ojai LIVING THE OJAI LIFE
Winter 2017-2018
Quarterly
From here to obscurity
The Strange Career of Michael Parks
TOP 7 HIKES Ojai’s Backcountry Beckons
OJAI HEATS UP A Look At Local Solutions For Global Problems
STAGING GROUND Art Center Brings First Theater Director Onboard
10 1/4 Acre Padaro Beach | Ocean Vistas | Summerland Beachfront | $55,000,000 | www.Padaro-Lane.com
23+ Acre Ranch | Home + Gst Hse & Barn $3,875,000 www.9599ojaisantapaula.com
French style Estate on 2 acres with privacy and views
41 Acres | Rancho Matilija | $1,500,000 www.ranchomatilija41acres.com
Bryant Circle Industrial Building 2490+ SF - includes solar! | $1,095,000
Custom Home | water works & ponds www.16084maricopahwy.com
Remodeled - Large 5 Bedroom Family Home in Downtown Ojai | www.308ShadyLn.com
Down-Town Ojai Lot. Zoned VMU 50’ x 120’ | $495,000
The Perfect Family Home | 5 BR| 4 BA Gst Apt | www.249northlomita.com
Larry Wilde began his real estate career in Ojai in 1975 and by 1978 together with his partner Dennis Guernsey had formed the local Coldwell banker Property Shoppe. today it is the premier brokerage in the Ojai Valley.
50 Acre Ojai Estate | New England style Home + Gst Hse Close to Town | $11,500,000 | www.50acreOjaiEstate.com
Classic 1925 Downtown Spanish | Pool Guest House $2,395,000 | www.608ElPaseo.com
Over-the-Top Home | Gst Hse + GYM/WORSHOP | Large RV Water Well | $2,839,000 | www.861OakGrove.com
Mid-Century Modern | Views | Guest | Pool | $1,595,000 www.2243LosEncinos.com
2+ Acres | Downtown |Guest House | Very Private | Pool $2,750,000 | www.802CanadaStreet.com
PRICE REDUCTION! 4 Bedroom | Nr. Downtown Ojai www.1317meadowbrook.com
Down town Ojai 3 Unit Commercial Property | www.411WOjai.com
12196 Linda Flora | Rancho Matilija 4 BD 3 BA | Beautiful 2.75 Acres | $1,449,000
727 W. Ojai Ave. - Ojai - CA 93023 - Larry - 805.640.5734 - Erik - 805.830.3254 www.wilde-wilde.cm - lwilde@west.net - erikw@west.net Larry Wilde DRE:#15216270 - Erik Wile DRT:#01461074
Donna Sallen
RE/MAX Gold Coast Realtors
805-798-0516
Spectacular Spanish home, only few minutes walking distance to downtown Ojai
Located in the heart of downtown Ojai
this French style estate offers breathtaking views of the local Ojai mountains
There’s no place like home ... Let me find yours.
Located on the prestigious East End of Ojai, down a private lane, sits an elegantly modern home
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RAINS
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COMPLIMENTARY GIFT WRAP THE CENTER OF OJAI www.RainsOfOjai.com
OQ / WINTER 2017-2018
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Winter 2017-2018
Editor & Publisher Bret Bradigan Director of Publications Ross Falvo Contributing Editors Mark Lewis Jerry Camarillo Dunn Jr. Earl Bates Jesse Phelps Contributing Photographer Brandi Crockett Columnists Bennett Barthelemy Peter Bellwood Ilona Saari Kit Stolz Sami Zahringer
Director of Sales
Laura Rearwin Ward Circulation Target Media Partners Contact Us: Editorial & Advertising, 805.798.0177 editor@ojaiquarterly.com sales@ojaiquarterly.com
38
Staging Ground
Theater Hires Its First Artistic Director Story by Richard Camp
48
From Here to Obscurity
Ojai Actor’s Long Lonesome Highway Story by Mark Lewis
The contents of the Ojai Quarterly may not be used, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written consent of the publisher. Subscriptions: To subscribe to the OQ, visit ojaiquarterly.com or write to 1129 Maricopa Highway, B186 Ojai, CA 93023. Subscriptions are $24.95 per year.
ojai LIVING THE OJAI LIFE
Winter 2017-2018
Quarterly
PArKS’ PLACe
Actor’s Long, Lonesome Highway Winds Through Ojai
You can also e-mail us at editor@ojaiquarterly.com. Please recycle this magazine when you are finished. © 2017 Bradigan Group LLC. All rights reserved.
TOP TEN HIKES
Ojai’s Backcountry Beckons
OJAI HEATS UP Local Solutions For Global Problems
STAGING GROUND
Art Center Theater’s First Artistic Director Onboard
On The Cover
Michael Parks as Adam in “The Bible” from Getty Images,
FEATURES 80
Funding Women
Women’s Fund Steps Up To Address Ojai’s Needs Story by Sarah Howery Hart
112
Warming Signs
Climate Changes Already Felt in Ojai Story by Michelaina Johnson and Kit Stolz
122
Chariots of Fair
Pioneering Sheriff Goes All Out, Off the Track, And On Story by Patricia Clark Doerner
Photo of Karen Evenden and Peggy Russell by Brandi Crockett/Fancy Free Photography
A spacious 3-bedroom, 2-bath home like this rarely comes on the market in this very sweet Meiners Oaks neighborhood. Sparkling pool, covered patio, and raised veggie beds! $739,000
Location, Location, Location! This 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom home is only a half block to Ojai’s famous Farmer’s Market and a stone’s throw to downtown shops and restaurants. $675,000
Downtown Ojai Estate! Stunning mountain vistas, exceptional privacy, guest house and pool ... all in one grand estate! Set back near the top of Daly Road behind privacy gates, it’s hard to believe you’re still in downtown Ojai. $2,100,000
WWW.OJAIHOMES4SALE.COM 805.620.2438
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The Ultimate Ojai Sanctuary! Incomparable oak-studded 45-acre natural setting, exquisite privacy & extraordinary views! Separate Guest Quarters, Meditation Studio and Pool & Spa complete this incredible package. $2,999,000
Boasting an enviable in-town location just steps to the bike path, this updated 3-bedroom, 2-bath sure is a beauty! $690,000
What a super cul-de-sac location for this sharp, well-maintained 3-bedroom, 2-bath home! The open floor plan flows beautifully between the living room, dining area & sunny kitchen with mountain views. $582,000
DEPARTMENTS 44
Off The Shelf ‘Ojai’s Illustrated History’ Re-Issued By Kit Stolz
64
Food & Drink ‘Tis The Season for Bangers and Mash By Ilona Saari
77
Nocturnal Submissions The Real Housewives of Ojai By Sami Zahringer
135
Ask Dr. Beth What to Do About Silent Inflammation By Beth Prinz, M.D.
153
Bellwood Chronicles My Daughter, Europe-Bound By Peter Bellwood
145
Dam Nations Joining Patagonia’s Fight Against Balkan Dams Story & Photos By Bennett Barthelemy
MAPS/ETC.
24 Editor’s Note 25 Contributors 29 Ojai Notes 57 Artists & Galleries 72 Ojai’s Wine Trail 110 Street Map 128 Healers of Ojai 131 Retreat Page 140 Top Seven Ojai Hikes 148 Calendar of Events
The new skilled nursing facility will provide quality care in the comfort of our own home town – with neighbors caring for neighbors. That is why WE GAVE to the campaign to build a new skilled nursing facility at Ojai Valley Community Hospital.
The Continuing Care Center is the only skilled nursing facility in Ojai that is connected to an acute care hospital. • • • • • • •
24-hour skilled nursing care 75 beds: 7 Private Rooms and 34 2-Bed Rooms Ability to care for higher level of acuity in residents Enlarged physical therapy space, with indoor and outdoor exercise areas Landscaped to enhance the healing environment Operated under strict regulatory guidelines Active partner in the Centers for Medicare & Medical Services Nursing Home Quality Initiative
Why building a new Skilled Nursing Facility helps keep the hospital services strong in Ojai.
WATCH THE CAMPAIGN VIDEO VISIT OVCHBECAUSE.ORG
The Campaign to Build a New Skilled Nursing Facility at Ojai Valley Community Hospital
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Dr. Drew eggebraten, DDs
General & Family Dentistry “We specialize in biomimetic principles. Biomimetic dentistry is the reconstruction of teeth to emulate their esthetic and natural form and function. It is the most conservative approach to treating fractured and decayed teeth — it keeps them strong and seals them from bacterial invasion. By conserving as much tooth structure as possible, we can eliminate the need for many crowns and root canals.” Dr. Andrew Eggebraten, USC Graduate
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110 E Portal Street - Oak View, CA 93022 • ojaidental@hotmail.com • www.dreweggebratendds.com OQ / WINTER 2017-2018
EDITOR’S NOTE
OJAI’S ORIGINAL INTENT “It will be enough for me, however, if these words of mine are judged useful by those who want to understand clearly the events which happened in the past and which (human nature being what it is) will at some time or other and in much the same ways, be repeated in the future,” — Thucydides, introduction to his “History of the Peloponnesian War.” Albert Einstein was on a speaking tour in Japan in 1922 when he learned that his work on physics had earned him the Nobel Prize. Already a celebrity scientist, the news brought a siege of eager fans. He holed up in his room at the Imperial Hotel to write down his thoughts about this occasion. A messenger brought him a delivery, and, finding himself without loose change, Einstein instead scribbled two short notes in lieu of a tip. He reportedly told the messenger to hang on to them, because they might have lasting value. That prophecy was proved in late October, because those notes sold at auction for $1.8 million; one of them alone fetched $1.56 million after 25 minutes of spirited bidding at the auction house in Jerusalem. It was estimated they’d sell for between $5,000 and $6,000. The high-bid note read, “A calm and modest life brings more happiness than success combined with constant restlessness.” That message seems very much in the keeping with the spirit of Ojai; a haven from the eternal hustle of the outside world, a place where the vastness of our interior life has all the grandeur of our astonishingly beautiful natural surroundings. No wonder Ojai is an “intentional community” where people from around the world choose to live, and where so many of the people who were born here, work hard to stay here. We don’t lay claim to such grand notions in our work at the Ojai Quarterly and Ojai Monthly; but we do take pride in presenting you our discoveries. Michelaina Johnson and Kit Stolz report on local effects of global warming, which will be among Ojai’s most serious challenges in the years ahead. In the years behind, for example, we learn about Tom Clark, former Ventura County Supervisor and champion chariot driver. Mark Lewis was inspired to delve deep into the unlikely third act of Michael Parks, because of the coincidence that his parents bought Parks’ former home on Foothill Road. The stable that Parks put in for his horse-loving stepdaughters is still there. These colorful characters populate our past, giving it richness, depth and context. They also point the way to the future. Sarah Hart brings us insight into the philanthropic minds of the Ojai Women’s Fund, while Richard Camp steps up as the Ojai’ Art Center’s first resident Theater Director with an ambitious lineup of plays, and a truly stellar troupe of actors. Logan Hall takes us inside (and above) another of Ojai’s distinctive homes, in which these calm and modest lives can best be led. Our superb roster of columnists — Ilona Saari on the food front, Sami Zahringer on the humor front, and Bennett Barthelemy on the outdoors beat, lend us their clear and compelling voices. Again, we invite to explore inside these pages and find your own Ojai insights.
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OQ / WINTER 2017-2018
CONTRIBUTORS Bennett Barthelemy is a freelance adventure photographer and writer who was born and raised in Ojai. Check him out at bennettbarthelemy.blogspot.com.
Peter Bellwood is a
screenwriter and collage artist who works and plays in Ojai, usually both at once.
Brandi Crockett is an Ojai pixie tangerine peelin’ native and an editorial and destination wedding photographer Check out her work at fancyfreephotography.com.
Logan Hall was born in Ha-
Linda Harmon is a freelance writer and artist. You can email her at lhart412@ roadrunner.com, or visit her website at highergroundart. com.
Sarah Howery Hart is a
Michelaina Johnson is
Mark Lewis is a writer and
waii, but raised in Ojai. He was most recently the chief photographer for the Ojai Valley News and Visitors Guide.
Ojai’s locally owned and operated
an environmentalist and freelance journalist with Ojai roots. After graduating from UC Berkeley in 2017, she started working for the World Wildlife Fund as a John Gardner Fellow.
local writer whose work has appeared in local and national publications. She is working on a sci-fi/ fantasy series. She may be reached at sarah@ sarahhoweryhart.com.
editor based in Ojai. He can be contacted at mark lewis1898@gmail.com.
magazines.
By nationally award-winning writers and photographers.
Jesse Phelps grew up
in Ojai and has written extensively for and about the town. He enjoys freelance projects and throwing things. Jesse can be reached at jessephelps@ outlook.com.
Ilona Saari is a writer
who’s worked in TV/film, rock’n’roll and political press, and as an op-ed columnist, mystery novelist and consultant for HGTV. She blogs for food: mydinnerswithrichard. blogspot.com.
Lifestyle & Visitor Information September2016
DISCOVER
OJAI MONTHLY “To know ourselves means to know our relationship with the world - not only with the world of ideas and people, but also with nature.”
- J. Krishnamurti
From the earliest ages, Oak Grove School’s pre-K through 12th grade program fosters the love of nature and an embrace of responsibility
T he M urdocks
GETTING CREATIVE IN OJAI
B owlful of B lues
STAGING RETURN TO LIBBEY BOWL
Kit Stolz is an award-win-
ning journalist who has written for newspapers, magazines, literary journals, and on-line sites. He lives in Upper Ojai and blogs at achangeinthewind.com.
Sami Zahringer is an Ojai
writer and award-winning breeder of domestic American long-haired children. She has more forced meat recipes than you.
Cover photo by OAK GROVE SCHOOL See ad on page 19 • www.oakgroveschool.org
Visitor Information • Events • Activities • Lifestyle Tips & Tactics See More At TheOjai.net
OM NEW September 2016.indd 1
8/28/16 2:55 PM
ojaiquarterly.com 805.798.0177 OQ / WINTER 2017-2018
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Ojai Design +
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OQ / WINTER 2017-2018
Ojai
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This 3+2 home is almost ALL NEW inside & out by 5th generation local builder Scott Loomis. Open concept with modern design and sleek finishes including French oak floors and LED lighting throughout. Beautiful home in great neighborhood & downtown location! www.814Grandview.com
Quintessential Ojai Home, 3+2, built in 1928 with modern conveniences and updates, without sacrificing original details and charm. Lots of great living space, indoors and out! www.305TopaTopa.com
DON & CHEREE EDWARDS
Perfect opportunity to take this diamond in the rough to the next level. A little oasis in a beautiful palm-lined setting with sparkling pool and mountain views! 25 La Cumbra, Oak View — Call us today for a private showing.
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Ojai’s Top Real Estate Team living and working in Ojai Valley for 30 years! Platinum Club, Hall of Fame, Lifetime Achievement RE/MAX GOLD COAST REALTORS 21 W. Baldwin Rd. Ojai, CA 805.340.3192 www.LivinginOjai.com 805.340.7575 DRE# 01053877 DRE#0823803 OQ / WINTER 2017-2018
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Mini Ranch | 4 Br / 2Bt | $610
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Become a member and you can be part of keeping our valley green for future generations! www.ojaivalleygreencoalition.com www.facebook.com/ojaivalleygreencoalition/
Vaughn Montgomery and family picking up trash in the Ventura River Preserve on October 29 as part of the Greater Good’s Little Footprints event that the coalition sponsored. 28
OQ / WINTER 2017-2018
OJAI NOTES BANK’S CHIEF BAKING OFFICER CONTINUES One cherished local tradition was finding fresh-baked cookies at Ojai Community Bank. Peggy Russell has been baking cookies for the bank since its opening on March 1, 2005. Many of her fans were concerned that the tradition would end Oct. 1 when Bank of Sierra took over. Russell calmed those cookie-deficit disorder anxieties, “It’s the same customers, so I am happy to keep on baking.” Peggy’s husband John was one of the bank’s founders
Photo by Joe Sohm
and a former director. “We presented her today with an apron that was embroidered with “Chief Baking OFficer, Ojai Community Bank, 20052017.” On the pockets it was embroidered with “Always baked with love. 1,266,722 cookies and counting.” Russell will be switching her cookie deliveries to Tuesdays and Thursdays, from the former three-times a week. For more about Russell’s philanthropic efforts, in the kitchen and out, see story in this issue on the Ojai Women’s Fund.
