Conway Spitler

In the earlier days of the Alumni Association, we were an enthusiastic group of “nuts” who wanted to do more for the students of Fillmore High. Do more for a Hall of Fame! And many other activities along the line to assist graduates of Fillmore High.
Rosie was right in there when work was to be done. Along with her, was her husband. Rosie will be sorely missed by many of us; however, this is one individual who many graduates really felt she was a perfect example of an alumni member of the Fillmore High Alumni Association.
Time will tell what history thinks of us; however, I believe there will be a large paragraph about Rose in the alumni history section of the past years.
For the past week, with a “dead” computer, less work has been accomplished in the office. Computers are great items of “joy” however, they can be great head aches when no working properly. No excuses; however, this is one reason this article is late and may not get into this week’s issue.
This week Betty Ann Kirkpatrick Hawk ’38 will return to review the 70th Anniversary Class Reunion which was just held recently. It is my belief that a few of us will not close the book on the Class of ’38; however, we must realize there are not too many of us left. But, I must add that we have some great children and grandchildren produced by the Class of ’38 members who will go down in history for their interest in their parent’s graduation and reunions held over the years. This means the ’38 flag will still be flying through these children and grandchildren no matter where they are.

Bring the children to meet Itty Bitty, the dachshund, hero of the book “Itty Bitty Saves the Day”. Author Armando N. Garza will read his book on July 10, 2008 at 3 PM, assisted by Itty Bitty, himself, telling a story of how anyone can do big things, even if you’re little.
The free event is sponsored by the Fillmore Friends of the Library, a non-profit organization providing support to the library with funds for books, children’s programs, and adult events. The story telling will be at the library’s 502 Second Street address.

Pre Fair Tickets Now Available at Convenient Locations

You’re already planning to meet us at the 2008 Ventura County Fair, so why not take advantage of some terrific Pre Fair savings? You’ll be ready for all the fun, food, and festivities the Fair has to offer while saving money in the process.

The Ferris wheel will soon be sitting next to the Pacific Ocean, and you can be one of the first people to ride it. Buy 50 ride tickets for $20 before the Fair. Pre Fair ride tickets allow you to ride more rides for your money, and we know you want to ride as many as possible. Each ride takes 3-7 tickets, and tickets are valid only for the 2008 Fair.

One day at the Fair is not nearly enough to take in all fun and excitement. A Season Ticket allows you to enjoy all 12 days of the 2008 Fair for one convenient price. Don’t forget—Miller Lite Grandstand Arena will host great live entertainment and admission to these events is included in Fair entry. Season tickets are available at $65 for Adults (age 13 and older) and at $44 for youth (6-12) and seniors (62 and older).

This year Weekend Metrolink and Fair Combos are available. A great way to avoid pain at the pump and the hassle of parking, the Metrolink will drop you off right at the Main Gate. On Saturdays and Sundays, August 1 &2 and August 8 & 9, Metrolink will run round trip from Chatsworth with intermediate stops at Simi Valley, Moorpark, Camarillo, and Oxnard. Please see www.venturacountyfair.org for Combo pricing or call (805) 648-3376 for more information.

Pre-Fair carnival ride tickets, season tickets, and Metrolink/Fair combos are available at the Ventura County Fairgrounds Administrative Office, 10 W. Harbor Blvd., Ventura Monday thru Friday from 8am-5pm. This year pre-fair tickets are also available at the California Welcome Center, 1000 Town Center Dr., Oxnard (Tall Green Bldg. 101 at Oxnard Blvd.). Very conveniently located, the California Welcome Center is a great way to quickly pick up tickets for fairgoers in southern Ventura County.

Please go to www.venturacountyfair.org or call (805) 648-3376 for the latest Fair information.

