Santa Paula, CA. - The time has come to release the best kept secret in town! The location for the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Clara Valley’s New Year’s Eve Celebration/Fundraiser! The location is (drum roll, please) 120 Calavo St., Suites D & H. Yes, it is a storage facility, a bold choice, but what else would be big enough, and perfect for the numerous activities planned for the event? Activities include a Silent Auction, a Gourmet Dinner, a Live Auction, Cigar Lounge, Casino and Bottle Bash, all designed to celebrate the passing of 2010 into 2011, and, at the same time, generate support funding for the programs that help nurture and grow the children in our community. Preparations are underway to heat and light the venue, so guests will be comfortable and entertained. The main room will have four bars, three photo ops, a dance floor and the Bottle Bash! The Casino, dubbed The Clandestine Casino, will be located in Suite D, and will open at the end of the Live Auction and dinner. There will be lighted parking and all the amenities, for guest convenience and comfort. This is going to be an event talked about for weeks to come; you don’t want to miss out! Call the Club at 805-525-7910 for your reservations today!

The Boys & Girls Club wants to thank Matt Perrett and Calavo Street Properties for their kind and generous donation of the use of their building for the event, and for their patient support while we meet with vendors, City personnel and committee members at the site while preparations are under way. The planning committee also wants to thank our sponsors, Mission Produce, Santa Paula Chevrolet, Santa Clara Valley Disposal, Vintage Productions, Inc., Santa Paula Times, Santa Paula Community Bank, Venoco, Inc. and the Ventura County Star for their continued and generous support of this event, and the community at large who tolerated our tongue in cheek fun in keeping the location a secret until today! We hope you enjoyed the mystery and will join your friends and neighbors for this unique event that we hope will become a seasonal standard!

Call the Club at 805-525-7910 to reserve your seats (ticket price is $86, a tongue in cheek reference to Agent 86 in the old Get Smart TV series,) pledge your sponsorship or donate auction items. Current auction items include: Vacation Stays, Golf Packages, Fine Dining Experiences and unique items such as Star Gazing from Rancho Feloso’s Observatory. Be sure to add this event to your holiday calendar, its one event you won’t want to miss!

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Vision 2020 Civic Pride Committee decided to select a “Yard of the Month” for December, based on holiday decorations. There were many beautifully decorated homes and yards and even neighborhoods this year, even more than last year.

Rob & Lisa O’Leary’s home at 818 Hinckley was unanimously chosen as the winner. The yard and front porch are decorated with Walt Disney animated figures with Mickey & Minnie & Frosty nodding to Christmas music & Rudolph and Santa making an appearance on the rooftop as well as the side of the house. The entire yard is bright with color and the tiny multicolored lights in the trees make a magical scene.

The entire family gets involved, with sons, Zack & Justin helping. They begin November 1, so they can enjoy the “magic” for a longer time. There are many children in the neighborhood that take great pleasure in all the festivity. This year some parents even knocked on the door, asking if they could photograph their children on the front porch with Mickey & Minnie.

The O’Leary Family are relative newcomers to town, arriving in March of 2009 from Ventura. This friendly family have the inside of their home just as beautifully decorated with a lighted village scene and a funny, joke telling mounted deer head to greet visitors.

Other beautiful Holiday displays worthy of an honorable mention and an evening tour may be found at 885 Hinckley, the corner of 5th & B Street, 562 Finch Ct, 1021 Harthorn, 408 Robin, the corner of Sespe and “C” St.

Otto & Sons Nursery generously continue to support the Vision 2020 Civic Pride effort to encourage members of the community to beautify and maintain their neighborhoods, one yard at a time! The award is an Otto & Sons’ gift certificate of $25.00.