OJAI TOPS COUNTY IN POLITICAL GIVING According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Ojai residents donated a total of $746,979 during the 2016 political cycle. That figure outpaces the Ventura County average of $120,851 per zip code by more than six times. Top contributions in Ojai went to Conservative Solutions political action committee with $100,000,
Ojai Community Bank staff presented Peggy Russell with her “Chief Baking Officer” designation on the bank’s final day before Bank of Sierra took over the operation. From left, front row: Dave Brubaker, Peggy Russell, Lori Dailey. Back row: Bryant Huber, Judy Gabriel, Annette Hanson, Michelle Henson and Mary Floyd.
followed by Rep. Julia Brownley with $80,225 and Hillary Clinton with $78,249. Sen. Bernie Sanders raked in $27,346 of Ojai money. Democrats in total brought in 2.5 times as much as Republicans. Oak View, by contrast, was much less generous, giving $32,536 in 2016, less than a quarter of average, and less than 4 percent of its 93023 neighbor.
More Inside 57 Arts of Ojai
Artists, Galleries, Exhibits and More
64 Food & Drink
Comfort Food, Wine Tasting Rooms
127 Wellness
Healers, Hikers and Ojai-Based Medicine
House seat in 1982, and onment at the “Hanoi his first run for Senate Hilton” prisoner of war in 1986. Tully, who died camp. He was captured in 2010, was godfather after his fighter plane to McCain’s daughter, was shot down. Megan. After resigning One of America’s his publisher seat after foremost statesmen, a “stolen valor” exposé he was the Republican O in 1985, Tully worked party nominee against Sen. John McCain for smaller newspaper Barack Obama in 2008 groups, including a stint and continues to serve as publisher of the Ojai Valley News. his country as the senior Senator from Arizona. 2. During that time, Tully hosted a fundrais1. John McCain formed a lasting friender for McCain in Ojai. The dearly departed David Mason who was present at the event, ship with Arizona Republic publisher Two Degrees of Separation Between said, “He was impressive, but I had to wonDarrow J. “Duke” Tully II. Tully is widely Ojai & Anyone, Anywhere credited with helping McCain win his first der why he was in Ojai.”
JOHN MCCAIN & OJAI John McCain came to prominence during the Vietnam War because of his heroism during his five years impris-
2
of Ojai ?
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BEAUTIFUL MODELS NOW OPEN 3 EXCEPTIONAL NEW HOME NEIGHBORHOODS/ 3 COMMUNITY PARKS ALONDRA Stylish Townhomes Up to 2,045 Sq. Ft. and 4 Bedrooms From the Low $500,000s
LADERA Single-Family Homes Up to 2,604 Sq. Ft. and 5 Bedrooms From the Upper $500,000s BARCELO Single-Family Homes Up to 2,971 Sq. Ft. and 5 Bedrooms From the Upper $600,000s
ALONDRA EXTERIOR
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Discover Solana Heights, a brand new residential community only 2 miles from Ventura’s downtown and close to shopping and dining, the Pacific Coast and local freeways. Call today to schedule your personal tour. 204 Chickasaw Street | Ventura, CA 93001 | 805-665-6085 | SolanaHeights@CalAtl.com | SolanaHeights.com
Square footage/acreage shown is only an estimate and actual square footage/acreage will differ. Buyer should rely on his or her own evaluation of useable area. Completion and/or move-in dates are estimated. Plans to build out this neighborhood as proposed are subject to change without notice. The estimated completion date of the community park is Fall 2017. The date of actual completion could substantially differ from the estimated date. Prices, plans and terms are effective on the date of publication and subject to change without notice. Depictions of homes or other features are artist conceptions. This community is part of Maintenance Assessment District #23, which provides funding for streetlights on public streets and alleys, drainage improvements, sewer improvements, street and alley improvements, and parks and park facilities for all District residents CalAtlantic Group, Inc. California Real Estate License No. 01138346. CASCA048 Ojai
Riki Strandfeldt CA BRE Lic. # 01262026
(805)
Stunning Vistas luxurious privacy in Upper Ojai
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OQ / WINTER 2017-2018
THERE ARE SO MANY
REASONS TO BE GRATEFUL for Oak Grove School, but preserving an environment for students to ask the deepest and most formidable questions is at the top of that list; to directly confront fear, loneliness, self awareness and love; to flower from a deep truth within. Oak Grove’s expansive wooded campus and community of adults (parents, teachers, staff) support a safe space for deep inquiry, affectionate communication, and openness in the face of challenge, all while infusing our days with a sense of ease and joyfulness. Oak Grove’s 150-acre rustic campus is as unique as its academic program: A college preparatory DAY and BOARDING High School with an intimate, home-style boarding program. A rich academic curriculum, emphasizing depth over breadth, spanning PRESCHOOL through HIGH SCHOOL. Engaging OUTDOOR EDUCATION courses that encompass field trips, camping, and backpacking, culminating in a month-long senior trip to India. P R E-K—1 2 , C O L L E G E P R E P
NOW ENROLLING 2018-2019 SCHOOL YEAR
OAK GROVE SCHOOL The Art of Living and Learning
OAKGROVESCHOOL.ORG | 805.646.8236 | 220 W. LOMITA, OJAI FOUNDED BY J. KRISHNAMURTI
JOYFUL LEARNING
75 YEARS of 34
Blending academic fundamentals with the richness of the visual arts, drama, and music. Preserving the magic of childhood in Ojai’s beautiful East End. Pre-K - 3rd Grade • Toddler Program • Summer Camp 805.646.8184 783 McNell Rd. Ojai, CA 93023 monicaros.org
OQ / WINTER 2017-2018
Discover Your Child's Potential Academic Excellence - Leadership Skills Structured Environment Model UN Program
Infant - 8th Grade Call for a tour of our classrooms and beautiful 10-acre campus. 806 Baldwin Rd, Ojai CA 93023 805.649.2525 License #566212532 & 561702317
montessorischoolofojai.org
Two Distinct Hotels the
Rooms, suites & Cottages in-Room sPa seRviCes fiRePlaCes & wood stoves Clawfoot oR whiRlPool tuBs
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Boutique Hotels & Vacation Homes
Providing the Highest Quality Custom Residential & Commercial Architectural Design and Construction Services.
Whitman Architectural Design “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.” Winston Churchill
OQ / WINTER 2017-2018
805.646.8485 www.whitman-architect.com 35
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OQ / WINTER 2017-2018
ARTS & LITERATURE 38 Staging Ground
Theater’s Ambitious Lineup for 2018
‘Ojai’s Illustrated History’ Re-Issued
44 Off The Shelf
48 Here To Obscurity
Ojai Actor’s Unlikely Third Act
57 Artists & Galleries
OQ / WINTER 2017-2018
37
Staging Ground BY RICHARD CAMP,
Artistic Director, Ojai Art Center Theater
The Ojai Art Center, founded in 1939, is the oldest continually operating Art Center in California, and as its theater’s first Artistic Director my immediate responsibility is to create a season of plays that will encourage forward-thinking new approaches; to take advantage of the community of talent and resources already here, and couple those with new artists and material that together will re-imagine our stage. The goal is to make audiences laugh, cry, contemplate, or simply say “wow!” Art Center Board of Trustees President Cindy Frings looks forward to January: “The 2018 theater season is exciting, fresh, and shows a greatly welcome rejuvenation and energy.” Each show is distinct. The season opener, “On Golden Pond,” is a valentine to familial love that’s co-directed by Tony Award winner Craig Anderson, who directed the play’s Broadway premiere. It stars Kitty Winn, winner of the Cannes Film Festival Best Actress award for her role in “Panic in Needle Park” opposite Al Pacino. Kitty, now part of our Ojai community, is thrilled to take on the challenge, feeling there’s a bit of destiny involved: “The same week I was cast, my brother invited me to visit him on his little island on Squam Lake in New Hampshire,” she says. “He took me boating, pointed to a house in the trees, and said, that’s where ‘On Golden Pond’ was filmed.” Renowned Shakespeare director Michael Addison helms the second offering, “Macbeth,” with an approach that might raise some eyebrows. “Macbeth is a play about a country torn apart by wars and power struggles,” offers Addison. “This won’t be detached ‘classical theatre,’ it won’t be ‘beautifully dressed Shakespeare,’ it won’t be ‘lovely poetry’ -- it’s about slaughter and mayhem, with some raw sexuality released in the process.” Jessi Mae Stevenson will play Lady Macbeth, arguably Shakespeare’s most frightening female character. “She controls Macbeth, sexually, emotionally, viscerally,” thinks Jessi. “That’s what makes her descent into a complete psychological breakdown so unnerving. She destroys herself.” Ron Feltner will tackle the monstrous perfidy of Macbeth. “I am beyond excited (and somewhat terrified) for the opportunity,” he says. “Coupled with the hopeful and thrilling new direction of
the Art Center Theater, I am humbled and grateful to be included.” To honor Ojai’s dynamic art community, “Bakersfield Mist” paints a picture of a “boozy, trailer park broad” who finds what could be a multi-million dollar Jackson Pollock painting at a flea market. She clashes with a snooty art expert in a hilarious and profound battle of wits that questions the meaning of art. Its author, Stephen Sachs, co-founder of L.A.’s Fountain Theatre: “My little two-character play…has enjoyed success around the world. Starting with a seven-month sold-out run in L.A. and a three-month run on London’s West End (starring Kathleen Turner), it is now being produced in regional theatres across the U.S., translated into foreign languages and produced worldwide. I am particularly delighted to have it return to my own back yard at the Ojai Art Center Theater. Audiences are guaranteed a good time.” “33 Variations” brings, drama, comedy, memory and music together in a story about a musicologist who tries to solve a 200-year-old mystery while oblivious of her daughter’s pleas for love and understanding. Shifting back and forth from the 1800s to the present (Beethoven is a character in the play) it beautifully dissects the meaning of power, of belief, of a struggle to understand each other in the face of adversity. Jane Fonda played Katherine, the musicologist, on Broadway, while Art Center Theater veteran Tracey Williams Sutton will do it here: “Beethoven and Katherine
RIGHT: Richard Camp, left, reviews the script for “On Golden Pond” with its director Craig Anderson and lead Kitty Winn. “On Golden Pond” will kick off the 2018 season.
As Art Center Theater hires first-ever Artistic Director, the coming season is infused with energy, ambition and a talented troupe of local luminaries. 38
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2 018 SEA SON ON GOLD 33 VARIA EN POND * MACB TIONS M ET * AN OF LA H * BAKERSFIELD MANCHA MIST * CINDERELLA
Somethi ng awes ome this way comes.
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Michael Addison
Marty Babayco
Scott White
Tracey Williams Sutton
share a common obsession, despite being separated by 200 years. The result is a fascinating ‘dance’ between them and the tremendous passion behind the music.” The season’s musical, “Man of La Mancha,” brings together Ojai musical theater veterans, director Marty Babayco and star Scott White, who promise a daunting, new interpretation of “The Impossible Dream.” Set in a dungeon in Spain, it’s filled with rebels, poets, madmen and misfits, the prime one being Don Quixote, the reluctant hero. “Quixote makes it clear,” says Babayco, “that dreaming the impossible dream is the only logical choice we have, so we tilt at windmills. The story still resonates today, contrasting captivity versus freedom; love versus violence; and hope versus death, reminding us to ‘try, when our arms are too weary, to reach the unreachable star!’” Scott White, who trained as an opera singer, now lends his exquisite voice to musicals from here to San Jose, and calls Quixote his “bucket-list role.” “Underpinning the musical brilliance is a timeless, witty, and inspiring story of hope for the world and the difference one individual can make,” says White. “Quixote sees the world not as it is, but as it should be… a place where honor and dignity are revered, and good triumphs.” The holiday show is an uproarious re-telling of “Cinderella,” with a dancing bear and a “Fosselike” chorus-line of sheep for (and with) kids. It’s an English pantomime, or panto, a longheld Christmas tradition in London. With a provenance firmly set in commedia del arte slapstick, pantos are filled with cheers and sneers (from actors and audience) bad puns, good puns, fun and frivolity. In “Cinderella,” the wicked stepmother is played by a man, as is the tradition of English pantos. Fourteen-year-old Ojai native, Sophie Massey, saw pantos in London when she was 8 and 11. “They’re funny and interactive,” she says, “with sarcastic humor for adults and a playfulness for children that adds unexpected twists to our favorite childhood stories.” It’s a very ambitious season, but one that promises enormous rewards for both audiences and performers alike. “The season is shaping up well and looks very promising. I’m excited!” says Ruth Hemming, for whom the Art Center Theater is named. Exciting, yes, even with a dose of anxiety in anticipation of the challenges ahead. Kitty Winn, whose last stage appearance occurred in 2012, sums it up nicely: “I think everyone should scare the hell out of themselves once every five years!”
