The Boys & Girls Club’s 4th Annual Taste of the Valley is scheduled for Sunday May 24th from 1:00 – 4:00 PM at the Fillmore City Hall Courtyard, 250 Central Ave., Fillmore. Co-chairs for the event are Diane Torrence, Prudential Realty, and Karen Araiza-Reynolds, La Cabana Restaurant. Guests will have the opportunity to meet the new restaurateurs in the Santa Clara Valley area, while reconnecting with your local favorites.

The event features tastes of a variety of delicious products from local restaurants, wineries, coffee vendors, Silent Auction & Live auctions and musical entertainment by The Tune Bandits. Advance reservations for the event are $30.00 per person, or $35 at the door. Advance purchase can be made by calling Carole Power at the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Clara Valley, 805-525-7910 or by email: cpower_bgcscv@hotmail.com. (We accept Visa, Mastercard, checks and cash.) Invitations for the event will be in the mail by the week of April 13th.

Auction items are needed to include in the Silent and/or Live Auction. Interested donors may also contact the Club by calling Carole Power or Doug Caldwell at (805) 525-7910. Volunteers will be happy to pickup and donated items at the donor’s convenience. CONTINUED »

The FHS Class of 64 is planning their 45 year reunion to be held on Saturday, June 13th. The social time and dinner will be held at the home of Jerry & Lynda Edmonds beginning at 4PM. Information is going out to classmates this week.

Classmates whose addresses are missing are: Sharon Anderson Payne, Yvonne Anderson Bird,Melanie Ellis McCuellar, Phillip Fairbanks, Roger Gudgel, Donald Sorenson, Larry Sundstrom, Terry Timmons and Fred Viramontez. Anyone with addresses for any of the above are asked to email to edmondsranch@att.net or contact any of the committee members. Committee members are: Lynda Edmonds, Susan Dollar, Carol Shiells, Debby Martinson, Shirley Onstot, Joan Beem and Carol Askren.

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

As rescue efforts from the 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Italy continue, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services is continuing its effort to educate and better prepare Ventura County residents should such a disaster occur in our community.

“Our thoughts are with the victims, families and rescue personnel in L’AquAuqila, Italy. The damages and loss of lives are truly a tragedy, yet an important reminder to Ventura County residents to be prepared,” said Laura Hernandez, Assistant Director of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services.

Ventura County is vulnerable to a wide range of disasters including earthquakes, floods, fires, hazardous material incidents, transportation accidents, tsunamis and terrorism. Local officials are encouraging residents to be prepared by making an emergency supply kit, developing a family communications plan and being informed about the local hazards in Ventura County. Residents are also encouraged to consider making preparations in advance for family members with special needs and their pets. CONTINUED »

Camarillo, Calif. – There’s still time to be a part of local history through the American Red Cross of Ventura County’s, Quilt of Caring Program.

The campaign offers Ventura County residents and businesses an opportunity to help the local chapter raise needed funds to serve our community in times of disaster.

The large, multi-colored quilt will feature the names of individuals who have donated or who are recognizing the memory of a family member who may have benefitted from the American Red Cross. The quilt is being made by Connie Hall, a volunteer at the American Red Cross of Ventura County.

The $1,000 squares are sold out and 25% of the $500 squares have been purchased. The $250 and $100 squares are also still available. <1--break-->

The Quilt of Caring community campaign is symbolic of the historic foundation of volunteerism within the American Red Cross when quilters used to make quilts (former blankets) for the Red Cross to warm disaster victims, refugees and others in need. The signature quilts were also used as fundraising efforts, especially during times of war.

The sales of squares will continue through June 30th and the quilt is scheduled to be completed this summer. The Quilt of Caring will be prominently displayed in the lobby of the new building of the American Red Cross of Ventura County located at 836 Calle Plano in Camarillo.

To participate in the Quilt of Caring Program, visit the website at www.arcventura.org or call Maria Sanchez, Director of Development and Communications at 805-987-1514.