On December 17, 2010, from 7:00p.m. to 2:00 a.m., the Fillmore Station hosted a DUI/driver’s license checkpoint, as part of the Avoid the 14 grant. During the check point 897 vehicles were screened for violators. 7 subjects were examined for driving under the influence, but not found to have their ability to operate a motor vehicle impaired. There were 10 people cited for driver’s license infractions (5 unlicensed, 3 suspended and 2 not in possession of a license). 8 Vehicles were impounded during the checkpoint.

A subject driving through check point was going to Santa Paula to pick up his brother, who had seen the check point earlier and knew he shouldn’t drive under the influence. Courtesy of Fillmore Police Department.

The Ventura County Rose Society and the Gold Coast Heritage Rose Group will sponsor a pruning demonstration of Old Garden Roses at the Stagecoach Inn Museum Rose Garden at 51 South Ventu Park Rd. in Newbury Park, CA on January 15, 2011 beginning at 9:00 a.m.

Jim Delahanty, a Consulting Rosarian and President of the VCRS, will present an introduction to pruning as well as a discussion of China Roses, Polyantha Roses and Hybrid Perpetual Rose Purning.

Jeri Jennings, Editor of "Gold Coast Roses", and a founding member of the Gold Coast Heritage Rose Group, will continue the pruning discussion with pruning tips for Tea Roses, Noisette Roses and Portland Roses. Clay Jennings will conclude the session with advice and hands-on demonstrations of pruning climbing roses.
This event is free and the only scheduled pruning demonstration of Old Garden Roses in the local area.

For more information, please contact Janet Sklar at 818-993-6622 or Dawn-Marie Johnson at 805-523-9003.

Ventura County Library will be changing systemwide computer hardware and related work that will impact computer use at the Ventura County Libraries.

Starting December 23, 2010 until early January 2011, the public will not be able to use any online-capable computers including public internet, wireless and the in-library catalog.

Home access to the Ventura County Library website, www.vencolibrary.org will not be affected.

Library staff will be available to assist during the transition. The
libraries impacted by this are: Avenue, Camarillo, Fillmore, E.P. Foster, Meiners Oaks, Oak Park, Oak View, Ojai, Piru, Ray D. Prueter, Saticoy, Simi Valley and Soliz-El Rio. Thank you for your patience!

The Ventura County Library is available at www.vencolibrary.org.

A message from Bobby Castaneda Jr.

As you can see, the Christmas gifts have arrived and gone. It was a very great turnout at this Year's 33rd Annual Piru Christmas Parade.

We, the East County Carnales Motorcycle Club, did what we we have been known to do the passed few Years. Following the parade, we handed out Toys to the Children of Piru. It's hard to believe that the Holidays have ALREADY arrived. The Toy giveaway was a great success that unfortunately, we ran out of Toys to give away. We DO apologize for the inconvenience and long faces.

We do wish that next Year will be a GREATER Event. We do Greatfully thank the Piru/Fillmore Community for much backing and support! A HUGE " Thank You" to El Pescador Restaurant, Elva's Market, Poncho's Place, the Piru Neighborhood Council, Paul & Laura Ortega, Various Motorcycle Clubs, Friends and Family. A Thank You to my Brothers who got the ball rolling with the Toy giveaway for my not attending. We look forward to this fun Event next year.

As always, have a Very Blessed Christmas from us all!

Support your Local Carnales Motorcycle- East County.

God Bless, Bobby Castaneda Jr.

Monday night December 20th to early hours of December 21st will be a Total Lunar Eclipse.

Penumbral Eclipse Begins: 9:29 PM
Partial Eclipse Begins: 10:33 PM
Total Eclipse Begins: 11:41 PM
Greatest Eclipse: 12:17 AM
Total Eclipse Ends: 12:53 AM
Partial Eclipse Ends: 2:01 AM
Penumbral Eclipse Ends: 3:04 AM

This Total Lunar Eclipse is well placed with the maximum amount of earth’s shadow coverage just off the coast of Baja California.

This could be an excellent opportunity for budding astronomers and students to test their observing skills. Try recording your estimates of the Moon's brightness every ten minutes during totality using the Danjon Scale.