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OFF THE SHELF
HISTORY IN THE RE-MAKING
By Kit Stolz
‘Ojai: An Illustrated History’ has been for decades the best-known and most complete history of the town. First published in l983 by Patricia Fry, the book begins with a look at the history of the land itself, followed by an account of the Chumash, who lived in the valley for millennia before the arrival of the Spanish. Hundreds of pages follow, bringing alive the individuals, institutions, and true stories of this town. Yet when Fry — who has gone on to write dozens of other books — wanted to sell the copyright to her respected history, 44
where did she go to put out the word? In an irony possible only in the 21st century, the original author didn’t go to publishers, or historical societies, or wealthy benefactors. She went to Facebook. “I was on Facebook when I saw that Patty Fry was asking if anybody would like to pick up the re-publication of the book,” said Craig Walker, a retired history teacher and a then-member of the board of directors of the Ojai Museum. “Her career as a writer had taken a different direction, and she had updated it once already (in 1999) and didn’t wanted to do it again. I went to the Board and told them she wanted to sell the rights. It seemed like a natural for the museum, and the Board was excited about it.” Local author and museum curator Elise DePuydt did the bulk of the revising, in collaboration with Walker. Every Sunday OQ / WINTER 2017-2018
for a year the two would meet on Sundays at the museum with David Mason, known as “Mr. Ojai,” for his encyclopedic knowledge about the town and its people, about which he wrote years of newspaper columns. Together they meticulously worked through Fry’s original editions, producing this year — in time for the centennial of the town known as Ojai — a large format paperback, including hundreds of classic photographs, based on contemporary accounts, mostly newspapers. It’s an impressively detailed and thoughtfully developed story. Ever wonder why oil influenced the early development of Ventura to the west and Upper Ojai to the east, but not Ojai itself? It’s not because 19th-century settlers didn’t look for oil in Ojai. In fact, Thomas Scott, a very successful oilman from Pennsylvania, bought the entire 277,000 acre Spanish
“I was on Facebook when I saw that Patty Fry was asking if anybody would like to pick up the re-publication of the book.” — Craig Walker land grant called Rancho Ojai in 1864, and spent over $200,000 over three years drilling wells in search of oil in and around the land that became the town. Eventually the expedition led by Thomas Bard struck oil in Upper Ojai, in 1867, but by then Scott had given up on his lost investment. DePuydt thinks it’s a good thing for Ojai that oil wasn’t discovered in Ojai. “I was looking at the Avenue in Ventura just the other day, thinking about all those oil rigs and industrial sites, with the houses sprinkled between them and the chemical plants,” said DePuydt in an interview. “It’s a little sad to me. I think Ojai has been very fortunate to have attracted so many people who worked to defend the beauty of this town. People like Elizabeth Thacher and John Montgomery.” Montgomery arrived with his family in 1874, hoping to find a dry climate that would cure his wife’s asthma. The couple was attracted by a developer’s published map promising an elegant little town complete with fountain. The map turned out to be almost completely fictional, but Montgomery didn’t mind. He wrote (as quoted in the history) that “Grander than any map painting was stamped on nature’s great canvas, the dense oak forest; the perpetual play of sunshine through the foliage, the towering mountains, guardians of rustic beauty below, and above all the balmy breath of life soothing the tender tissue of throat and lung.” Montgomery went on to buy 1,300 acres of what is now downtown Ojai, and work with others — including Charles Nordhoff, who published a book extolling California to Easterners — to develop the town. Co-author Craig Walker believes that the Foothills Hotel, although destroyed in the fire that devastated most of Ojai in 1917, had a huge impact on the town’s history. It was one of four grand
The new edition of “The Ojai Valley: An Illustrated History” came out this year.
hotels in Southern California at the turn of the century (with the Potter Hotel in Santa Barbara, the Raymond in Pasadena, and the Hotel Coronado in San Diego) and attracted wealthy Easterners who stayed the winter. An early visitor was glass manufacturer Edward Libbey. Inspired by the City Beautiful movement that was revitalizing the Midwestern cities where he made his fortune, Libbey set out to remake the town. “Libbey felt that the village typified most western towns and lacked distinction,” the authors write. “The dusty main street was lined with little shops, hastily built years earlier without much concern for design.” With backing from Libbey and a modest buy-in from local merchants, Ojai became the first small town in the nation to rebuild itself according to City Beautiful principles, imagined along the lines of an Old World Spanish village, as designed by notable architects. Walker thinks that that the City Beautiful idea — that good architecture and city planning could inspire civic virtues, make people care about their town and spend time and energy improving it — worked back in Edward Libbey’s time and still works today. He points out that in 1989, when the state required that the Arcade be made earthquake-proof, some people in town advocated for tearing it down rather than spending the money. David Mason formed a “Friends of the Arcade” group to help raise money to save it, and eventually the city stepped in to take possession and preserve it. “I think if people understood the history and the gift we were given by Mr. Libbey maybe they’d be less likely to want to tear these buildings down,” he said. “It was a great experience working with Elise on the book and I think it’s terrific the museum stepped forward and gave us a legacy to continue here in Ojai.”
A recent signing featured original author Patricia Fry, along with Elise DePuydt and Craig Walker, who extensively updated the book.
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TASTE OF OJAI 2017 First, we thank the fabulous Ojai Valley Inn for their 17 years of dedication to the Rotary Club and the Taste of Ojai event. They also sponsor our wine glasses and supply much-needed labor to put this event on and help to make it the success that it has become over the last 17 years. GOLD SPONSORS: Wells Fargo Bank Derby & Derby/Vicki Breen Friends Ranch/ Tony Thacher Tonya Peralta Real Estate Services Bill and Mary Hatch Rabobank Help Unlimited SILVER SPONSORS Ojai Eyes/Dr. Roger Phelps Ojai Family Medicine /Dr. Carl Gross Medicine Shoppe Carolyn Huntsinger Party Pleasers
Bruce Samia for Poster Art Music Splintrz Roger Phelps/Ojai Eyes for Sound & Equipment Ojai Business Center
THANK YOU TO: OUR PLATINUM SPONSORS: MIKE MALONE/EDWARD JONES HERITAGE FINANCIAL — WANDA MARTIN AND EMILY WILSON BANK OF THE SIERRA OJAI VALLEY COMMUNITY HOSPITAL
MEDIA SPONSORS Justin Mahon Media Ilona Saari – vendor stories on website Edible Ojai & Ventura Ojai Quarterly Ojai Valley Directory FOR THE DELICIOUS FOOD AND BEVERAGE PROVIDED BY OUR SUPERB VENDORS: Alquimia Organic Tequila Casa Barranca Boccali’s Majestic Oak Vineyard Noso Vita The Sanger Family of Wines Ojai Beverage Company Suzanne’s
TASTE SPONSORS IN-KIND E.J. Harrison J.W. Enterprises Ojai Valley Inn & Spa California Solar Electric
Topa Topa Brewery Lori’s Lemonade Thacher Road Cookies Topa Mountain Winery La Piu Bella Tavola/Bella Aroma Ojai Valley Community Hospital Ojai Ice Cream JJ’s Sports Zone Bonnie Lu’s Gables of Ojai Jim & Rob’s Fresh Grill Dottie’s Sweet Delights Deer Lodge Mandala Restaurant Eggs ‘n’ Potatoes Ojai Valley Brewery Olivella Vine Restaurant at the Inn Revel Kombucha Bar Private Chef Robin Ojai Harvest Heavenly Honey
ABOUT ROTARY All Proceeds from Taste of Ojai benefit the Rotary Club of Ojai Educational Foundation. The Rotary Club of Ojai Educational Foundation has raised over $1 million in the past two decades with Taste of Ojai being our primary fundraising event. In addition, The Rotary Club of Ojai Educational
Foundation awards over $90,000 of scholarships each Spring to Ojai students for Fall enrollment at a recognized college, university, community college or technical school, with over 300 scholarships awarded to date. In addition each year more than $25,000 of community grants are awarded to Ojai schools and non-profit organizations.
CONNOISSEUR SPONSORS Suzanne & Michael Scar — Central Coast Imaging Solutions John & Peggy Russell Anne & Chad Carper — Down Home Furnishings Doug Crawford Insurance Cheree & Don Edwards — Remax Realty The Gables of Ojai Bruce Brockman — Topa Topa Optometry Larry Wilde — Coldwell Banker Property Shoppe Jason Lloyd — Merrill Lynch Lerie Bjornstedt
Beatrice Wood center for the arts
1947
1917
1908
1986
in New York
with Duchamp & Picabia
Art Student
Happy Valley
COLLABORATION January 13 to February 24, 2018
Works created and exhibited in conjunction with “Dada: The Eternal Return”
We began 2017 with “The Eternal Return,” a collaborative event and exhibition that celebrated the centennial anniversary of the New York Dada Movement. Our first exhibition of 2018 continues the theme of
A collaborative ceramic work created by interns at the Center
collaboration. At a time when we are challenged with grappling for insights in an ever-changing world, we believe that we can best serve humanity and the planet by creatively working together.
Visit the Center and view our permanent collection, current exhibitions, and recent work created in Beatrice Wood’s studio
6 Ojai Santa Paula Road 8585
Michael Parks’
LONG LONESOME HIGHWAY By Mark Lewis
At the end of his life, Michael Parks was famous for not being famous. When the veteran character actor died last May at 77, major newspapers ran prominent obituaries lauding his brief but indelible appearances in several Quentin Tarantino films, and his memorable turn in a supporting role on the original “Twin Peaks.” The subtext: great actor, inexplicably obscure. But back in the ‘60s, when Parks was living in Ojai, he really was famous. This is the story of a talented (but stubborn) man who destroyed his own career – twice! – yet bounced back to forge an unlikely third act, on his own terms.
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Photo by Terry Moore OQ / WINTER 2017-2018
M
ichael Parks watched the video of himself riding a Tennessee walking horse across a bridge, while his newly released hit single supplied the soundtrack. “Going down that long, lonesome highway,” he heard himself sing. “Gonna live life my way.” The date was March 25, 1970 – a Wednesday evening, sometime between 9 and 10 p.m. – and Parks was a guest on ABC’s very popular “Johnny Cash Show.” Parks’ own ABC series, “Then Came Bronson,” would come on next, in the 10 to 11 p.m. slot. The network had just announced the show’s cancellation, but Parks had not been happy with it anyway. Now he would be free to collaborate on a screenplay with his friend Terry Southern, screenwriter of “Dr. Strangelove” and “Easy Rider;” or perhaps make a film with his friend Jean Renoir, the great French director of “The Grand Illusion” and “The Rules of the Game.” The timing seemed perfect for Parks. The old Hollywood, the studio system, was dead; the 1970s would belong to a new generation of iconoclastic auteurs, and Parks should fit right in. At 30, he looked like James Dean, mumbled like Marlon Brando, smoldered like Montgomery Clift. How could he miss? Inevitably the world would beat a path to his door, which at the time was located at 515 Foothill Road in Ojai, just up the street from the Presbyterian Church. Meanwhile, he could watch himself on the “Johnny Cash Show,” where the video had
moved on from Parks on the horse to Parks and Cash sharing a motorcycle, apparently having the time of their lives. On “Bronson,” Parks played a disillusioned newspaper reporter who quits his job to roam the west on a Harley. Clearly, Cash was a big fan of the show. “Then came Bronson back to Tennessee,” the singer intoned in his rich baritone, supplying the voiceover for the video. “And you know it looks like he fell in love with the place. Well, everybody sure fell in love with him.” People were always falling in love with Michael Parks. Unfortunately, some people also fell out of love with him – powerful people like Lew Wasserman, the mighty Universal Studios mogul; and John Huston, the legendary director; and more recently the “Bronson” producers. Parks had a well-earned reputation for being difficult. “Michael hated control,” recalls his friend Keith Nightingale, of Ojai. “He hated anybody telling him what to do or how to do it.” To Parks, it was simple: He had a gift. People should get out of his way and let him use it. Brando did things his way and got away with it; why couldn’t Parks? But he had forgotten Step 1 of Brando’s approach: First, become a star. WILD ABOUT HARRY Harry Samuel Parks was born in Corona in Riverside County on April 24, 1940, the son of a former big-league baseball prospect now reduced to itinerant laborer. Harry later
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estimated that he attended 20 different schools in California before finally dropping out at 15. He hit the road and took whatever jobs he could find: picking fruit, upholstering caskets for a mortuary, declaiming poetry in a San Francisco coffee house. Somewhere along the way, he caught the acting bug, and eventually landed in the theater department at El Camino College, near Torrance. “I met Harry in June 1959,” recalls Natelle Carlino. “El Camino Junior College was performing ‘Kiss Me Kate.’ I was Bianca. He was some kind of clown.” The following year, they co-starred in a local production of “Compulsion.” Harry played a sensitive young man who commits a murder just for the thrill of it. “He and I had a love scene, that’s what I remember,” Carlino says. Harry Parks stood out at El Camino, in part because he was so good looking. But he also had talent. “He was intelligent, creative and complicated,” Carlino says. “He was a remarkable actor! Always was.” Parks’ performance in “Compulsion” led to his discovery by a big-time Hollywood agent, Jack Fields, who changed his first name from Harry to Michael to avoid any possible confusion with the actor Larry Parks. Almost immediately, the newly rechristened Michael Parks found himself up for the lead role of Tony in the film version of “West Side Story.” The part ultimately went to Richard Beymer, but Parks was making an impression — on Beymer, among others. Thirty years later,
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Woody Chambliss was described as “a father figure” for Parks. Chambliss and his wife, Erika, shown together on stage, were co-founders of Ojai’s High Valley Theater in the 1940s.
Woody Chambliss first brought Parks to Ojai in 1962 to hunt deer in the backcountry. From left, Chambliss, Parks, Erika Chambliss and Vicki Nightingale with her young sons. Photo taken by Keith Nightingale circa 1975.
when both actors were in “Twin Peaks,” Beymer reminisced to series co-creator Mark Frost about the tough-guy aura Parks had projected as a young man. “Richard said he was the scariest actor in Hollywood,” Frost recalls. FATHER FIGURE Woody Chambliss (1914-1981) was a native Texan who had trained as an actor in England under Michael Chekhov, and later appeared on Broadway. Chambliss and his wife, Erika, settled in Ojai in the early 1940s, along with other former members of the Chekhov Players troupe, including Iris Tree, Ford Rainey and Hurd Hatfield. This group eventually dispersed, but the Chamblisses stayed on in Ojai, where they raised their family in the East End while Woody managed the Senior Canyon Mutual Water Co. He also kept his hand in as an actor, most notably with a recurring role on “Gunsmoke.” As it happens, his agent was Jack Fields, which is how he came to know Parks. “August of 1962 is when Michael Parks first came to Ojai,” says Woody’s son Michael Chambliss. “He came up here and went deer hunting with us.” Parks became a frequent visitor. He enjoyed socializing with Woody’s sons and their friend and neighbor Keith Nightingale, but was it was Woody himself who was the main attraction. “My dad was like a father figure for him,” 50
Chambliss says. Parks had not yet broken through in Hollywood, but he was confident that he was going to make it big. “I remember hiking with him, and he was talking about how he was going to be a star,” Chambliss says. “I was skeptical, but he started getting parts.” Big parts, too, as a guest star on prominent shows like “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour,” “Perry Mason” and “Route 66.” Parks had looks, charisma and talent; people noticed. By 1963, he had popped up on the radar screen of Lew Wasserman, who signed him to a contract at Universal and started giving him the big buildup as a leading man in feature films. Parks had star billing in his very first film, “Wild Seed,” in which Woody Chambliss had a supporting role. “ ‘Another James Dean,’ they are saying at Universal Studios about somber, taciturn Michael Parks, a 25-year-old who clawed his way out of the poverty jungle,” syndicated Hollywood columnist Erskine Johnson wrote in March 1964, as “Wild Seed” was wrapping. If Parks was somber and taciturn, there was a reason. He started work on the film shortly after marrying the actress Jan Moriarty. Only eight weeks later, he came home from the set to find her dead of an overdose of pills. The coroner’s verdict was suicide. “He’s wondering,” Johnson wrote, “whether things would have been different if he hadn’t been discovered as a star.” OQ / WINTER 2017-2018
Parks dealt with his wife’s death by plunging back into work. He starred opposite AnnMargret in “Bus Riley’s Back in Town,” Jennifer Jones in “The Idol” and Faye Dunaway in “The Happening.” But Parks’ biggest splash came courtesy of John Huston, who picked him to play Adam in “The Bible.” “That was his big break,” Nightingale says. Bruce Dern once told an interviewer that when he and Jack Nicholson were struggling young actors, they always thought Parks was the one among their peer group who was the most likely to make it big. Dern’s then wife Diane Ladd (who nowadays lives in Ojai) says she agreed. “He was the new Jimmy Dean, and Bruce and I and everyone loved him,” Ladd says. But few of Parks’ early films were hits, and already he was causing trouble. He sparred with Huston on the set of “The Bible,” and he refused Wasserman’s demand that his next film be a remake of “Beau Geste.” “He turned down a lot of parts,” Nightingale says. “Woody told me that he thought Michael really blew it.” Parks only wanted to play characters he thought were interesting, and only if he was allowed the freedom to shape the character himself. “He was an actor’s actor,” dedicated to finding “the truth” in a character, Ladd says. “I am sure that made Hollywood tough for him.” And vice versa. Wasserman, for one, was unhappy with Parks’ attitude, and Wasserman
Left: Former Ojai resident Natelle Carlino in a publicity photo from her acting days. She acted with Parks in several El Camino College productions. Right: Parks on his red Harley Sportster from “Then Came Bronson.” Diane Ladd described him as “truly one of the best actors I ever worked with. And I’ve worked with a lot.”