Since 1917, the American Red Cross of Ventura County has been meeting needs throughout the communities it serves. Each year, more than 1,200 local volunteers respond to more than 50 local disasters, teach tens of thousands of individual’s vital lifesaving skills, and support the men and women in the U.S. Armed Forces. The American Red Cross is not a government agency.

Location: Santa Clara Valley Job & Career Center
725 E. Main Street, Santa Paula
805-933-8452

Thursday, May 7 - Winning Interviews, 9 am – 1 pm - supplies the tools to make a lasting first impression when interviewing. Career Shops are offered at no cost to Job Seekers. Space is limited. Prior registration required by calling the Santa Clara Valley Job & Career Center at 805-933-8452 to enroll.

Monday, May 11 - Computer Basics for Job Seekers, 9 am – 4 pm - become familiar with Windows desktop programs to enhance your job skills. Career Shops are offered at no cost to Job Seekers. Space is limited. Prior registration required by calling the Santa Clara Valley Job & Career Center at 805-933-8452 to enroll.

Thursday and Friday, May 14 and 15 - Resumes that Sell, 9 am – 4 pm - two-day workshop providing hands-on assistance in completing a resume, cover and thank-you letters. Walk away with a portfolio that shows off professional skills and experience. Career Shops are offered at no cost to Job Seekers. Space is limited. Prior registration required by calling the Santa Clara Valley Job & Career Center at 805-933-8452 to enroll. CONTINUED »

LOS ANGELES -- About 1 out of every 4 taxpayers, including nearly 4 million Californians, wait until the final week to do their taxes. If you’re one of those taxpayers, here are a dozen Q&As to help you meet the Wednesday, April 15 deadline.

1. Where can you get IRS forms and publications?

Go to the official IRS web site at www.irs.gov for tax forms and publications which can be downloaded 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Many libraries and post offices also provide free tax forms.

2. How can you get your taxes done for free?

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites help those making up to $42,000. VITA sites usually serve walk-in visitors on a first-come, first-served basis. AARP Tax Aide sites help seniors who have less complicated tax returns and usually require an appointment. CONTINUED »

In the midst of national and local economic difficulties, the Tax Collector’s office is seeing property taxes being paid at a higher rate than in the last several cycles. Heading into the week of the April 10 deadline, Ventura County property owners have paid approximately 144,000 bills of the county’s 244,054 taxable properties. Last year at this time, fewer than half the bill payments had been received.

Several possible reasons for this unexpected collection pace were offered by Treasurer-Tax Collector Larry Matheney: “We suspect that part of the higher collection rate is due to the increased number of bank-owned properties in our area. These banks want the taxes to remain current while they are reselling their properties." Matheney continued, "But it appears to go deeper than the paying habits of banks. As a group, Ventura County homeowners have so far been able to make spending adjustments at an admirable level. However, the hardships faced by our families should not be discounted for a moment. Struggling and juggling define many of our neighbors.” CONTINUED »

Many readers here on The Fillmore Gazette’s website may be experiencing a situation where the most recent stories and photos do not appear on the Front Page. If you do not see any recent stories dated within the past week or so on the Front Page, please click on your browser’s “Refresh” button. If you are using “Internet Explorer” the button typically looks like two small green arrows, one arrow pointing up and the other arrow pointing down. If you are using “Firefox” the button typically looks like a blue circular arrow. In both browsers, the button is located near the top and will say "Refresh" or "Reload current page" when you hover over the button.

If you would like to know more about the details about why this happened, I interviewed myself for this story, and here is what I had to say. Question: “Scott, what caused this problem to occur?” Answer: “The website has become very popular over the past 6 months and the current traffic volume is frequently overloading the web server. To optimize the website I am in implementing a page caching system. The system has a bug that causes the Front (or home) Page of the website to not update automatically. All other sections of the website appear to be updating normally and working OK.” Question: “Scott, are you willing to personally help any of the 25,000 people that regularly visit the website if they need any help solving the problem?” Answer: “Yes. If you are not seeing the most recent photos and stories on the Front Page after pressing the Refresh button and need any help with the above instructions, please email me at scott@fillmoregazette.com and I will help you fix the problem. Thank You.”