Rancho Camulos Museum…where the history, myth, and romance of Old California still linger… It is a National Historic Landmark where the early Californio lifestyle is preserved in its original rural environment.
What began as part of the 48,000 acre Mexican land grant, Rancho San Francisco, deeded to Antonio del Valle in 1839 is still a 1,800-acre working ranch.
Rancho Camulos was also the setting for “Ramona,” an 1884 novel by Helen Hunt Jackson that generated national interest Rancho Camulos Museum in the history of Hispanic settlement in California and the impact on Native Americans. The non-profi t museum is a portion of the ranch containing the main adobe, cocina, chapel, schoolhouse, and beautiful grounds. Here the history and culture of the people of Camulos from the Tat avian Indians, through the del Valle family who established the rancho in the mid-1800s, to the Rubel family who purchased the property in 1924 are preserved.
The Museum is located on Highway 126, 10 miles west of the I-5 freeway in Piru. (Next to the first fruit stand on the left) INFO: (805) 521-1501 or www.ranchocamulos.org
Docent led one- hour tours are conducted Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 1-4 PM. The suggested donation is $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for children and students. Private group and school tours and special events such as weddings can also be arranged.

July 18-20, 2008
Harding Park, 1300 E. Harvard Blvd, Santa Paula, CA 93060
www.santapaulafestival.org

Santa Paula Kiwanis: Bill Grant, (805) 207-0182; Kiwanis, POB 186, Santa Paula, CA 93061
Mary Mata, (805) 616-3719; Kiwanis, POB 186, Santa Paula, CA 93061

City of Santa Paula: Brian Yanez, (805) 933-4226, Santa Paula Community Services Dept
Jeanne Orcutt, (805) 933-0076, Santa Paula Community Services Dept

Known as the “Citrus Capital of the World” because of its expansive lemon and orange orchards, the City of Santa Paula celebrates the fruit of California every year with the popular Kiwanis Citrus Festival. The 41st Annual Kiwanis Citrus Festival is a full weekend of headline entertainment, carnival rides, a downtown parade, car show, citrus and avocado pavilion, specialty foods, arts and crafts vendors, family fun stage, and fruity fun and games. The Festival starts at 5 PM on Friday, July 18, and runs through Sunday, July 20, 2008. The presenting sponsor for the Festival is Limoneira Company, one of Ventura County’s oldest and largest agricultural businesses. All of the attractions and details can be found on the Festival website, www.santapaulafestival.org.
The Citrus Festival features a spectacular lineup of headline entertainment, featuring Brenton Wood, Lakeside, Banda la Limon and La Sonora Dinamita. Other great bands at the festival includes Rico & Mambo, Captain Cardiac and the Coronaries, Angela Skeels Band, House Arrest, Anthony Prieto Band, Mariachi Camarillo, Nuestro, Banda Santa Elena Las Potras, Grupo Sismo and Banda Reina del Sur. Music lovers can also enjoy the headline entertainment and DJ music under the trees in the Bud Light Beer Lounge. The entertainment lineup is listed on the festival website, www.SantaPaulaFestival.org.
The Citrus Festival Parade on July 19 is a genuine hometown parade with classic cars, bands, community group floats, an antique fire engine, and local equestrians. The parade starts at 10 AM on Main Street in downtown Santa Paula between 7th and 11th Streets. Classic and antique autos will be on display at the entrance to the Citrus Festival from 10 AM to 3 PM on Saturday, July 19. Entry forms for the parade and car show can be downloaded from the festival website.
The Festival features plenty of the fruit that made Santa Paula famous. Join in the fun as festival-goers of all ages compete in Citrus Contests and entertainment at the Family Fun Stage on Saturday and Sunday. The Citrus Festival is packed with information and displays about the fruit of California, citrus ranching, and our agricultural heritage.
Visitors can enjoy the Festival’s fabulous food vendors and the wide selection of arts, crafts, and merchandise through the weekend. The popular carnival rides run all three days as well (5 to 11:00 PM on Friday and noon to 11:00 PM on Saturday and Sunday).
Daily admission to the Citrus Festival is $5 for adults and $1 for children (12 and under). Admission includes all of the daily live music and entertainment. Tickets for the carnival rides are sold separately at the carnival entrance.
The Citrus Festival is centrally located in Ventura County in Santa Paula adjacent to the 126 Freeway and is an easy drive from within the county, or from Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. The 126 Freeway connects the 101 Freeway in Ventura with the I-5 Freeway in Santa Clarita. Santa Paula is 10 miles east of Ventura and 25 miles west of Santa Clarita.
The Kiwanis Club of Santa Paula, like all Kiwanis Clubs, is an organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one child and one community at a time. The proceeds from the Citrus Festival support many youth organizations and programs in Santa Paula.
The Festival is sponsored by the Santa Paula Kiwanis Club and the Presenting Sponsor for the Citrus Festival is Limoneira Company (Limoneira.com). Other sponsors include City of Santa Paula, Calavo, Ventura County Star, Gold Coast Broadcasting, Santa Paula Development (Adams Canyon Preserve), City National Bank, Bud Light, Santa Paula Times, Time Warner Cable, Santa Clara Valley Bank, Ocean Gateway Inn, Hozy’s Grill, Ventura Coastal, Ford of Santa Paula, Rushing Real Estate, Travis Agriculture, SketchPad, Cumulus Media (103 the Vibe, 100.7 KHAY), 102.9 Radio Lazer, , Troop Real Estate, Party Pleasers, Juan Carlos Ramirez DDS, Santa Paula Super Store, Glen City Medical Group, Soroptimists Int’l of Santa Paula, Ventura County Medical Center/Santa Paula Hospital, Michael Sparkuhl MD, Edwin Beach.