was the most powerful man in Hollywood. Just like that, Parks’ three-year run as a budding movie star was over. He retreated to television and, increasingly, to Ojai, where he rented a series of houses in the East End. He readily socialized with Woody’s and Erika’s social circle, which included Dee Volz, a former M-G-M dancer turned Ojai Valley News journalist. “There was something very lovely about Michael,” Volz recalls. “He was just so honest. I always loved Michael because he had had a painful childhood and he was overcoming it.” There was more pain to overcome for Parks early in 1968 when his younger brother James, with whom he was close, died in a diving accident near Santa Barbara. Woody Chambliss accompanied Parks to the morgue, and later told Nightingale that an agitated Parks had burst into the operating room while the autopsy was still in progress. “Michael was just totally distraught,” Nightingale says. Ojai offered a refuge from life’s cruelties. By the summer of 1968, Parks was ready to put down serious roots here. He had a new wife, Kay; her two young daughters, Patricia and Stephanie, from a previous marriage; and a newborn son, James, named for Parks’ late brother. Parks wanted to give them the safe, stable home life he never had as a child, while remaining close enough to Hollywood to earn a living. That August, he bought the house on Foothill Road. It had three bedrooms, two
fireplaces, and room enough in the back yard for Parks to put in a corral so his daughters could have a horse to ride. “He moved to Ojai to provide a good family community for his children, while being available for acting employment,” Natelle Carlino says. (She would move to Ojai herself a few years later, for similar reasons.) Alas, acting jobs were scarce for an actor labeled “difficult.” Parks had blown his first big opportunity in the business, and how many people ever get a second one? Thus the surprise when he was offered the lead in a new TV series being developed for ABC. His co-star would be a red Harley-Davidson Sportster. THEN CAME BRONSON Many people recall “Bronson” as a TV ripoff of the film “Easy Rider,” which starred Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper as hippie bikers on an epic trek across America. In fact, the two projects were developed simultaneously in 1968, and the TV show was first out of the gate; the pilot aired on March 24, 1969, four months ahead of the film’s July premiere. “Easy Rider” was a huge hit that summer, which made “Bronson” seem very au courant when it debuted in September as a weekly one-hour drama. In the pilot, Bronson inherits the Harley from a despairing friend (played by Martin Sheen) who jumps off the Golden Gate Bridge. Bronson quits his job and takes off on the bike to figure things out. He encounters a runaway OQ / WINTER 2017-2018
bride played by Bonnie Bedelia and the two join forces, until she decides to resume her regular life. Bronson isn’t ready for that; he rides off into the sunset. The pilot set the tone for the series with a famous scene where Bronson on his bike pulls up at a stoplight next to a middle-aged man in a station wagon, who asks him whether he’s taking a trip. “Yeah,” Bronson replies. “Where to?” “Oh, I don’t know. Wherever I end up, I guess.” “Man, I wish I was you.” “Really?” “Yeah.” “Well, hang in there,” Bronson says, as he rides off to his next adventure. Parks reportedly improvised the “hang in there,” in place of the more flowery lines in the script. Almost half a century later, it remains the “Bronson” catchphrase. The series inspired many young Americans to get their own motorcycles and set off on their own adventures. “Easy Rider” looms much larger in the cultural memory, but its anti-hero protagonists were drug dealers who came to violent ends, making them problematic role models for mainstream America. Bronson was more of a straight arrow, albeit a troubled soul, so he had broader appeal. Diane Ladd, who guest-starred in one episode, remembers Parks as hugely talented. “He was truly one of the best actors I ever worked with,” she says. “And I’ve worked with 51
Mark Frost on Michael Parks:
“He had an aura of danger around him. [But also] a kind of battered dignity.”
a lot.” “Bronson” was not a huge hit, but it garnered a great deal of attention for Parks, especially in Ojai where he was a popular local celebrity. Unlike some Hollywood stars who settle here, Parks made a point of being part of the community. Both his stepdaughters attended the St. Thomas Aquinas School, and he donated a motorcycle to be raffled off as part of a school fundraiser. His family often dined together at Donovan’s Stew Pot, in the building now occupied by Nocciola. He did folk dancing at the Art Center. And, when Lis Blackwell and other local teenagers set up a coffee house at the Presbyterian Church so they would have a place to hang out, Parks showed up and volunteered to read poems. “Everybody was in awe,” Blackwell says. “He was really nice. I couldn’t get over that he would do that.” Parks also showed up at informal hootenannies in Camp Comfort and elsewhere, to sing with local musicians such as Alan Thornhill and Martin Young. He needed the practice, since he had decided to use “Bronson” as a springboard to a new career as a country singer. LONG LONESOME HIGHWAY MGM, the studio that was producing “Bronson” for ABC, also owned a record company, which was more than happy to promote Parks as a country artist in the name of corporate synergy. But Parks did not like the “Bronson” theme song MGM had come up with, so he ended up working with the songwriter James Hendricks, who also lived in Ojai. Hendricks had a song mostly written 52
that he thought might do, so Parks picked him up and drove them both into L.A. to record it. They finished the song on the drive into town. “We were in his Jeep Wagoneer,” Hendricks says. “And I sang him a little bit of the song, and by the time we got the MGM studio, he was ready to go.” The resulting single, “Long Lonesome Highway,” became a hit, reaching No. 20 on the Billboard pop chart. Hendricks produced Parks’ first three albums, all on MGM Records and all strong sellers. Parks could have become a genuine country star, Hendricks says: “He had a way of interpreting a song as an actor that was very believable and very pleasant. But he was hard to record. His voice was so soft and whispery. It was good enough to develop if he had listened to instructions. But he was very contrary about a lot of things.” Hendricks remembers the “Bronson” producers flying him out to a location in Colorado to help them cajole Parks into completing that week’s episode. “For some reason he didn’t like a certain script,” Hendricks says. “So he refused to come out of his trailer.” These kinds of shenanigans already had ruined his film-star career. Now he was throwing away his TV career too, and his singing career along with it. “He blew it,” Hendricks says. “He blew that whole thing. He could have done so much more had he not been his own worst enemy.” Diane Ladd does not agree that Parks was at fault. “Actors are judged very quickly, and usually incorrectly,” Ladd says. “He wasn’t arrogant. He was protective of his talent.” Everything came to a head in the spring of OQ / WINTER 2017-2018
1970. Nearing the end of its first season, “Bronson” was losing its time slot to “Hawaii 5-0.” The obvious answer was to move Parks’ series to an easier time slot and perhaps tweak it a little. The producers wanted to make it more of an actionoriented show. Parks wanted out altogether. “I remember quite vividly when Michael brought up the subject of renewing ‘Bronson,’ ” Nightingale says. “What he really wanted was to make his own independent films.” Woody and Erika Chambliss urged him to stay with the show. “You’ve got the golden goose here,” they said, as paraphrased by Nightingale. Parks should make a success of “Bronson,” and thus make himself a major star. “Then you can do whatever you want to do.” Instead, Parks forced the issue by insisting on artistic control. “He wanted to pick the directors, and he wanted to have final control over the editing,” Nightingale says. Unsurprisingly, the producers balked. They decided to replace Parks with the more pliable Lee Majors. Before they could effect the switch, ABC rendered the issue moot by pulling the plug on the series. Which brings us back to March 25, 1970, the night Parks made his guest-star appearance on “The Johnny Cash Show.” Michael and Kay most likely watched the show with Woody and Erika at the Chambliss home, as Wednesday night was “Bronson” night, and the two couples generally watched Parks’ show together. Cash was a former Ojai Valley resident, but it is not clear whether he and Parks ever met before Parks traveled to Nashville to tape his appearance on Cash’s show. After the horse-and-Harley video segment ended, Parks was shown singing another song, then he and Cash sang a duet. Then his own show came on at 10, and Parks heard himself reprise “Long Lonesome Highway” over the closing credits. In retrospect, this was the apogee of Parks’ career. “Long Lonesome Highway” was on its way to being a hit; “Then Came Bronson” still enjoyed plenty of cultural cachet, despite its recent cancellation; Johnny Cash had just gushed over Parks on national TV; and Terry Southern was due in Ojai soon to talk about writing a film for him. Lew Wasserman’s Hollywood was crumbling, and the new wave was ascendant: “Easy Rider” and “Midnight Cowboy” were up for Oscars at the upcoming Academy Awards telecast. This brave new world seemed made for Michael Parks, and he
was eager to claim his rightful place in it. “He probably thought that he could get a job elsewhere without a problem,” Nightingale says. “But at that point, they sort of quietly blackballed him in Hollywood.” Once again the deadly label: “difficult.” Not even hip young anti-establishment directors wanted to hire actors who wouldn’t take direction. At 515 Foothill Road, the phone stopped ringing. Overnight, Parks went from TV stardom to nowheresville. He would not work again for three years. AFTERMATH With no acting jobs in the offing, Parks tried to focus on his singing career. He fired Jim Hendricks as his producer and signed with a new label, Verve, which put out his fourth album. It failed to click. Parks’ singing career had died with “Bronson.” With no TV show on the air to promote his records, the public lost interest. “People forget very quickly,” Hendricks says. Tragedy struck Parks again January 1971 when his 9-year-old stepdaughter Stephanie was hit by a car and killed while riding her bicycle through the intersection of Blanche and Matilija streets. Grief-stricken, Michael and Kay sold their house on Foothill Road and moved to Santa Barbara to get away from the bad memories. But Parks had not soured on Ojai permanently. He was planning to move back one day, after building his dream house on the property he owned next door to the Chamblisses on McAndrew Road. “It was the old Latvala junkyard and cow barn, which is still there,” Keith Nightingale says. “He built this sort of elaborate stone wall, and camped inside the cow barn for awhile.” “His plan was definitely to live in the East End and develop this property,” Michael Chambliss says. Woody and Erika discouraged this plan. They didn’t want all the Michael-and-Kay drama right next door to them. Money also was an issue, since Parks wasn’t working much, and rarely saved anything when he did work. The upshot was that he never built a house on the property, which was sold in 1977 when he and Kay divorced. But Parks continued to come to Ojai regularly to visit Woody and Erika. The last time Michael Chambliss remembers seeing him was at Woody’s funeral in 1981, at the Thacher School’s outdoor chapel. By this point, Parks was working again in
Hollywood, usually in supporting roles. No longer choosy about his parts, he pretty much accepted every job that came along and did his best with it. The Internet Movie Database lists 107 acting credits for Parks from 1973 to 2016, mostly TV guest-star gigs (“Fantasy Island,” “Murder She Wrote”) and supporting roles in forgettable films. Twice, he landed a recurring role on a high-profile series, only to see it cancelled when the season ended. One was “The Colbys,” a much-ballyhooed “Dynasty” spin-off that came and went quickly the mid-1980s. The other was “Twin Peaks.” Parks was hired to play Jean Renault, the murderous French-Canadian gangster who looms large in the show’s second season (1990-91). “I was a huge ‘Then Came Bronson’ fan, so I was eager to meet him,” says Mark Frost, who co-wrote the groundbreaking series with director David Lynch. (Frost now makes his home in Ojai.) “He had an aura of danger around him,” Frost says, but also “a kind of battered dignity,” reminiscent of the tough-buthonorable heroes of detective novels by Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. “He was kind of mysterious and kind of sad. And that’s part of what made him so mesmerizing to watch.” “Twin Peaks” was cancelled in 1991, but Frost hired Parks to play another memorable villain in the 1992 film “Storyville.” It was set in New Orleans, where Parks was living at the time. “I couldn’t wait to work with him again,” says Frost, who wrote and directed the film. Unlike some of Parks’ previous directors, Frost was open to letting Parks interpret the character. “He didn’t have a lick of vanity about him. What he did have was an amazing ability to give you what you wanted — even if you didn’t know that’s what you wanted — and complete it on the first take.” Parks’ other fans included Quentin Tarantino, who created a small part for him in “From Dusk Till Dawn,” a 1996 film written by Tarantino and directed by Richard Rodriguez. George Clooney was the star, but Parks was so memorable as Texas Ranger Earl McGraw that Tarantino wrote the character into several films he directed himself, including “Kill Bill Vol. 1.” “Tarantino basically saved him,” Nightingale says. “That brought him back from the abyss.” After years of obscurity, Parks now had a cult following. The parts were still small, for OQ / WINTER 2017-2018
the most part, but his reputation was growing again. He had cachet again. It was cool, in movie-geek circles, to reveal that you were a Parks aficionado. Reviewers now routinely singled him out for praise, even when they panned the films he was in. His comeback seemed complete in 2011 when he starred as a scary fundamentalist preacher in “Red State,” a horror film directed by Kevin Smith, who wrote the part with Parks in mind. If Smith had sold the film to a major distributor, Parks might well have been nominated for a best-actor Oscar. Instead, Smith – with Parks’ enthusiastic support – chose to distribute the film himself, with predictable results. For Parks, it was another succes d’estime that failed to click at the box office. Still, he kept working. And working. He never stopped, all through his 70s, right up until he died at home in Los Angeles on May 9. Mysteriously, the cause of death has never been made public. An old friend from El Camino College who attended his funeral said she was told he died of injuries sustained in a fall down a flight of stairs. Reportedly, he was buried at sea, per his request. Nightingale talked with him on the phone only two weeks before he died. The two men had kept in touch through the years, and Parks would visit Ojai periodically to have lunch with Keith and his wife, Vicki. “He’d just drive up,” Nightingale says. “He loved Ojai.” The Nightingales live near Parks’ former East End property, on which a subsequent owner has built a house atop the stone wall Parks had put up decades earlier. “He was a dreamer,” Nightingale says. “Michael always had vast projects that he was going to do. It came down to money, which he didn’t have.” He would have had plenty of money if he had let Lew Wasserman make him a star. Could he really have been another James Dean? Mark Frost says yes. “I always thought he was the better actor,” Frost says. But as an actor, Parks was an immensely talented artist in a medium that requires the cooperation of many other people, most of whom have their own ideas. He was frustrated, Dee Volz says, by his vision of a better world in which he could accomplish great things, “if only other people would change.” “He was not at home in this world,” she says. “Some people are not.” 53
New generation style, affordable fashion
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Children’s New & Consignment Store
805.921.5353 • OjaiBaby.com • 203 N. Signal St.
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BE_OQad_3.pdf
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10/10/2017
BookEnds Bookstore
& Curiosities new and used books
on Life, Liberty & Happiness
2:08 PM
Gem Quest Jewelers
Steve & Cathy Brandt Master Jewelers Design, Repair
110 South Pueblo Avenue Ojai, California 93023 in Meiners Oaks, corner of El Roblar
open 10 am to 6 pm (closed Wed)
bookendsbookstore.com
805.640.9441
805-633-4666 GemQuestJewelry.com
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324 E. Ojai Ave (downtown Ojai)
Open Tues - Sat 55
“Jerry”
PORTRAITS
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Oil on panel
DUANE EELLS
Commission a Portrait for the Perfect Gift Visit eells.com
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duane@eells.com
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805/633-0055
NOMAD Stop by to experience Africa in Art Paintings Jewelry Artifacts Textiles
Contemporary Fine Art • Jewelry and Crafts Your “Go-to” Place for Gifts
Gayle Minarez
Lynn Byrne Simon
307 E. Ojai Ave. 805 646 1706 www.nomadgal.com www.nomadfoundation.org 56
Open daily 10:00 - 6:00 238 East Ojai Ave. (805) 646-5682 www.ojaivalleyartists.com
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Jim Bayless
VISUAL ARTISTS TO ENCOURAGE INTEREST AND EXCELLENCE IN THE ARTS RICHARD AMEND
Mysterious equations of abstraction, nature, architecture, and illumination rolled into the stillness and clarity of singular, psychological moments. “Thought Form #1: Clearing.” Oil on canvas, 48” x 36.” Contact: amend@ pobox.com or visit richardamend.net. 805.640.0078.