The French astronomer A. Danjon proposed a useful five point scale for evaluating the visual appearance and brightness of the Moon during total lunar eclipses. 'L' values for various luminosities are defined as follows:

L = 0 Very dark eclipse.
Moon almost invisible, especially at mid-totality.
L = 1 Dark Eclipse, gray or brownish in coloration.
Details distinguishable only with difficulty.
L = 2 Deep red or rust-colored eclipse.
Very dark central shadow, while outer edge of umbra is relatively bright.
L = 3 Brick-red eclipse.
Umbral shadow usually has a bright or yellow rim.
L = 4 Very bright copper-red or orange eclipse.
Umbral shadow has a bluish, very bright rim.

The assignment of an 'L' value to lunar eclipses is best done with the naked eye, binoculars or a small telescope near the time of mid-totality. It's also useful to examine the Moon's appearance just after the beginning and before the end of totality.

During the eclipse, the Moon will be in eastern Taurus near the border with Gemini. The bright red star Aldebaran ("Eye of the Bull") lies 20 degrees west of the Moon. The winter constellations Gemini, Auriga, Taurus and Orion surround the eclipsed Moon.

Past observations I have had of a Total Lunar Eclipse, the Moon looks like a 3-dimensional “peach” in the night sky. Photographing a lunar eclipse presents challenges to getting the right exposure from the partial phases, with bright white crescents to the dark ruby red colors during totality. Your best bet is to use an ISO setting of 400 and vary exposure times. Just watching a Total Lunar Eclipse, especially during totality, is a beautiful and wonderful experience. Let’s hope for good weather and clear skies, bundle up and grab a lounge chair and enjoy the show.

IRS Reminds Taxpayers to Use E-file and Direct Deposit to Avoid an Undelivered Refund

LOS ANGELES, CA. - The Internal Revenue Service is looking for 23 taxpayers from Fillmore, Piru and Santa Paula who can claim their share of undelivered refund checks totaling over $29 Thousand. These undelivered refund checks were returned to the IRS by the U.S. Postal Service due to mailing address errors. The IRS can reissue the checks, which average $1,289 after taxpayers correct or update their addresses with the IRS.

Nationally, there are 111,893 taxpayers with undelivered refunds, totaling $164.6 million with an average refund of $1,471.

“If you think you are missing a refund, the sooner you update your address information, the quicker you can get your money,” said Anabel Marquez, Los Angeles IRS Spokeswoman. “A taxpayer only needs to update his or her address once for the IRS to send out all checks due.”

If a refund check is returned to the IRS as undelivered, taxpayers can generally update their addresses with the “Where’s My Refund?” tool on www.irs.gov. The tool also enables taxpayers to check the status of their refunds. A taxpayer must submit his or her Social Security number, filing status and amount of refund shown on their 2009 return. The tool will provide the status of their refund and, in some cases, instructions on how to resolve delivery problems.

Taxpayers checking on a refund over the phone will receive instructions on how to update their addresses. Taxpayers can access a telephone version of “Where’s My Refund?” by calling 1-800-829-1954.

While only a small percentage of checks mailed out by the IRS are returned as undelivered, taxpayers can put an end to lost, stolen or undelivered checks by choosing direct deposit when they file either paper or electronic returns. Taxpayers can receive refunds directly into their bank account.

The IRS also recommends that taxpayers file their tax returns electronically. E-file reduces errors on tax returns and speeds up refunds. E-file combined with direct deposit is the best option for taxpayers; it’s safe, easy and fast.

The public should be aware that the IRS does not contact taxpayers by e-mail to alert them of pending refunds and that such messages are common identity theft scams. The agency urges taxpayers not to release any personal information, reply, open any attachments or click on any links to avoid malicious code that will infect their computers. The best way for an individual to verify if she or he has a pending refund is going directly to www.irs.gov and using the “Where’s My Refund?” tool.

