiac Electrophysiologist, will lead the seminar that will be held from 9 to 10:30 a.m. in the Soule Park banquet room at 1033 East Ojai Ave in Ojai.

In addition to discussing Atrial Fibrillation, its potential treatment options and whether it is curable, Dr. Rao will provide tips on how to reduce the risk of stroke. He also will cover the AF ablation procedure and who most likely would benefit from the procedure.

Dr. Rao received his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and completed an Internal Medicine residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. He is board-certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and is an active member of the Community Memorial Hospital staff.

Space is limited, so call 805/640-2355 for reservations, or go to www.cmhshealth.org/rsvp.

Community Memorial Health System is a not-for-profit health system, which is comprised of Community Memorial Hospital, Ojai Valley Community Hospital, and ten family-practice health centers entitled Centers for Family Health. The health system is located in Ventura County, California.

On Wednesday December 7th, four Fillmore FFA members attended the Best Informed Greenhand (BIG) Contest. The BIG contest is for freshman members working towards the Greenhand award which is the first degree in the FFA. The BIG contest is a test that quizzes the student’s knowledge of FFA history, rules or regulations as well as the meaning of the emblem. Questions like “Where is the National FFA Center located?” and “What year were women allowed in the National FFA Organization?” are just examples of what the students are asked on the test. While there the students were also able to participate in a Parliamentary Procedure (Parli Pro) Workshop lead by Mr. Avila from Carpentaria FFA and Mr. Ricards from Fillmore FFA. Parli Pro is a very confusing yet organized form of debating during a meeting. It teaches students how to make a motion, debate their opinions and make amendments to a main motion. Parli pro can be difficult to understand which is why our FFA advisors from the Ventura Section conducted a wonderful workshop to introduce the activity to the Greenhand members. Samantha Barker, Timmy Klittich, Donald Trinadad and Tina Wheeler were the four courageous freshman to attempt this contest. Fillmore FFA was awarded 2nd Place Team overall, and Timmy Klittich was 1st High Individual for the BIG Contest! Congratulations to Timmy as well as the other students for working so hard at the BIG Contest!

Brooke Aguirre is the Fillmore FFA Chapter Reporter

(l-r) Floyd Griffin and DG Nomura exchange Rotary Flags.
Enlarge Photo

Rotary District Governor, Wade Nomura and his wife Roxanne recently visited the Rotary Club of Fillmore-noontime. DG Nomura reminded the Club that Rotary has served Central and Coastal California since January 1, 1918. Throughout the decades Rotary's presence and involvement in our region has made a positive impact on the quality of life in our local communities as well as improving the lives of people around the world.

The Fillmore Volunteer Firefighters Foundation, represented by Scott Beylik and Rigo Landeros, were presented a check on honor of our District Governor. One of his goals this year was for each Club to recognize a person or organization who is doing great things in their community.

The Rotary Club of Fillmore meets every Thursday, at noon, in the dining car of the Fillmore & Western Railroad. For more information call 524-5099.

Enlarge Photo

It's Curtains for the Sespe School Auditorium!

Sespe Players, Fillmore's Community Theater Group, has purchased the new hunter green stage curtains for the auditorium after many successful live plays performed on this wonderful old stage. Sespe Players have been selling tickets to plays, selling advertising in the playbills and collection donations for about 5 years hoping to replace the dusty and torn curtains. The old curtains were so old that no one could come up with the age of the dilapidated fabric.

Sespe players next production on the stage at Sespe Auditorium will be "Guides", a play written by Fillmore High's Josh Overton. Auditions will be in February and performed in April of 2012.

Anyone interested in becoming a member of the Sespe Players Community Theater Group as an actor, music director, set construction, or just part of the support team can contact Janet Foy at 805-217-2402.

SBDC event has attendees climb aboard Fillmore & Western Railway Co. trains

Businesses in Moorpark, Santa Paula and Fillmore can climb aboard the SBDC Express Dec. 15 and go full steam ahead to destination SUCCESS 2012 with two free information sessions aboard a Fillmore & Western Railway train. Presented by the Fillmore & Western Railway Company and the Economic Development Collaborative-Ventura County’s Small Business Development Center, the SBDC Express train leaves the Fillmore & Western Railway station, located at 364 Main Street, in Fillmore, at 8:30 a.m. and returns at 11:30 a.m.

This fun, interactive train ride provides helpful information to small business owners and entrepreneurs through two information sessions. Work Smarter Not Harder teaches about improving efficiencies to make a huge difference in your bottom line for 2012; Making Money Work for YOU discusses accessing capital to help your business. Light refreshments will be served.