ELISSE POGOFSKY-HARRIS
Paints on clear glass with kiln-fired enamels, mapping unpredictable rhythms of thought. Custom commissions for art and architecture welcome. susanamend@pobox.com, or call 805.640.0078. She is also on Facebook.
ROY GRILLO
LISA SKYHEART MARSHALL
Expressing a connection with nature in original acrylic Botanical Immersion paintings Marshall’s work is available at Grassroots Gallery, 323 E. Matilija St., # 101, SkyheartArt.com. Shahsi27@gmail.com (805) 256-4209
SUSAN K. GUY
Creating life-like highly detailed drawings and oil paintings of ballerinas, pet and people protraits. 805-450-3329 Roygrillo.com
Original modernist plein air oil paintings celebrating the Ojai landscape. Available now at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa. SusanKGuyART.com guy.susan@ymail.com 805.890.0708
JOYCE HUNTINGTON
DANA KARPAIN
KAREN K. LEWIS
LOVE is the answer. Invoke the Divine Healing Vibrations of love through these beautiful hand-painted Yoga Yantras. Originals, prints, cards and mugs. 805.617.8745 PaintedPrayers4U.com DanaKarpain.com
Oil paintings, monoprints, etchings, drawings; figures, faces, landscapes, still lifes. www.ojaistudioartists. org/karen_lewis; lewisojai@mac.com. 805.646.8877 karenklewis.com
PATTY MCFALL
TOM HARDCASTLE
MARTHA MORAN
Rich oils and lush pastel paintings from Nationally awarded local artist 805-895-9642
Rockstacks, Fountains, Art Shower installations. Showing at National Gem and Mineral Show, Ventura Fairgrounds, June 9 -11. Ojairockstacker.com 805.279.7605
ELAINE UNZICKER
NANCY WHITMAN
Negotiating the delicate agreement between being provocative and being pleasing to the eye. ojaistudio@aol.com 805.646.7141 P.O. Box 1214, Ojai, CA 93024
Intuitive, visionary artist, inspired by her dreams and meditations. It is “all about the Light.” Her work may be seen at Frameworks of Ojai, 236 West Ojai Ave, where she has her studio. 805.640.3601 joycehuntingtonart.com
Enjoying Figurative Sculpture in the Human form as well as animals 714.655.9370 SculpturesbyPatty McFall.com pjsculpture@gmail.com
DUANE EELLS In his portrait commissions, Eells captures the essence of those he paints. His paintings are about empathy and connections. Bold strokes are tempered with classical drawing principles. Visit eells.com 805-633-0055
SUSAN STINSMUEHLEN AMEND
Inspired by medieval chain mail — stainless jewelry, scarves, purses, belts and wearable metal clothing. unzickerdesign.com 805-646-4877
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Nancy keeps the surface of the paintings interesting and alive. Influences have been Matisse, Jawlensky, Picasso and Bonnard. You can reach her at 525.3551 or email jnwhitman@live. com Studio is at 12615 Koenigstein Road. 57
ART GALLERIES
Fea & A turi rtis ng t ts o he A f O rt jai FIRESTICK GALLERY Firestick Pottery provides classes, studio/ kiln space and a gallery abundant with fine ceramics. Located at 1804 Ojai Avenue, we are open from 10 a.m to 6 p.m. every day but Tuesday. 805-272-8760.
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MARC WHITMAN Original Landscape, Figure and Portrait Paintings in Oil. On display at the Ojai Design Center Gallery. 111 West Topa Topa Street. marc@whitman-architect.com Open every weekday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
LATITUDE FINE ART GALLERY Ventura’s only fine art gallery exclusively dedicated to showcasing the beauty of Ventura County and its breathtaking coastline in fine art photography. 401 East Main Street, Ventura. 805.642.52576 latitudefineart.com
CAROLYN GLASOE BAILEY FOUNDATION Supporting Fine Art Nationwide. We offer: • Art Collector Trips • Student Fine Art • Education & Master Classes • Gallery Visits • Artist Studio Visits • Live iTunes Podcasts. 248 South Montgomery. Open by Appointment. 805-6309188, cgbfoundation.org
NUTMEG’S OJAI HOUSE Featuring local artists, including William Prosser and Ted Campos. American-made gifts and cards, crystals, new and vintage goods. 304 North Montgomery Street, Ojai 805.640.1656
ANCA COLBERT Art Advisory and Appraisal Services. Experienced, professional guidance with art collections management, artworks documentation, insurance valuations, etc. TheColorOfLight.com by appointment 805.624.5757
DAN SCHULTZ FINE ART Plein air landscapes, figures and portraits in oil by nationally-acclaimed artist Dan Schultz. 106 North Signal Street, Ojai 805.317.9634 DanSchultzFineArt.com
HUMAN ARTS GALLERY An arts destination for 42 years! Featuring a colorful, diverse, often whimsical collection of hand-made furniture, art, jewelry, glass, clothing and sculpture. 246 East Ojai Avenue. 805.646.1525 humanartsgallery.com
PORCH GALLERY Contemporary Art in a Historic House. 310 East Matilija Avenue, Ojai 805.620.7589 porchgalleryojai.com instagram/Porchgirl1
STUDIO SAUVAGEAU Exquisitely handcrafted bags 305-G East Ojai Avenue New Location! studiosauvageau.com 805.798.2221
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䘀 䜀 䌀唀刀䄀吀䔀䐀 䰀䤀嘀䤀一䜀 伀 䨀 䄀 䤀 䠀䄀一䐀䌀刀䄀䘀吀䔀䐀Ⰰ 䰀伀䌀䄀䰀Ⰰ ☀ 䘀䄀䤀刀 吀刀䄀䐀䔀 䜀伀伀䐀匀 ㌀㈀㜀 䔀 伀䨀䄀䤀 䄀嘀䔀
昀椀最漀樀愀椀⸀挀漀洀
llery • grassroots gallery • grassroots gallery • grassroots gallery •
grassroots gallery • grassroots gallery • grassroots gallery • grassroots gallery • grassroo
323 East Matilija Street, Ojai
oots gallery • grassroots gallery • grassroots gallery • grassroots gallery • grassroots ga
GRASSROOTS ts grassroots grassroots galleryGALLERY • grassroots gallery • grassr
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Ojai Cafe Emporium Ojai’s favorite gathering and eating place for over 30 years.
Voted Best Bakery, Breakfast & Lunch Place
805 646 2723
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108 S. Montgomery Street / off Ojai Ave www.ojaicafeemporium.com BREAKFAST served M-F 7am-11:30am Sat & Sun All Day LUNCH served daily11am-3pm BAKERY & COFFEE BAR open daily 6:30am-3pm
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OJAI WINE & DINE
64 Food & Drink
Ojai Places for Bangers & Mash
72 Wine Map
Locating Ojai’s Top Vintners
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FOOD & DRINK MORE
FOR YOUR BUCK
Our intrepid correspondent cases the joints of Ojai for an English import that’s comforting for the cold days ahead.
t h .
It’s that time of year. Foliage and football. Cold, crisp air that visualizes your breath (well, on those fall/winter days when it’s not 100 degrees in Ojai). Soup and stew weather. Carved pumpkins and pumpkin pie. And, how can we forget bangers and mash? Huh? This time of year, I often flashback to a trip to London just before Thanksgiving. Being a ‘60s kid, that’s not all I flashback to, but I digress. It was cold and damp in London (or is that redundant?) and, after spending a day shopping on Portobello Road, I needed to warm up, so I wandered into a pub (a genuine British pub – not today’s trendy gastro pub, but a “pub grub” pub).
among the display of freshly made sausages in the meat section, ready to be tossed into a pan and live up to their name… bangers! Timing is everything as Max Badger, the market’s young sausage maker, told me. He rotates the sausages he makes each day, but did assure me he’d make bangers to order. His entire sausage display is very impressive. Among the choices that day: traditional Italian sausages, pork or chicken with garlic & basil, Bratwurst made with Guinness stout, Andouille Cajun and, during the holidays, Max told me, he’ll create some French apple, cranberry sausages. Stuffing, anyone?
Sitting by a roaring fire, sipping ale, a waitress whizzed by carrying a plate covered with appetizing sausages, a huge mound of fluffy mashed potatoes and something green.When she came for my order, I pointed to a woman now ravishing those sausages and said, “I’ll have what she’s having.” Soon, I, too, was savoring sausages that tasted like nothing I’d ever had before. They certainly weren’t Jimmy Dean’s… or wieners or knockwurst or bratwurst, oh my. So, being a fledgling foodie at the time, I asked my waitress, who cheerfully answered: “Bangers!” OK. New to me. But, ever the diligent researcher, I soon discovered that the term bangers goes back as early as World War I, when meat shortages forced folks to use more water than meat as filler when making sausages. This made them pop when heated, thus, “Bang.” Traditionally they are served with mashed potatoes, onion gravy, fried onions and peas (the something green). I feel ever so British when I have them, eh wot? The dish has become my cold weather comfort food, but where does one find bangers in California’s sunny Ojai Valley? Westridge ho, the wagons! Well, in my case, my hybrid SUV. And, lo and behold, right there in the midtown store
BANGERS & GRAVY 2-4 Banger Sausages Olive oil for sauteing 1 cup white onions, chopped Sherry to deglaze 1 clove garlic, minced 3/4 cup low salt Chicken broth (or Chicken stock) 1/2 cup whole milk Flour for thickening
Before leaving, I wandered through the market’s spacious new delicatessen, enjoying a freshly brewed coffee from the coffee stand, looking for lunch. Should I choose from the organic juice and salad bars, or the sushi bar where two sushi chefs make fresh sushi daily (and do custom orders!), or try the cooked meats or maybe just have some baked goods? All at very affordable prices. And, still on Westridge’s deli menu are those delicious signature burgers and sandwiches, as well as other mouth-watering choices. Everything was so tempting! But the aroma of gourmet pizzas coming right out of the oven won me over. Competitive in price to a frozen pizza, I had to have one. A hot, freshly made margherita pizza for lunch… bangers and mash for dinner. I never have to leave Ojai. Good thing I belong to a gym!
Heat a large skillet. When hot, add the olive oil and swirl. Add the bangers and cook through on all sides until done – about 10-15 minutes. Remove them to a plate and place a loose, aluminum foil tent over them. With the pan still hot, add the onions and cook them until browned, occasionally deglazing with a little sherry. When the onions are almost done, add the garlic and continue to cook for 1 minute. Add the Chicken broth (or stock), milk, and combine well. Sprinkle in small amounts of flour, until the gravy thickens. If it gets too thick, thin with more milk or chicken stock.
MANDALA DOLKAR TSO creates food with love. You can taste her caring spirit through her food. Born and raised in Tibet, she escaped on foot, then lived in a refugee camp in India for five years. She now resides in Ojai, pursuing her American Dream and sharing culinary gifts from Tibet, India and Japan. At Mandala Restaurant, all dishes are freshly prepared with intention and purpose.
SERVES UP ASIA’S BEST CUISINE
Dolkar Tso
11400 N VENTURA AVE., OJAI (805) 613-3048 MANDALALLC.COM
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The Mandala Lunch Special
EXPRESS
LOVE espresso | breakfast | lunch
SOCIAL CAFE
205 N. Signal, Ojai | 805.646.1540 NoSoVita.com Open daily 7am - 5pm
Celebrating 32 Years Breakfast
•
Lunch
•
Dinner
Open Daily 8 am to 10 pm (Call for summer hours) Home of the $2.50 Mimosas and $4 Bloody Marys and Margaritas. All Day, Everyday.
Sea FreSh SeaFood
Restaurant, Sushi Bar and Fresh Fish Market
805-646-7747
• 533 E. Ojai Avenue, Ojai OQ / WINTER 2017-2018
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Gourmet Chinese Food to go or Eat In
CHINESE
EXPRESS
NOW OPEN & REMODELED
Mon - Sat 11:00 am- 9:30 pm Sun 11:00 am-9:00 pm 11566 N Ventura Avenue in Mira Monte Hwy 33 Between Baldwin & Villanova Rd
805-646-1177 AjChineseExpress.com
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Visit our
Honey Tasting Room 206 East Ojai Avenue in the Arcade, downtown Ojai
Roasting coffee since 1995 Sit, drink, eat and enjoy! www.heavenlyhoneycompany.com | 206 East Ojai Avenue, Ojai, CA 93023 | 805-207-4847
(805) 646-4478
337 E. Ojai Ave.
WE DELIVER! HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Pizza • Pasta • Wings • Sandwiches • Salads 13 Beers on Draft Happy Hour: Mon - Thu Lunch Specials under $7 70
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Photo by Roland Stone
646-7878 331 Ojai Ave. Downtown Ojai
Marché Gourmet
Delicatessen and
Art Gallery Plein Air Oils from the Painting Chef
ESPRESSO • PASTRIES • CHEESE • WINE • SANDWICHES • SALADS • SOUPS
Great Sandwiches & Weekly Specials! Vegetarian, Vegan & Gluten-Free Options! www.MarcheGourmetDeli.com 133 E. Ojai Ave, Ojai, CA
805•646•1133
GRANOLA BITES & TRAIL MIXES Available at a store near you! Visit larkellenfarm.com/stores
made with
ORGANIC Sprouted Nuts & Seeds
HAndcrAfted WITH LOVE IN OJAI
vegan
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raw & Sprouted
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CASA BARRANCA ORGANIC WINERY & TASTING ROOM Located in Ojai’s Historic Downtown Arcade. Stop by and relax in Casa Barranca’s Craftsman style-designed tasting room. Browse our collection of wine accessories and gifts. Ask about joining our Wine Club – it’s FREE. 208 East Ojai Avenue, 805-640-1255. OPEN DAILY: Sunday — Thursday 12-6 p.m. Friday and Saturday until 12-7 p.m. CasaBarranca.com or facebook.com/casabarranca VENTURA SPIRITS Ventura Spirits is a California Craft Distillery specializing in distilled spirits inspired by the native and cultivated flora of California’s Central Coast. We offer distillery tours and tastings of our award winning spirits in our new onsite tasting room. For more information or to contact us please visit: venturaspirits.com, email to: info@ venturaspirits.com or call us at: (805) 232-4313
TOPA MOUNTAIN WINERY Topa Mountain Winery offers premium wines made from grapes grown on its estate in upper Ojai and sourced from other premium vineyards in the region. A large selection of red and white varietals will be available for sale in its beautiful new tasting room and gardens. Available for events. The wines are also available for sale at topamountainwinery.com.
OLD CREEK RANCH W I N E R Y
OLD CREEK RANCH W I N E R Y
BOCCALI VINEYARDS & WINERY is a family-owned and operated winery located in the scenic Upper Ojai Valley. Father and son winemakers DeWayne and Joe Boccali are the driving forces behind the label. Boccali Vineyards produces 100 percent estate wines; grown, produced and bottled on the same property. Visit us in Ojai’s East End on weekends for a tasting at 3277 East Ojai Avenue in Ojai. Visit us on the web at BoccaliVineyards.com.