Fillmore & Western Railfest smelled pretty darned good over the weekend. Tri-tip was on the barbecue, a fundraiser for the Fillmore Historical Museum. Below, a tiny train was enjoyed by the mostly out-of-town crowd.

SEARCH WARRANT
03/04/09
1400 block Ventura St.
03/04/09
1100 block El Paseo St.

HIT & RUN NON-INJURY
03/04/09
900 block Central Ave.
03/05/09
N. C St./Meadowlark Dr.
03/08/09
900 block 3rd. Street

VANDALISM
03/04/09
500 block Mountain View CONTINUED »

Artists living in Fillmore want to find ways to promote their artwork. Some are talking about organizing together to know other in-town artists. The idea for such a group originated the day of the Fillmore Heritage Valley Fine Art Sale last November at the Fillmore Historical Museum Depot. Further information will be forth coming at a later date.

The Santa Paula Society of the Arts 72nd Annual Art and Photography Exhibit recently closed with Luanne Perez being awarded first Honorable Mention in Watercolor and Jan Faulkner also awarded first Honorable Mention in Mixed Media. Wana Klasen currently has a Solo Show at the Harbor Village Gallery, 1591 Spinnaker Drive, Ventura. Lois Freeman Fox's second place merit work in ink is also on display at the Harbor Village Gallery.

Conway Spitler

You want to enter your prize flower in the Fillmore Flower Show for the fist time! What do you do to enter that prize Rose, Iris, Lily or other flower?
Two days ahead you look at your flowers and choose the best specimen for entry and tag it prior to picking. The day ahead or the day of the show, take a container of water and trash basket to put leaves, etc. into. Immerse flowers in water as soon as possible.
For example: Cut Roses, put in water, take Rose in had and pull the discarded petals off. This could disqualify the entry.
Also if the Rose has a bud, carefully pluck it off. Many a Rose has been disqualified form getting a blue ribbon because the bud was left on the stem.
You clean the Rose and the leaves and remove any sub foliage with your thumb. Remove water spots with water or a little milk on a cloth.

Saturday night, March 25 or Sunday night, March 26, two banners were stolen (Dodgers and 7-11) from the Fillmore Little League Field. They are worth approximately $107. each. Please return no questions asked. Call 320-6364 if you have any information.

April 4-5, 2009 at the Senior Center at 533 Santa Clara Street, Fillmore, will be the revival of this 60+ year annual event which drew the community, young and old, together to celebrate beauty, creativity and the pleasure of growing things in our good earth! What better time to get young people involved in appreciating the pleasures of gardening and the sustaining power of knowing how to grow your own plants for food and landscaping, than this time of economic challenge.

Consider the fun and satisfaction of entering this show with your own garden flowers. Entries will be accepted Saturday, April 4, between 7:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. with judging to follow. The show will be open free to the public between 1pm-4pm both days. Music of violin and mandolin will add enjoyment, Saturday from 1-4pm.

Entry divisions are: Single stem cut roses, Single stem cut Iris and Lilies, Single stem cut “other” flowers, (VASES will be provided for single stem categories.) Arrangements in a single container(Bring your container.), Bouquets, Miniature Arrangements and bouquets (not to exceed 4” x 4”), and Youth arrangements. Youth may enter all categories to compete, but the Youth alone, entry categories allow them to bring containers and flowers and receive assistance with a table, clippers for trimming and some advice in grooming and presentation.

“Arrangements” are items presented on a tray or board along with flowers, stones, driftwood, etc to present a theme or idea, whereas bouquets are mixed flowers or flowers of one type with greens or twigs, presented in a vase or water holding container.