What: The 41st Annual Citrus Festival of Santa Paula
Where: Harding Park, 1300 E. Harvard Blvd, Santa Paula 93060
When: Friday, July 18, 5 – 11:00 PM; Saturday, July 19, Noon – 11:00 PM; Sunday, July 20, Noon – 11:00 PM
Admission: $5 Adults, $1 Children (12 and under); charge for carnival rides
Directions: Proceed west on the Santa Paula Freeway (126) from I-5 (Santa Clarita) or east on the Santa Paula Freeway (126) from the 101 Freeway in Ventura; in Santa Paula take the Palm Avenue or Peck Drive exits and follow signs to festival parking.

Robert Munns, Fillmore Artist, has once again been accepted in a National Juried Art Exhibition with his drawing entitled “Macrophage Study #7.” The Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts and Sciences 2008 Competition: Works of Art on Paper, held in Loveladies, New Jersey, opened June 21 and runs to July 14. Juror for the show is Charlotte Kotik, Curator Emerita of Contemporary Art, Brooklyn Museum of Art. http://www.lbifoundation.org/.

Become a part of where the history, myth and romance of Old California still linger. Lead tours or volunteer to assist with other museum activities depending on your interests and availability. Join us as we expand to meet the needs of our new Visitor Center. This is an opportunity to learn more about our local history and bring this experience alive for others. The next training starts July 12. For more information about Rancho Camulos Museum visit www.ranchocamulos.org. Call the museum (805-521-1501) to sign up or get more information.