MAJESTIC OAK VINEYARD Hidden in the stunning Ojai Valley, the Majestic Oak Vineyard is deeply rooted on land our family has held for decades. As fifth generation Ojai-ans, we had a dream of bringing you the quintessential Ojai experience — something as beautiful and unique as the Valley itself. We believe a great bottle of wine represents the hard work that goes into it. From the land, to our hands, to your table, we are proud to offer you our labor of love. We invite you to be part of our legacy. It’s not just our wine; it’s our story. 321 East Ojai Avenue (downstairs), 805-794-0272, MajesticOakVineyard.com.
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OLD CREEK RANCH WINERY
OLD CREEK RANCH
OLD CREEK RANCH WINERY
OLD CREEK RANCH W I N E R Y
OLD C RANCH WINERY
OLDREEK CREEK RANCH W I N E R Y
OLD CREEK RANCH W I N E R Y
W I N E R Y
OLD CREEK RANCH WINERY Old Creek Ranch Winery is a 100-year-old Winery and Wine Tasting Room situated on a true working ranch in the Ojai Valley. The prestigious winery specializes in 18 varietals spanning over half a decade. Currently, the winery is undergoing renovation and will be reopening soon. Please continue to check social media for opening dates and sign up on our website to join the wine club (no obligation to buy) for upcoming exclusive events! Located at 10024 Old Creek Road, Ventura, CA 93001. 805-649-4132. OldCreekRanch.com
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OLD C
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OJAI OLIVE OIL Our Tasting Room at 1811 Ladera Ridge Road in the Ojai Valley’s East End is open daily, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sample our oils produced on site and more for free! On Wednesdays, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. plus Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. we also offer Free Educational Talks with product tasting. No reservations required. Discover the true taste & health qualities of locally produced organic extra-virgin olive oils! Balsamic vinegars imported from Modena, Italy and olive oil-based skin care products are also for sale.Ojaioliveoil.com, info@ojaioliveoil.com, 805-646-5964.
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OJAI ALISAL’S handcrafted wines are made only with grapes we grow in Upper Ojai. We grow Syrah, Grenache, Malbec and Viognier in our beautiful vineyards dotted with California walnuts and sycamores (or Alisal in Spanish), bringing the spirit of the Rhone region to California. Please visit our Weekend Tasting Room at Azu Restaurant, 457 East Ojai Ave, Friday, Saturday and Sunday 12 noon to 5 p.m.. For more information 805-640-7987 or online at ojaialisal.com and azuojai.com.
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Exclusive Wine Club events leading up to the April 1, 2018 unveiling of our new tasting room. Join the Wine Club for FREE to receive notiication of events!
Charming times coming soon!
805-649-4132 | winery@oldcreekranch.com| www.oldcreekranch.com| @oldcreekranchwinery
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ORMACHEA JEWELRY Specializes in hand-made, artisan jewelry creations; offering custom and unconventional engagement ring design in precious metals with unique gemstones. Each piece is slowcrafted in our studio by the sea. 432 East Main Street, Ventura 805.652.0484 Info@ormacheajewelry.com OrmacheaJewelry.com
JES MAHARRY Artisan and famed Sundance jeweler Jes MaHarry has teamed with her sister Wendy MaHarry to create the perfect space for their magical creations. Walk into the boutique and you will instantly feel surrounded by beauty. 316 East Ojai Avenue (In the Arcade) 877.728.5537 • Jesmaharry.com
OJAI’S GEMS
LYNN’S JEWELRY STUDIO Lynn’s handcrafted original. Over 4-carat Amethyst and Diamonds. This classic design can be made in Gold, Silver, or Platinum. Ventura County’s ORIGINAL fine jeweler. Let us create new memories with you! John Muscarella, Master Jeweler/ Designer 4572 Telephone Road, Suite 906 805.642.5500
HUMAN ARTS GALLERY Ojai’s most interesting and eclectic contemporary jewelry by nationally known artists, plus exciting new ideas for custom designed wedding rings by owner and resident jeweler Hallie Katz. 246 East Ojai Avenue. 805.646.1525 humanarts@sbcglobal.net humanartsgallery.com
NOCTURNAL SUBMISSIONS the
In my capacity as Top Housewife in the Tri-Counties Competitive Housewiffery League and Winner of the Golden Egg Whisk (2002, 2010, 2012-2017) people often say to me, they say, “Sami?”And I fold my hands with the same sort of strained patience one needs when one’s grammar has been erroneously corrected on Facebook, and say, “Yes, dear?” “How did you get your start in housewiffery?” I smile mysteriously and tell the eager acolyte this story. Coming from a fiercely house-proud tradition in the Outer Hebrides, I early learnt the devastating power of a good scone. (I say it like that: “I early learnt…” for extra fableyness) How the right crumb size can disarm and discombobulate a grown minister of 200-lbs and get you off the tea-club rota when you’re put on with someone whose chelsea buns you don’t want anybody mistaking for yours. (The chelsea bun scandal of 1989 centered on a few of the more Bonnie Tyler-haired ladies who would try to catch the minister’s eye with their artificially enhanced buns. It turns out they had been injecting them with silicone and the build-up in the poor minister’s tummy had rendered him near fatally constipated. Things came to an explosive, but ultimately life-saving resolution in church during Mr. Angus MacKenzie’s reading of Acts 2:2, where the Holly Spirit descends upon the heads of the Apostles (the bit where their heads go on fire but don’t really) : “And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.” By God, it did.) But back to scones: How a good one can beguile and even sometimes temporarily knock the minister out given a wee pinch of Valium in the mix. This is useful for
By Sami Zahringer
Real of ojai Housewives
when you want to store the minister in a cupboard for a bit. You might have to do this to stop other ladies infecting his ear with propaganda about how they would be the best choice to lead the campaign to send well-ironed, previously enjoyed clothing with holy verses embroidered (somewhat) on them by the Sunday school, to Godless people in Africa and Inverness. Five-year-old me learnt many things, blinking quietly at my granny’s tweed be-skirted knee. I knew that the skills I could learn from the housewives of the parish would serve me well on whatever path life would lead me. I resolved then to become an eager young housewife. I resolved to become formidable. “Lesson #1 - Adaptability!” Auntie Catriona — a woman ahead of her time who spoke fluent hashtag — used to tell me. And by golly, she was right. By substituting cement for Valium in granny’s special scone recipe, in 1998, I was able to fell a runaway suitor at 30 paces, when, as I’d predicted, repeated exposure finally inured him to the effects of the Valium. I rolled him back in a wheelbarrow just in time to catch the end of “The Cosby Show.” My favorite… “Lesson Number 1 — Preparation!” Auntie Peigi-Annie, would say. And, by all that can scale a kettle, she was right as well! One night in my teens, at a Youth Club in the Town Hall designed to keep us out of the whisky-fumed, virtue-ruining bothies, I put that same lesson into practice. Mr. Murdo Macleod, Jurassic-era elder of the parish, was sitting as usual in his corner, sleepily supervising us through eyes as rheumy as those of his antediluvian collie beside him, expending just enough energy to keep his pipe lit. Having pinched his hearing aid earlier, we young ones were therefore at perfect OQ / WINTER 2017-2018
liberty to play loud music with impunity and, out of teacups from the kitchen, drink exotic peach schnapps from the mainland, bought or bartered from Daft Big Kenny’s older brother, Daft Wee Martin. Bartering involved either doing his homework for him (lovely, gentle fellow but he was actually Daft) — like Daft, the condition. Or talking to him about Star Wars.) The night went on, the lights lowered, the dancers got closer. Suddenly, the lights snapped on and in roared CathieMary MacFarlane, spittle-flecked spinster of the parish, wrenching couples apart left and right, neck-wattle in full swing, screaming about Sodom and Gomorrah. Poor, peaceful Mr. MacLeod came to with a start and bit right through the stem of his pipe. Everybody got into trouble of course. Except me. Having been around alarmed old people before, I was never without a full pipe-repair kit about my person. I was prepared. So grateful was Mr. MacLeod that he pleaded my case to the Youth Club Committee at the subsequent Hearings and I Got Off. But how can there be more than one First Rule of Housewiffery?” the sharper of my interlocutors then asks. “Oh, there are hundreds!” I say breezily. And lately that has got me thinking. There are many successful ways to wive a house! It is an art, after all, as much as a science, and it is past time that we, in the T-CLoCH, embrace diversity! We should fling open our doors to transgender housewives! Housewives of Color. (We are thus far ludicrously white in the league) Goth housewives! Even Housewives from Oxnard! Ones who don’t conform to the household expectations assigned to them at birth! Oh! Dear Readers, I think it’s a go! Watch this space. * 77
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300 Women Seek to Expand Opportunities For All of Ojai
Story by Sarah Howery Hart Photos by Brandi Crockett
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n the recent movie, “Wonder Woman,” Diana, who has trained to be
a warrior, leaves her island paradise home to battle for the rights of others, and, in doing so, becomes part of their world. The Ojai Women’s Fund is home to more than 300 local wonder women who use their organization’s training to serve the underserved in the Ojai Valley.
Karen Evenden, Ojai Women’s Fund founder with co-Chair Peggy Russell
In fact, the members of one of the OWF’s smaller groupswithin-the-group has taken the name, The Wonder Funders. Many of the OWF’s smaller groups have such whimsical names, including Andy’s Angels, the Kick Ass Girls, the Ojai Book Women, and, in reference to Ojai’s famous citrus groves, the Pixie Chicks and Ojai Pixies. Their philathropical goal, however, as described on their website, is strictly business: “. . . making substantial grants on an annual basis to organizations that target critical needs in the Ojai Valley.” “Together we, as a Giving Circle, can do much more than we could ever do alone,” the website also states. The geographical area for the giving circle’s services covers Casitas Springs to Upper Ojai, with the categories for the non-profit organization grants including Art, Education, Environment, Health and Social Services. Although 2016 was the inaugural year for the Ojai Women’s Fund, the group has already reached a membership in excess of 300 women, who have contributed over $60,000. The model for this organization is not a new one, according to OWF co-chair Peggy Russell. “Karen Evenden, the founder, was the force behind the OWF, Russell says. “She was founder of a women’s fund in Seattle, which started over 20 years ago. That group has now given millions of dollars to non-profits, and when Karen moved to Ojai, she wanted to start a group here.” Russell says response at the initial informational meeting
was overwhelming, with women wanting to join right then and there. The Ojai Women’s Fund Philosophy The philosophy behind OWF is relatively simple. Women combine financial resources and their time, and their basic task begins with observing what is occurring in their community, including levels of poverty. “More than 22 percent of the people here are at poverty level,” Russell explains, “and they’re underserved. A lot of people don’t know about the underserved.” To ensure that the members have a thorough understanding of that little-known population and which groups are serving them, according to Marquita Flemming, OWF Grants Committee co-chairperson, the observation process is comprehensiv. It begins with detailed questions for each organization requesting a grant. “We’re asking, what is the population they serve; how do they know that population needs those services; how do they know their services are working; how do they follow up?” She adds that representatives of the grant-seeking organizations have the opportunity to visit the Grants Committee and ask their own questions about the process. And, Grants Committee members visit them. “The one thing everybody says,” Flemming reports, “is how amazing it is to go out and meet with the people doing the work. There’s a
“All my life I have felt very fortunate to live in a beautiful place; to have wonderful friends, and enjoy whatever there is to enjoy, and I think we all really need to look past ourselves and see what’s needed by those around us. I think this organization has done that for a lot of these women. It does my heart good to see these women say, ‘I didn’t even know this need existed.’” — Peggy Russell
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big difference between just reading the application and actually going out and seeing the passion in someone’s eyes.” “The Grants Committee then selects two applicants from each category to recommend to the general membership,” Russell says. Then, the members vote. The 2016 Grant Winners And, the winners were, receiving $60,000 in grants in 2016: Girls Empowerment Workshop in the Education category; Once Upon A Watershed (Environment); Ojai Youth Opera (Arts); Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurses Association (Health); and due to a tie, both the Nan Tolbert Nurturing Center and Reins of H.O.P.E. (Human Opportunity Partnership with Equine) won in the Social Services category. “We pulled from our donors and got another ten thousand dollars so we could fund both,” Russell says. An example of how the funding was used by a group was the opera “Brundibar” by the Ojai Youth Opera. “The grant was so needed and so appreciated,” says co-founder Julija Zonic. “Our project was a success, we had an amazing performance at Libbey Bowl and in Santa Barbara. The kids had to each develop their own character, so had to learn about the history of Holocaust. The look on their faces when they realized how real these characters were .... At the end of the performance the kids were crying.”
Zonic continues, “I feel really good about what kind of seed we’ve planted in these future leaders, how they felt empowered by learning about something like the Holocaust. We give the message of positivity, proactiveness and that our future is through our youth. It was important for our community to spread a positive message and teach children through children.” The Ojai Youth Opera also applied funding to outreach programs for Ojai schools, enabling students to become involved in their musical performances. Although not all applicants receive a grant like Ojai Youth Opera, Russell says that even groups not receiving OWF funding usually benefit in other ways. “The work accomplished by OWF often extends beyond the winners. Even though an agency might not receive our grant, others often donate to them.” The Wonder Women Profile Before joining OWF, most members already operated from overflowing calendars, including full-time jobs, families, and for most, volunteer work for several other organizations. But each has a specific reason for further extending their time and resources to bring the world of OWF into their own. “I think all my life I have felt very fortunate to live in a beautiful place,” Russell says. “To have wonderful friends, and enjoy whatever there is to enjoy, and I think we all really need to look past
“She was founder of a women’s fund in Seattle, which started over 20 years ago. That group has now given millions of dollars to non-profits, and when Karen moved to Ojai, she wanted to start a group here.” — Peggy Russell on Karen Evenden
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2017 Grants The Ojai Women’s Fund is pleased to announce $64,000 in grants to eleven organizations in the Ojai Valley. These grants, awarded in five program areas, reflect the Ojai Women’s Fund commitment to making grants on an annual basis to organizations that target critical needs in the Ojai Valley. SOCIAL SERVICES • Fully Funded: $10,000 Boys & Girls Club — Project Name: Oak View Club Site Serving Ojai Valley Residents • Honorary Grant: HELP of Ojai — Project Name: Student Mental Health Program HEALTH • Fully Funded: $10,000 OjaiCARES, Inc. — Project Name: Patient Navigation • Honorary Grant: Ojai Valley Community Hospital Foundation — Project Name: The Gift of Healing Air ENVIRONMENT • Fully Funded: $7,850 to Food for Thought Ojai — Project Name: Planting, Eating, Saving, and Sharing; Seeds and Students • Honorary Grant: Mira Monte Elementary PTO — Project Name: Mira Monte Garden of Knowledge EDUCATION • Fully Funded: $8,550 to Ojai Unified School District (Music Department) — Project Name: Ojai Valley Mariachi Camp Honorary Grant: Nordhoff Dance Alliance — Project Name: Broadway’s Best Moments, Spring Dance Concert (OUSD) • Honorary Grant: Ojai Valley Libraries Friends & Foundation — Project Name: OVLFF Sponsored Little Free Libraries ARTS • Fully Funded: $10,000 to Ojai Festivals, Ltd. — Project Name: BRAVO Program: Education Through Music • Honorary Grant: Performances to Grow On — Project Name: The Ojai Storytelling Festival
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“I think you’re never too young and it’s never too early to start thinking about how to help others and give back ... It was a really great experience for a mother to have with her daughters. Other moms are wanting to do this, too.” — Tiarzha Taylor
ourselves and see what’s needed by those around us. I think this organization has done that for a lot of these women. It does my heart good to see these women say, ‘I didn’t even know this need existed.’” Member Mary Ann O’Conner, who along with her mother and three adult daughters comprise their own smaller OWF group, has a particular reason for joining, as well. “Women need to support women,” she says. “The wage gap is real; violence against women is real; sexual harassment and assault are real. Women live longer than men and are therefore more vulnerable to elder abuse and to poverty in old age.” She adds, “When you can give, give generously. You never know when you or someone you love might need the help that these wonderful organizations provide.” Upper Ojai’s Tiarzha Taylor’s reason for joining includes a personal component. “For me I’m so grateful for the blessings I have in my life, and I recognize so many people who came before me and sacrificed so I could have the same opportunities as others.” The OWF webite states, “You can do a little or you can do a lot,” and Taylor is an example of the many women who become involved beyond their role as general members. “I joined last year,” Taylor says, “and was so impressed, I wanted to step in and take a larger role.” The role she chose was working with membership. She is also now leader of a one of the small groups, the Motley Crew. “We are made up of a group of women who didn’t have a group.” The Second Year’s Goals Now in its second year, OWF’s goals include recruiting younger women and girls. Taylor says, “I think you’re never too young and it’s never too early to start thinking about how to help others and give back.” Toward this end, her own daughters, 10 and 13, have joined the group. “I think it’s important to teach children to be compassionate and help others, and I think the OQ / WINTER 2017-2018
Karen Evenden with Peggy Russell. The Ojai Women’s Fund recently released its second year grants, totaling more than $60,000.