Take a break from the hectic activities of the season! The Fillmore Friends of the Library will host their annual open house from 1-5 pm on Wednesday, December 22, 2010 at the Fillmore Library. They will provide refreshments throughout the afternoon. At 3:30 Jan Brett's "Gingerbread Friends" and some other fun stories about winter will be read. There will be prizes and treats for everyone. Come spend a cozy afternoon at your Fillmore Library, located at 502 East Second Street. For information, phone 524-3355.

Ventura, CA - Girl Scouts of California’s Central Coast and Brownilympics are searching for volunteers to help on the Brownilympics event committee.

Brownilymics is a day of sports and fun for Daisy (5 & 6 years) and Brownie Girl Scouts (7 & 8 years).

The theme is “Every Girl Goes Home a Winner” and the purpose is to enhance each young girls self worth through a day of fun and sporting events. Each girl, along with her troop can participate in eight events offered.

The uniqueness of Brownilympics is that, it is one event in the “girl scout” year that the Dads are invited to participate. It is the volunteer Dads that run the events that the girls’ race.

This is the 13th year for Brownilympics where every girl participating receives a Brownilympic’s Medal. Each girl that wins or places in an event receives a star on the medal.

Every Girl Goes Home A Winner!

To volunteer, call Christine Tobin, Director of Girl Scouts Services, at (805) 233-2589.

My name is Kiana Hope and I’m a member of the Sespe 4H club. I would like to let the public know about a Community Service project that our club is participating in, this Holiday season.

Sespe 4H is having a sock drive, the NEW socks that we collect will be distributed to the needy children and adults of our community. We will distribute the socks on Tuesday December 21st at the North Fillmore Sheriff’s Department Storefront during the Toy & Coat giveaway. We are asking the community to please help us collect new socks for girls, boys, men and woman. You can donate your socks at the following locations Bella’s Teas & Treats, Double a Café, Santa Clara Valley Bank, San Cayetano School office, and the Post office.

Thank you and Happy Holidays
Kiana Hope
Sespe 4H Club

Because of the heightened use of energy due to low temperatures and the increased use of candles, fireplaces and holiday lights, home fires during the holiday are a major concern for the American Red Cross. Nearly 47,000 fires occur during the winter holidays, claiming more than 500 lives each year. In Ventura County alone, the American Red Cross has responded to 25 home fires in the past year, free of charge, helping Ventura County residents recover from the devastation to their homes.

With the dramatically increased risk of fire and other dangers during the holiday season, the American Red Cross, Ventura County Chapter encourages the community to be cautious and to keep safety in mind while enjoying this holiday season. Follow these simple steps to help ensure you and your loved ones enjoy a safe and happy holiday:

If you would like to speak with a representative of the American Red Cross in Ventura County, please feel free to contact me at (805) 687-3322.

Sincerely,
Katrina Sill
Katrina Sill, Public Relations Associate
351 S Hitchcock Way, Suite B-200
Santa Barbara, CA 93105
805.687.3322
805.687.3344 fax
ks@surfmedia.com, www.surfmedia.com

Since both Christmas and New Year’s Day fall on a Saturday this holiday season, Santa Clara Valley Disposal will maintain its regular Friday trash and recyclables collection schedule on Dec. 24 and its trash and green waste collection schedule on Dec. 31.

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.

Ventura, CA. - Community Memorial Hospital is offering a free support group for stroke patients on the second Wednesday of each month.

Families, friends and caregivers of patients also are invited to attend the support group meetings, which run from 2 to 3:30 p.m. in the eighth-floor board room at CMH, 147 N. Brent St.

A stroke happens unexpectedly and shatters the routine of daily life. This support group is designed to provide participants the opportunity to share their experience with others. Participants also gain vital information regarding strokes as well as learn coping and recovery skills at the meetings.

For more information, call (805) 667-2818 or email strokeaware@cmhhospital.org.

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