At the last City Council meeting the council voted to support a future business item on the issue of the General Plan Safety Element. The Safety Element lists, in broad brush strokes, the risks and issues of living in Fillmore. We’re a small town surrounded by rivers, creeks and mountains. If we live in Fillmore, we have a responsibility to understand what risks we collectively share and accept. As individuals, we should be prepared for disastrous events. Living in Southern California our largest risk is possibly that of earthquakes. The effects of such events still ring true for many in town. We also know that our rivers and creeks have been known to flood, our hills burn and mudslides do occur. Yet, we all accept these risks and continue to live in our respective locations. Part of the Safety Element should be continuing education. Just as our Fire and Police Department train for events, individually we should also be trained and prepared for Mother Nature’s worst. I hope that citizens take the opportunity to engage this issue and help us revise the important aspects of the General Plan Safety Element as that process takes shape.
When I consider my family’s personal preparedness, it’s apparent that we need to do more. The following is meant to spur thought on the matter. As families do we have an emergency plan in place and do we talk about it? Does each family member know their roll in the plan? If the family is separated, do we have a designated location to meet at especially if we have to evacuate our home? Do we have a contact person we can call and check in with if we’re separated? Are we physically prepared? Do we keep our vehicles filled with gas at all times so that we can use them when the time arises? Not an easy goal to achieve if you have teenagers in the family, I know this first hand. Do we have ample supplies of food and water to sustain us until assistance arrives? Is that food and water rotated and checked on a routine basis? Do we have a “grab and go” pack in the event we have to evacuate our homes which contain food, water, medications, clothes and sundries? Are we prepared to care for our pets in times of need? Do we have small preparedness packs in each car? Think about your commute to work. What is the chance that an event happens when you are away? I realize that I have work to do. Being prepared is more of a journey than a destination.
Training is a key component to being prepared. Fillmore has a great program in place that provides training, free of charge, to any citizen, that being CERT. Citizen Emergency Response Training is a class which has directly benefited all graduates and their neighbors and families. These willing and now trained citizens will assist our professional emergency responders in the event of a disaster.
Being prepared can reduce the stress that will naturally be present in times of a disaster. Having a plan to execute is much easier than not knowing what to do and not being prepared. We all have the choice to either be prepared or to be helpless. Tough times have fallen upon us in the past and will again in the future. Choosing to take control as individuals and reaching out to help others will better prepare us as a city. Being prepared as a city is a worthy journey indeed. We can’t help others with their oxygen masks if we don’t know how to use it ourselves.
On a different topic, residents should have received a card informing them of pending fees associated with Chloride and Storm Water Treatment. The intent of the unanimous City Council in delivering this card was to educate the citizens of other pending issues facing the city. Understanding the driving force behind these pending State requirements is important. It is not the City of Fillmore that is willingly proposing these changes. We are reacting to legislative state bodies which impose rules and regulations. These rules and regulations are backed by fines to seek compliance. The root of these proposed requirements started with the Clean Water Act. We are now seeing the “devil in the details”. As a city we’ll be required to address chlorides and storm water in one manner or another in the future. Our goal is to comply, in the least costly manner possible. If you have concerns, I encourage you to attend the meetings and speak before the Regional Water Quality Board. Let them hear your concerns and the impact these far reaching requirements will have on you as a citizen.
Steve Conaway,
Mayor City of Fillmore

The 2008 Ventura County Fair Parade is scheduled to march down Main Street in downtown Ventura to celebrate the 133rd Ventura County Fair.
The Parade date is Saturday, August 2, beginning at 10 AM. The parade will march from Catalina Street past the Reviewing Stand on Ash Street and end at Palm Street.
The Ventura County Fair Parade is a great way to herald the Fair and it is also a great way for community organizations to get public recognition. This year’s parade will be broadcast on CAPS television and on Time Warner Cable.
Deadline for parade entries is July 15. Parade applications can be picked up at the Ventura County Fairgrounds and on line at www.venturacountyfair.org. Please call 805-648-3376 for more information, James Lockwood, Ventura County Fairgrounds, (805), 648-3376 X 110, FAX (805) 648-1012, www.venturacountyfair.org, "Meet me at the Fair", 2008 Ventura County Fair, July 30 - August 10, 2008.

After a prolonged series of problems and confrontations over the distribution of the Fillmore Gazette in the VONS market, the paper has decided to pull out.
Since the last strike, Safeway Markets, parent company of VONS, has made many policy and management changes which make it impractical for the Gazette to continue its 20-years association with the store.
A major reason for pulling out is the fact that the Gazette has not been paid for its distribution in more than 10 weeks. For 20 years the transaction was simple and fast. The paper was delivered and paid for at the same time. Under the new policy a host of boilerplate-type requirements must be complied with in order to have invoices paid through the corporate office. This included the procurement of insurance and filing numerous other forms. The relationship has become confused and confrontational. Management, all the way up the line to corporate, has exhibited a mixture of hostility at the local level, to complete indifference at the top. Numerous personal contacts, phone calls and emails have been a waste of time.
The Gazette is looking into placing news racks outside the store.
I very much regret the inconvenience to our readers.
Martin Farrell
Publisher

Limoneira Company will be the Title Sponsor for the Boys & Girls Club’s Fifth Annual Golf Classic. Other sponsors include Santa Clara Valley Bank, Santa Paula Chevrolet, Union Bank, Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, Santa Clara Valley Disposal, Mar-Vista Sales & Soroptimist International of Santa Paula. The tournament will be held at Moorpark Country Club on Monday, July 28th. 144 golfers filled last year’s tournament held at Sterling Hills and a great time was had by all. Slots are still available but are filling up fast so get some friends together and reserve your foursome for this day of fun and friendship. Sponsorship opportunities are still available. To become a sponsor, purchase tickets or donate a raffle item, please call 525-7910.