RSVP by Dec. 9. Space is limited and reservations are required. To RSVP, contact Kelly Noble at 805-384-1800 x21, or Kelly.noble@edcsbdc.org.

Since both Christmas and New Year’s Day fall on Sunday this holiday season, Santa Clara Valley Disposal will maintain its regular Friday trash collection schedule in Fillmore during the weeks of Dec. 25-Dec. 31 and Jan. 1-7, 2012.

As a special holiday feature, residents may put out twice the amount of trash at no extra charge during the two weeks following Christmas. Please make sure the trash is in bags. We will also collect extra recyclables, but please make sure to flatten all boxes.

Also, Santa Clara Valley Disposal is making it easy for their customers to recycle their Christmas trees. All customers need to do is remove the ornaments, hooks, lights, tinsel, bows, nails and tree stand, then cut the tree into sections no more than 4 feet long and place in the yard waste barrel on their scheduled pickup day.

Please note, however: Flocked trees cannot be recycled.

For more information, call 647-1414.

The Boys and Girls Club of Santa Clara Valley is pleased to announce that their new CEO is Jan Marholin. Jan is currently an elementary Principal in Fillmore. She will be retiring from education in December and taking over the CEO position in early January 2012. Jan brings with her the educational, management and organizational skills needed for this position. She has had experience being on other non-profit boards and understands the need for both community and business relationships. She has written many grants and has relationships with many foundations. Jan is very excited and looks forward to being part of the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Clara Valley. When Jan isn’t working she loves traveling and finding restaurants that have been showcased on the Food Network. Jan loves sports and loves to be outside with her cocker spaniels.

The last eclipse of 2011 is a total lunar eclipse that takes place early Saturday morning December 10th. This will be a very unusual total lunar eclipse because it takes place just before sunrise and will set in the west in totality. Last year we had a total lunar eclipse, but it was raining that night, but the weather is predicted to be clear, but very cold for this lunar eclipse.

Here is the timing of the event...Partial phases begin at 4:45a.m. Astronomical twilight begins at 5:22a.m. Totality begins at 6:06a.m. Greatest phase of eclipse at 6:31a.m.

Sunrise at 6:51a.m. Moon set at 6:55a.m. Totality ends at 6:57a.m.

Look for a good western horizon to view the setting of the moon in totality. If you want to try and photograph this event, it is best to use a long telephoto lens. Try frame the eclipsed moon with a palm or other large tree, or the edge of a mountain. Be imaginative and try to get a picture of this very unusual total lunar eclipse. Just imagine trying to take a picture of a giant orange-colored peach setting in the west. Or just go out, bring a blanket or bundle up and find a nice seat and look to where the sun usually sets and see a fantastic looking moon. The next one, for us, won’t happen until April 2014!

Carmelita Miranda, Dreamweaver Observatory

It takes a community conscious real estate company, its untiring agents, their clients, caring corporate sponsors and regular citizens to bring smiles to the needy of the village during the holidays.

That’s the message drawn from last week’s 12th Annual “Turkey-A-Thon” conducted by Troop Real Estate, Inc. throughout Ventura County.

The event raised over $55,000 from these sources, enabling the Troop family and its affiliates to distribute turkeys and Thanksgiving dinner trimmings to a record 22,000 people representing over 2,750 families, reports Troop Agent Alex Gandel, event chairman. The “Turkey-A-Thon” was held in cooperation with Care & Share/The Salvation Army, Food Share, Manna, and the Moorpark Food Pantry.

“This is an event whose growth has been driven by the support of the Troop family of agents and affiliates, as well as the generosity of outside volunteers plus additional community financial support from local businesses and individuals. As the need for our assistance throughout the community has increased, all of this kindness and energy has been harnessed to provide meals for those in need, and it continues to illustrate the fact that inside of everyone lies a gentle heart that when called upon is there for the giving,” Gandel said.

The Troop “Turkey-A-Thon” food distributions were held in Simi Valley, Conejo Valley, Moorpark, and in the West County communities of Ventura, Ojai, Santa Paula, and Fillmore. Food was distributed to Help of Ojai in Ojai and the Boys and Girls Club in Santa Paula and Fillmore.

As a long line of food recipients encircled Troop’s offices in Simi Valley one Troop agent reported that an elderly lady who arrived at the front of the line at 7 a.m. stated that it was “the only healthy meal she gets during the year.”