Ojai Women’s Fund is an amazing way to do that. They get to hear what’s happening in our community, to learn about nonprofits, and decide for themselves where the money should go.” She adds that as members, her daughters joined her in reviewing the grant applicants’ materials. “It was a really great experience for a mother to have with her daughters. Other moms are wanting to do this, too.” O’Connell agrees. “It is one thing to talk to your children about the importance of charitable giving. It is a whole other order of engagement to have them participate in making decisions about where charitable dollars should go.” She adds that her family’s three generation approach has been valuable on a number of levels. “I value so much the conversations we’ve had about the various organizations and the work they do. It is great to have my 87-year-old mother’s point of view in these discussions, as well as to hear what my 20- and 30-something daughters think. This year my ten-month-old granddaughter sat in on the conversation. I can’t wait to hear what she’ll have to say!” Future Funding Needs Toward the goal of addressing Ojai Valley’s current needs, Russell says one critical area is education. “Right now, it seems that the greatest need we’ve seen overall is education in the grammar schools. That includes helping students that don’t have access to computer. Some of the schools have put in applications for grants to keep computer labs open after school until 6 or 7 p.m. at night, so parents can come in too.” She says elementary school support is also a goal. “There are a lot of single-parent families, and these people need support. Some have support from family members, but many have none. Kids need lunches, they need places to go after school.” For the 2017 grant season, 31 applications were submitted, and winners have now been announced (see sidebar, opposite
page). Two goals were to increase the membership to 450 and increase grants to $90,000. “This is far-reaching,” Russell says “and it’s only our second year. We’re learning a lot, and we are getting women joining, including those who hadn’t thought about doing this before.” OWF members are realizing the benefits to themselves, as well. “We didn’t even know each other,” Taylor says, referring to the Motley Crew group. “But we’ve come out of this experience as friends. If not for the Women’s Fund, we might not have crossed paths to provide the diversity of experiences we bring to the table. We had our meeting last week, and were so happy to see each other again.” Flemming has a group comprised of former strangers too. “It’s really fun, and it was an organizational anomaly,” she explains, adding that many of the smaller OWF group members were already involved with each other in other groups. “We discovered that there were women who wanted to join, but they weren’t members of other types of groups.” And similar to Taylor’s rationale in naming her group of strangers the Motley Crew, Flemming chose to call her group Karass. “It’s a word I remember from reading Kurt Vonnegut,” she says. “It means people who cross your path and just become part of your world.” In the movie, Wonder Woman leaves her home island in order to become part of the world of others whom she can assist through her special skills and expertise. In Ojai, the 300-plus wonder women comprising the Ojai Women’s Fund organization have chosen to enter all of the worlds within their home, the Ojai Valley, to find and assist the underserved populations, using their own special skills and expertise. (Ojai Women’s Fund, ojaiwomensfund.org, 805-746-3096, P.O. Box 310, Ojai, CA 93024)
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This licensee is performing acts for which a real estate license is required. C2 Financial Corporation is licensed by the California Bureau of Real Estate, Broker # 01821025; NMLS # 135622. Loan approval is not guaranteed and is subject to lender review of information. Loan is only approved when lender has issued approval in writing. Specified rates may not be available for all borrowers. Rate subject to change with market conditions. C2 Financial Corporation is an Equal Opportunity Mortgage Broker/Lender. The services referred to herein are not available to persons located outside the state of California. C2 Financial Corporation is approved to originate VA and FHA loans, and has the ability to broker such loans to VA and FHA approved lenders. C2 Financial Corporation is not acting on behalf of or at the direction of HUD/FHA or the VA. BRE #01048403 • NMLS #298981 Fax: (805) 416-1789
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PA T T Y WA LT C H E R
20 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE MATCHING PEOPLE AND PROPERTY IN THE OJAI VALLEY
SPANISH STYLE CHATEAU IN THE HEART OF SULPHUR MOUNTAIN This exquisite estate includes a stunning 4 bedroom, 4 bath house, a luxurious guest house and a beautiful pool on 14+ private acres. The main house features stone and hardwood floors, vaulted ceilings, gourmet kitchen and unbelievable custom woodwork throughout. The expansive mountain views are truly unique in the Ojai Valley. 1 1 2 20S u l p h u rM o u nta i n R o a dO j a i .com
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rivacy? Check. Views? Check. Dozens of walnut trees? Check. A few miles from town in Upper Ojai, you can find all those amenities on a 24-acre farm at the base of Sulphur Mountain. As you turn off Highway 150, the first thing that stands out are the dual driveways. On the right lies a straight gravel road that sweeps up and around to the main farmhouse and guest house. For the more adventurous visitor, opting for the left path sends you winding your way through walnut trees and grassy fields. A couple hundred yards up, tucked away from the road, a 1,400 square-foot Southern style farmhouse sits looking over the estate. A large front porch features views of the farm’s vineyard, barn and surrounding mountains. It invites you to sit, have a beer and soak it all in. Looking out over the property, an astonishing array of cacti and native plants mingle with the greens of the grapevines and walnut canopies beyond. Once inside, guests are greeted by the stone fireplace towering up from the hardwood floor in the center of the main living area. An overall sense of down-home country livin’ can be felt in every corner of the house and in the simple, thoughtfully landscaped grounds. Rock walls line the driveway that wraps around the farm96
house to the old barn-turned-guest-house. With its vaulted ceilings and loft bedroom, the guest house complements the charm of the farmhouse. Looking around the property, it’s easy to see why it’s been the setting of weddings, parties and other events. There’s plenty of space, and in just about every direction you look, there’s an incredible view. The true gem hiding in this one-of-a-kind place may be the peaceful solitude that is ever-present. Sitting on the porch listening to the birds chirp and the breeze rustling through the trees, you can’t help but relax and let your worries drift away.
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The central feature of the farmhouse is the stone fireplace that stands above the hardwood floors between the kitchen and the living room.
An open shelving design allows for easy access to dishes glasses and other items in the kitchen. Subtle details, like a farmhouse sink and classic drawer pulls, blend the timeless with the contemporary.
Left, the farmhouse living room opens up to the front porch and views of the farm and mountains. Above, the old barn, now a guest house, has vaulted ceilings, a large stone fireplace and a bedroom loft.
An aerial view reveals what lies behind rows and rows of walnut trees. Tucked into the back corner of the property are the farmhouse, barn, guest house and vineyard.
A warm day comes to an end as the sun sets over the valley, sending golden light cascading onto the fire pit and seating area adjacent to the barn and vineyard.
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We know Ojai. PRICE REDUCED
This centrally located Ojai horse property was built for outdoor entertaining and comfortable everyday living. Two master suites make this home a perfect choice for those with long-term guests, while the barn, corrals and turnout area work for those who want to keep their horses at home. Additional features of this property include two fireplaces, a total of four bedrooms, formal and casual dining rooms, balconies or patio off all bedrooms, swimming pool, river rock fire pit, built-in barbecue, mature landscaping, fruit trees, guest parking, expansive outdoor entertaining areas, tile and cork flooring, and custom doors, molding and paint. All of this is just a few minutes from downtown Ojai and just a short commute to Ventura or Santa Barbara Visit www.1195RanchoCourt.com to learn more. $1,269,000
This unique, spacious home is the type of property you have to see to really appreciate how much it has to offer. The main house features three fireplaces, a sunken wet bar, formal dining room, office and five bedrooms, each of which has an en suite bathroom. One of the bedrooms also has a separate entrance and kitchenette for use as maid’s quarters or for long-term guests. The cook’s kitchen has double ovens, an island with produce sink and breakfast bar, desk, wine fridge, grilling station and walkin pantry with a built-in espresso machine. There is also a two-bedroom guest house with a separate driveway and two-car garage, horse facilities, on-grid solar panels and plenty of space to customize to suit your needs Visit www.1577KenewaStreet.com to learn more. $2,995,000
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Remodeled 4 BR + 2.5 BA Farmhouse on 3+ Acres with Guest House, Barn and Orchard. $1,675,000 www.990LomaDrive.com
15-Acre East End Citrus Ranch with Guest House & Views $2,549,000 www.544GorhamRoad.com
Saddle Mountain Estate with Guest Quarters, Custom Pool and Amazing Views $1,550,000 www.10655Encino.com
3 bedroom, 2 bath, move-in-ready home with beautifully remodeled kitchen, large patio, room for horses and views of nearby hills with vineyards and pastures. $859,000
Three bedroom, two bathroom on Ventura River bluffs with fantastic views, swimming pool, fireplace and exposed-beam ceilings $689,000
IN ESCROW 20+-acre Upper Ojai Montecito-style estate. $3,995,000 www.12147OldWalnutRoad.com
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1. Azu 457 East Ojai Ave. 640-7987 2. Bart’s Books 302 W. Matilija Street - corner of Cañada Street. 646-3755 3. Besant Hill School 8585 Ojai-Santa Paula Road 646-4343
The Ranch House 15
4. Bliss Yogurt 451 East Ojai Avenue 650-8000
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5. Boccali’s Restaurant 3277 Ojai-Santa Paula Road 646-6116 6. Emerald Iguana Inn Located at north end of Blanche Street 646-5276 7. Genesis of Ojai 305 East Matilija Street 746-2058
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8. OVA Arts 238 East Ojai Avenue 646-5682 19
9. Knead Baking Co. 469 East Ojai Ave. 310-770-3282
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10. Ojai Art Center 113 South Montgomery Street 646-0117 11. Nutmeg’s Ojai House 304 North Montgomery St. 640-1656
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12. Ojai Café Emporium 108 South Montgomery Street 646-2723 13. Ojai Valley Electronics & Hobby 307-A East Matilija Street 646-7585
e Oliv Ojai
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14. Ojai Valley Museum 130 West Ojai Avenue 640-1390
15. Ranch House 102 Besant Road 640-2360
16. Sea Fresh 533 East Ojai Ave. 646-7747 17. Studio Sauvageau 332-B East Ojai Ave. (Inner Arcade) 646-0117
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18. Suzanne’s Cuisine 502 West Ojai Ave. 640-1961
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19. Treasures of Ojai 110 North Signal St. 646-2852
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STAY ON HWY 150 for about 2.2 miles 4
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20. Porch Gallery 310 East Matilija St. 213-321-3919 21. Ojai Olive Oil 1811 Ladera Ridge Road (off Hermitage) 646-5964
2017
2050
Learning to Live with More Extreme, Intense Weather and Less Water
Ojai Prepares for Climate Change
Think Global Act Local By Michelaina Johnson and Kit Stolz
Climate Central
O
n September 25th, 2017, a limb weighing several hundred pounds fell from an elm tree onto a playground of Topa Topa Elementary School, injuring a teacher and four students. The teacher and three of the students were evacuated to hospitals; two with critical injuries and one requiring an airlift. Ventura County Fire Department Captain Stan Ziegler said an expert arborist for the school district explained to fire officials that “a large contributing factor” was the five-year drought. “This was not an isolated incident,” Ziegler said. “In the last few months we’ve had four or five incidents involving trees in Ojai dropping limbs without warning. Fortunately we haven’t had any other injuries in these incidents, but in one case a tree limb fell across a power line and did spark a grass fire.” Fire and water officials, local farmers and scientists are grappling with the question of what climate change will mean for the Ojai Valley. A 2014 regional water plan warned that water supply — including greater chances for extreme droughts and floods — “will be among the most significant challenges this century.” Ecologist Nicole Molinari, who wrote a 2015 report for the Los Padres National Forest on the recent drought, was troubled but not surprised to hear that the tree dropped a huge limb. “Gosh, that’s awful,” she said. “Unfortunately a lot of plants and trees that we consider to be stable elements in our landscape, such as the coast live oak, are really stressed right now.” The tree limb fell a month after what weather historian Christopher Burt called “The Great California Heat Wave” felled all-time records for maximum temperatures across the state from San Francisco at 106 degrees to San Luis Obispo at 115 degrees on September 1.
Analysis of California average temperature since records were first kept in a reliable way.
Ojai recorded 110 degrees on August 30, just a small fraction under its all-time high for the date, and stayed there for three straight days. With more climate change-powered heat waves expected to hit Ojai, the Valley could face enhanced fire risk, water supply insecurity, and changes in regional plant composition. In response to a request from the Ojai Quarterly, James Bronzan, a research analyst for Climate Central in Princeton, New Jersey, analyzed the temperature projections for Ojai. “Over the last 20 years I found an average of 12 days a year in which Ojai had temperatures of 100 degrees or more,” he said. By 2050, the ensemble climate change models project that Ojai will have an additional 16-17 days of 100+ temperatures a year, giving the town close to three times as many extremely hot days in the future, compared to today. OQ / WINTER 2017-2018
Steve Sprinkel of Farmer & the Cook expressed skepticism about these projections, pointing out that scientists predicted a huge El Niño in 2016 that did not materialize as rain. Bronzan said he has heard this complaint before. “Seemingly it makes sense to say that if you can’t predict the weather three days out, how can you predict the climate 50 years out?” he said. “But there’s an analogy I like to use to explain this, which is that if you dump 50 rubber duckies in a river, it’s very hard to say exactly where those rubber duckies will be in five minutes, but I can darn well tell you that in an hour they’ll be way downstream. What we’re talking about with these temperature projections is not the weather of the future, but the climate, which is much more predictable.” For ecologist Molinari, the point is that the scientists know it’s going to get hotter, 113
Conserving water is the single most important thing we can do to make a local difference
but can’t be as confident about rainfall. “If you look at the projections they all say it’s going to be warmer in the future,” Molinari added. “But there’s a really mixed bag on which way precipitation will go.” Alexander Gershunov, a researcher at UC Scripps Institution of Oceanography, has an explanation for that uncertainty. “It is going to get warmer and that much we’re certain about,” he said. “We don’t know whether there will be more or less precipitation on an annual basis. When we look at the daily data we see that frequency of precipitation is clearly projected to decrease, but the intensity of the most intense rain events is projected to increase. It’s a question of which of these signals will dominate the other.”