Please be part of this great community event and show off your flowers and artistry! For information, please contact Joanne King, 805-524-4904.

Have you been taking yoga classes but can’t remember what to do at home?

Or perhaps you’ve dabbled in yoga a few times but would like to establish it as a more regular part of your daily routine. The Body Image Gym is now offering a special yoga class for you on Saturday, April 18 from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. to introduce The Mother Sequence into your yoga practice. This sequence is a series of 36 yoga asanas
(positions) practiced in coordination with breathing and movement.

You will learn: the sun salutations (10 asanas),; the five Tibetans; two standing, three seated, four inverted and five finishing poses as well as three poses for relaxation all using breath to move into, out of and to hold the poses. The Sequence takes about 2 hours to complete and it is recommended that you have had 3 or more months of prior yoga practice.

Throughout the Mother Sequence the focus is on correctly aligning each asana while maintaining a serene, joyful and nonforced mental and physical attitude. Lengthened breath and smooth slow movement will be emphasized. A handout with the sequence will be included with the class.

Please call the instructor, Janine Rees, at 524-4856 or 524-2520 with questions. Sign ups are at the front desk of The Body Image Gym and the class fee is a one time $10.00 charge.

On April 3rd, 31 Fillmore High School students will travel to Northern California on the annual AVID Junior trip. The AVID program is designed to help students be more successful in their academic endeavors and to prepare them for the transition to college. Fillmore High School has had a successful AVID program since the early nineties when it was started by Mr. Joe Torres, who retired in 2006. Since that time, Ms. Erin Moriarty and Mr. Paul FitzGerald have continued the program at FHS and it was reintroduced to the middle school this year by Mr. Scott Carroll and Me. Heather Atwood. AVID has helped countless Fillmore students to successfully transition to four year universities.

This year, the Avid Junior class trip will take a whirlwind tour of 5 universities in three days. Students will visit Fresno State University, UC Merced, UC Berkeley, Stanford University and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo University. They will tour the campuses, see the dorms and get important information on admissions requirements, financial aid, and college life.

The AVID Junior class has worked very hard this year to raise money for this event. They have also received generous donations from the Montana Expedition Fund, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Wells Fargo, Tim and Stephanie Hagel and most recently the Central Station Bar and Grill. The AVID Junior Class would like to thank all of their sponsors, especially Frank Ramirez and Cynthia Garcia-Espinoza from Central Station for their continued support of the AVID program at Fillmore High School.

For more information on how you can help the FHS AVID program, email Paul FitzGerald at pfitzgerald@fillmore.k12.ca.us.

Applications are now available for the Fillmore Women’s Service Club Educational Scholarship for Adult Women continuing or returning to college or trade school. Applicants must reside within the Fillmore School District. For information and an application form please telephone Susan Banks at 524-1470.

Attention all Artists, those whom love to draw, color, oil paint, watercolor, color pencils, crayons, well you get the idea, anyway, it’s that time to enter your artwork into the Fillmore May Festival Poster Art Contest. This year the winner will take home $50.00! here are no age limits, we just ask that you do your artwork in color and on a 8x11 piece of paper.

This year’s theme is “Bringing Back Tradition”. This festival has been going on for 97 years now. It first started as a Farmers Market downtown and now has grown to be one of the largest Events in Ventura County. The 4 day Festival offers a carnival, food, arts & crafts, games, bingo, live entertainment & bands, train rides and a parade. The May Festival offers that small town enjoyment for the entire family . Not to mention our town is one of the last best smallest towns in Southern California.

The Deadline to turn in your work in is Friday April 24, 2009. Please take your work to the Fillmore Chamber Office located on Hwy 126 at 557 Ventura Street or call Cindy. The winner will be awarded after the parade in front of City Hall.

If you have any questions please feel free to call Cindy Jackson-Bires at 805-524-7706. Good luck and have fun!