Typical of the special outreach of the “Turkey-A-Thon”, another Troop agent assisted care taker Anna Munoz of Simi Valley and her daughter, Helen, 12, who picked up Thanksgiving groceries for an elderly local woman.

Commenting on the event, company President Brian Troop said: “The effort of our volunteers was amazing because it was difficult to get sponsors and donors since so many are unemployed today. But it all came together because our agents and sponsors stepped up.”

In West County, Troop Regional Manager Bob Harrison added that Food Share had so many needy this year they had to conduct a drawing. “We also provided an additional 300 military meals this year and fed a record of over 6,000 people this year in West County alone,” Harrison said.

Troop’s “Turkey-A-Thon”, which has now fed over 135,000 for Thanksgiving during its 12-year run, attracted a distinguished list of corporate sponsors this year. They included Simi Valley Hospital; First Automotive Group of Simi Valley; William L. Morris Chevrolet, Simi Valley; Kirby Auto Group, Ventura and Simi Valley; Infiniti of Thousand Oaks; Bunnin GM Superstore, Ventura/Oxnard; Simi Valley Buick/GMC; TRC Medical, Simi Valley; the Simi Sunset Rotary Club; Simi Hills Golf Course Men’s Club; Simi Valley Police Officers Association, the Elks Club of Ventura, and Santa Paula Rotarians. Additionally, traditional event sponsors were All Valley Escrow, CFC Mortgage Bankers, and Consumers Title Company of Ventura County.

To help pets get a home for the holidays, County Animal Services is discounting all dog and cat adoptions for one day only! On Saturday, December 10th from 10am until 4pm, Santa Barbara County Animal Services will be discounting all dog and cat adoptions 50%. By adopting your perfect match you can add a family member and save a life this holiday season.

This Saturday, December 10th, Santa Barbara County Animal Services will be hosting adoption open houses at all three shelters. Come join us for a festive day celebrating the animals in our shelters whose only wish this holiday season is for a home to call their own.

During this day long promotion, a dog adoption will be $45 and a cat adoption will be $32. For the reduced adoption fee you will receive a precious companion that has been spayed or neutered, is current on all vaccinations, and ready to bring an abundance of love as well as a complimentary bag of Science Diet Food.

Bring the whole family and start off your holiday by opening your home to a new pet., “Our staff and volunteers work very hard throughout the year to find loving permanent homes for our animals. Our hope is that we can get as many animals as possible into loving homes in time for the holidays,” said Jan Glick, Director of Animal Services.

This is also a great time of year to make sure your pet’s license is up to date and your pet is wearing its tag. A license is your pet’s ticket home and we want to be sure they spend the holidays where they belong, with you! If you are looking for the perfect gift for your pet this year consider a microchip. For just $20 you will be giving your pet the gift of permanent identification. Visit your local shelter for more information.

Come join our festivities and meet our adoptable pets at one of Santa Barbara County’s three animal shelters; The Santa Barbara Shelter at 5473 Overpass Rd, the Lompoc Shelter at 1501 West Central, or the Santa Maria Animal Center at 548 West Foster Rd. Bring a little love home for the holidays!

SACRAMENTO, CA – With weather forecasts calling for nighttime temperatures to drop near freezing in parts of California, Dr. Ron Chapman, director of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and state public health officer, today urged Californians to protect themselves and their families from the hazards of extreme cold.

“Cold temperatures threaten individuals, their pets and their homes,” Chapman said.
“Exposure to severe cold temperatures can cause hypothermia and other serious health problems. Those at greatest risk are people who work outside, seniors, infants and people with chronic conditions.”

The warning signs of hypothermia are shivering, exhaustion, confusion, fumbling hands, memory loss, slurred speech and drowsiness. For infants, the warning signs are bright red, cold skin and very low energy. If you notice any of these signs, take the person’s temperature. If it is below 95 degrees, seek medical attention immediately and get the individual to a warm room or shelter.

Chapman recommends dressing warmly, eating well-balanced meals, and avoiding alcoholic or caffeinated beverages, as they cause the body to lose heat rapidly. Because cold weather puts an extra strain on the heart, he cautioned people with heart disease or high blood pressure to avoid overexerting themselves outside.

Chapman said it is important to plan ahead for possible power outages by keeping several days’ supply of food, water and medicine at home. Bring pets indoors or provide adequate shelter to keep them warm. Use space heaters and fireplaces appropriately to avoid household fires and the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Visit CDPH’s Be Prepared California website for additional safety tips and information. www.cdph.ca.gov