Volunteer Denise Cotton hands over her homemade popsicle to Scottie at the Humane Society of Ventura County shelter in Ojai. per, Director of Community Outreach, said they made sure the dogs were safe, and even had volunteers feed the dogs “pupsicles” — icicles flavored with peanut butter — to keep them from overheating. Will Ojai be able to adapt to higher temperatures? “I don’t know if we’ve adapted or if we’ve become used to this kind of punishment,” said Russ Baggerly, who serves on three separate water district boards in Ojai. Mayor Johnny Johnston said that Ojai is in effect a high desert town and has always had high temperatures — once reaching 119 degreesback in 1917. That heat wave of 100 years ago coincided with a fire outbreak in the Wheeler Hot Springs area. The Wheeler Springs-Matilija fire of June 1917 went on to burn over
HOW WILL HIGHER TEMPERATURES AFFECT FIRES IN OJAI? Since the Wheeler Springs-Matilija fire of 1917, Ojai’s population has grown more than sevenfold with more homes and infrastructure, meaning more risk of loss in a blaze. A Forest Service report on climate change impacts on the Los Padres National Forest cites two studies that predict an upsurge of 10 percent to 35 percent in large fire risk in California by midcentury and an increase up to 2.5 times of current levels in Southern California shrublands, which dominate Ojai’s backcountry. Higher temperatures will not directly cause more wildfires but will enhance fire frequency and size and, together with extended dry conditions, will elevate fire risk in historically low fire seasons, such as April and May. Extended droughts could increase evapotranspiration and reduce plant moisture, making vegetation better fire fuel. Calfire projects a 300 percent increase in the risk of enhanced frequency of fire outside of urban centers by 2050 due to climate change, “We think with long-term droughts the dieback of vegetation enhances the spread of spot fires, especially during high winds,” said wildfire expert Keeley. “Embers are too small a source to ignite most fuels in most conditions, but after a long-term drought you get a lot of dieback and a greater probability of ignition.” Regional vegetation is also predicted to become more flammable. Since shrublands OQ / WINTER 2017-2018
Lake Casitas water is being used faster than can be replenished. are projected to continue to convert to grasslands, fires may become more frequent and larger in the Southern California National Forests, warns the Forest Service report. Consequences include less usable water supply and reduced water quality due to increased erosion plus accelerated runoff in burned areas. WILL OJAI HAVE ENOUGH WATER? The Casitas Municipal Water District (CMWD) is contending with the question of how to create “new” water to bolster future water supply reliability. During the recent drought, the city’s two water supplies experienced worrisome lows: the 237,761 acrefoot capacity reservoir Lake Casitas dropped University of California Riverside
Humane Society of Ventura County
HAS OJAI ADAPTED TO CLIMATE CHANGE? During the heatwave of late August, many locals reported innovative methods to cope with the heat. The Little House near City Hall opened a “hydration station” for those who might need the benefit of air conditioning. At the Humane Society, Greg Coo-
28,000 acres around Ojai and destroyed most of downtown, killing five people. This was the first of four catastrophic forest fires in the last 100 years of Ojai history. One of them — the Matilija Fire of September 1932 — became one of the largest wildfires in recorded state history, burning for 11 days and destroying more than 220,000 acres of brush amidst a severe drought. “Ojai is like the rest of the state,” said Jon Keeley of the US Geological Survey. “It’s susceptible to large high-intensity fires, and it always has been. We’ve had these kind of fires for probably 15 million years. What’s changed is that they’re much more damaging to humans now and humans are the primary cause of that, because there are more of us, and we’re spread out over a larger areat, and there are greater numbers of ignition sources.”
A UC Riverside study predicts that overall annual rainfall in California will increase by the end of the century in most of the state, but is expected to drop slightly in Southern California. to levels not seen in 50 years while the Ojai Basin’s groundwater table fell to the fifth lowest level on record. Part of the reason for that is the uncertainty about future precipitation in California, which “probably will continue to remain uncertain beyond the time frame we would need to adapt to negative climate change impacts,” said UC Riverside climatologist Dr. Robert Allen. His 2017 study found that, while the state will witness an increase in 115
Lake Casitas Dam in the background. The lake’s enduring beauty changes as the climate changes
California Climate Average Temperature Rankings Division 6 Conservation Development and Utilization of State Water Resources
PERIOD
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE
20th CENTURY AVERAGE
DEPARTURE
Aug 2012 - July 2017 60-month period
62.7°F (17.1°C)
58.9°F (14.9°C)
3.8°F (2.2°C)
RANK
WARMEST/COOLEST SINCE
RECORD SET
118th Coolest
Coolest since 2016
1913
1st Warmest
Warmest to Date
2017
Courtacy of the National Centers for Environmental Information
Temperature Gauge Record Coolest
Normal
precipitation, Southern California will receive slightly less rain — 3.3 percent less by 2100 to be precise. Despite the uncertainty, scientists concur that more extreme weather events, including droughts and floods, will hit California. The consequences of more severe floods range from damaged infrastructure to reduced water supply quality and reliability. CMWD director Russ Baggerly cautioned that with climate change, “We need to increase our portfolio to make sure everyone is protected.” The CMWD is researching two projects that would diversify the city’s water portfolio; import water from the State Water Project via the Calleguas Municipal Water District and extract groundwater from a local sandstone formation in the Santa Ynez Mountains west of Ojai. The SWP proposal would add 5,000 acre-feet to CMWD’s supply while the groundwater from the Matilija Formation would supplement several thousand acre feet to existing local supplies during dry periods. For farmer Steve Sprinkel, the prediction of higher temperatures means water will become critical. “If it’s true that we will see another degree or two of higher temperatures, I think a lot of success has to do with just having enough water,” he said. “As long as I keep irrigating, I can pick lettuce even in a heat wave.” WILL FARMERS BE ABLE TO ADAPT TO WARMER TEMPERATURES? With increasing temperatures, more available water would help quench increasingly thirsty crops. The dominant crop in the Ojai Valley and upper Ventura River watershed is citrus; including oranges, mandarins and lemons, at about 3,000 acres. Avocados come in a distant second at around 800 acres. The effects of climate change on avocados grown in Ojai are not known, said Ben Faber, an advisor with Ventura County’s UC Cooperative Extension. However, 2014 county water management plan warns that “changes to nighttime temperatures and seasonal water supplies would likely result in shifts in crop behavior and health.” Dr. Mary Lu Arpaia, Subtropical Horticulturist at UC Riverside, 118
Record Warmest
said that “Ojai — given its unique geography — could be at greater risk” of not only higher summer temperatures and warmer winters but more extreme conditions like cold events. Warmer temperatures and more frequent droughts will spell higher evapotranspiration and drier soil, equaling higher water demand and costs. “One of the problems of growing in a place like Ojai is that there are water limitations. It’s finite and expensive,” said Faber. “If climate change means more water is required and less rainfall, most ag as we know it won’t continue there.” Increased episodes of drought and heat cause an influx of insects that threaten local crops. Since 2010, farmers in Ventura County have spent precious time and resources fighting the Asian citrus psyllid, which feeds on citrus trees and can transmit a fatal disease for the crop. Dr. Erica Kistner, who studies the psyllid, predicted that warming will speed up the psyllid’s development time and life cycle (i.e. generations per year) though this is dependent on the availability of citrus leaves in a given region. “For example,” she explained, “citrus orchards situated in higher elevation sites (like Ojai) with cooler temperatures may experience greater increases in [psyllid] densities under climate change compared to lower elevation sites that are already very favorable for (psyllid) growth.” Local organic grower Jim Churchill said that his concern about climate change takes a backseat to the immediate threats to crop yield like the psyllid and the drought. Other Ojai agriculturalists shared this sentiment. “Growers aren’t collectively attempting to develop plans for coping with climate change,” said the chief executive officer of the Farm Bureau of Ventura County, John Krist, when asked about the farming community’s perspective on climate change. “It’s too difficult to predict how warming will affect crop production in the short term, and that’s the time horizon over which they make decisions about what to plant and where. They’ll do what they have always done — adapt as conditions change.”
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HOW TO PROTECT OJAI’S NATURAL GEMS? When Brian Stark, who directs the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy, looks out at Ojai’s backcountry, he sees change already occurring, and faster than one might expect. Exotic annual grasses and forbs are replacing coastal sage scrub and chaparral habitats in Southern California. “What we are see is the mass readjustment of vegetation regimes, so whole ecologies will be on the move,” Brian Stark, Ojai Valley Land Conservancy he said. “These plants and associated ecologies need places to go, so we need to clear the path for them, protect the path for them.” For this reason, OVLC has prioritized land acquisitions along identified habitat corridors and waterways to protect open space from development and preserve critical water supplies for aquatic life. The OVLC currently has roughly 2,300 acres with the goal of adding 2,020 acres by 2020 in four priority conservation areas, including sustainable agricultural land and the floodplains of San Antonio Creek and the Ventura River. “The lands we are protecting … These are the carbon sinks,” said Stark. “We are thinking globally and acting locally by protecting these areas.” One common migration route, for instance, runs through the Sulphur Mountain area, across Highway 33 in Casitas Springs, up the Ventura River watershed and into the Los Padres National Forest system. Rising temperatures favor invasive species on both land and water, displacing native species, including the steelhead trout. This endangered fish will suffer from reduced summer flows that result in smaller or dried up pools. “Our fish are our indicator of how we are managing our watershed,” said Paul Jenkin, Surfrider Foundation’s Ventura campaign coordinator. “Our resilience to climate change is kinda reflected in that.” Resilience in this context is a measure of how a species is able to adapt to change it cannot avoid. Ojai farmers, ecologists, and water and land managers are not in existential peril, as is the Southern Coast Steelhead, but they are working to see a future in which we not only survive, but thrive. “It’s going to get warmer, but how much warmer depends on different parameters, including in particular what humanity does or doesn’t do collectively to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said Alexander “Sasha” Gershunov at Scripps. “I guess what worries me is that there’s plenty of evidence that climate change is occurring, yet it seems that many people and politicians require some dangerous extreme to motivate discussion about what needs to be done.” The Ventura River awaits the winter rains.
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Together, our community will help protect Ojai’s open space for everyone to enjoy, forever. Visit a participating Wild About Ojai business today and take part. A Taste of Ojai
Gabriela Ceseña, Berkshire Hathaway
Parker Jellison Realtor
Awhai Pottery
The Glass Man Professional Window Washing Company
Rowsie Vain
GoOjai.com Greyfox Investors
The Southern Los Padres Trekking Company
Jennifer Keeler, Hair Stylist
Susan K Guy Art
Lorraine Lim Catering
Suzanne’s Cuisine
Mary Nelson Skincare & Massage Studio
Tobias Parker, General Contractor
Char Man Brand Hot Sauce
Mooney Creative
Tonya Peralta Real Estate Services
Dogs Fly Design
Ojai Food Taxi
Watercolors by Patty Van Dyke
Erik Wilde, Coldwell Banker
Ojai Quarterly
West Winds Landscape
Axxess Ventura BeCalm of Ojai Bliss Frozen Yogurt California Solar Electric Chamber on the Mountain
Sol Haus Design
By Patricia Clark Doerner
Supervisor Tom Clark’s Long List of Achievements Included Ventura County Fairground’s Chariot Race Championships
Thomas Scribner Clark was born October 18, 1865 to Michael Hugh and Margaret Lynch Clark in Lafayette, Wisconsin, the first state west of the Alleghenies to be settled by immigrants. He, his mother and six siblings arrived in the Ojai Valley in 1881 after being sent for by their father, Michael Hugh.
Michael had commuted back and forth from Wisconsin to the Ojai since 1868, the year his brother, Old Tom Clark, settled in the Upper Ojai. On his arrival, “red-haired Tommy” convinced the local stage line that he, at 16 years of age, was capable of driving stage for the handsome sum of $30 per month. Before long, he was considered the only driver capable of delivering passengers to Ventura during the valley’s periodic torrential rain storms. He risked his life not once but many times. Like Kit Carson and the Pony Express, Tom got through. The mail must go through at any cost. Tom battled through the rains and old-time stick roads, forded or swam flooded, roaring creeks; he raced and smothered through forest fires. Like Kit Carson and the Pony Express, Tom got through with the mail. “When other routes failed and the beach road was the fastest, Tom took that route and breasted the treacherous ocean tides. Often soaking wet for hours, he must continue his ride from Ventura to Santa Barbara and back to the Ojai, a hard journey and one apt to give him death from exposure.” (undated article) Eighteen-ninety-four was a big year for Tom. Not only did he and brother Will open the Clark Brothers Stage Line (at the present location of Village Drug Store), charging $1 for trips between Nordhoff and Ventura with the additional charge of 50 cents for one trunk and $1 for each additional trunk. It was also the year that he married Miss Ella Backman. He built their home directly behind the Clark Brothers Stage Line at what is now the rock enclosed parking lot behind Ojai Rexall. May 1903 was the month and year that Tom and his Nordhoff Livery initiated a stage line between the Ojai Valley and Santa Barbara with a six-horse team and six-hour round trips twice/week. His many tales of bravery were listed in the local papers and served to build his reputation as a brave man in times of need and a responsible business man. It was a proud moment when he, the son of Irish famine immigrants, was asked to serve as a founding member of the Committee
of Fifteen, “pledged to enforce the law, preserve order and promote good citizenship” in the valley. On Nov. 8, 1904, Tom was elected to serve as Ventura County Supervisor for the 3rd District. He fought continually for good roads between the Ojai Valley and Ventura and through the Maricopa Road to Bakersfield. His obituary stated: “Tom has a passion for good roads — he knew all the bad spots. After he was elected Supervisor and put in charge of Roads and Bridges, he acquired road equipment piece by piece (none had been owned by the county before). Tom’s great goal: a dry road from Ventura to Ojai. In 1915, he was instrumental in putting over the $1 million bond issue which eventuated in the fine highway from Ventura to Ojai and the paving of Main Street (Ventura). According to A.F. Knudson, Engineer, “The Maricopa tricounty road project would never have been completed had he wavered ... it was the great work of his lifetime.” He was also responsible for Foothill Road, Wiggley (Gorham) Road, Rincon Road, the Ventura River Bridge, and the State Highway. At one time, the Santa Ana Road was washed out by a flood. The original estimate for rebuilding ran to $80,000. Mr. Clark was positive that $20,000 was sufficient to do the work. So certain was he that he told the other county board members that if a bid that low was not forthcoming he would pay out of his own pocket the cost of advertising for bids. The bid that took the job was $19,992.50 (The Ojai, Aug. 9, 1940). He improved all roads in the valley and built the new roads over the grade and along the creek. He was the prime inspiration for the building of the Maricopa Road and the reconstruction of Casitas Pass. During the Depression, Tom bought a rock crusher with WPA dollars and leveled a rock wall 5’ high and 8” wide — solid rock — and hired men to build Gorham Road and the road by the Pizza Hut (now Boccali’s). Articles proliferate concerning his generosity during Depression years: “Did you know that a few years ago, before there was any Federal relief, when everything went smash
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Tom Mix has lost out as an idol in these parts. It is because he backed down in his alleged agreement to race Tom Clark yesterday afternoon. Instead, he used Clark’s chariot and won in a race with Bob Anderson.
and Surveyor Petit, made a flying trip here and took Tom into custody, in spite of his protests.” By 1936, Tom and fellow County Supervisor Adolfo Camarillo had formed a close friendship; in October of 1936, they are pictured riding the famous pure-bred Camarillo white horses leading the parade “Marking the Bay Bridge Opening.” (October 29, 1936) But whatever Tom Clark’s accomplishments in the political field, none can match his accomplishments in the arena at the Ventura Fair Ground. As a member of the Ventura County Fair Board, Tom suggested that Chariot Races be introduced as an attraction after said races were abandoned by the Rose Bowl as too dangerous. Tom, himself, was happy to drive year after year, breaking the world record for four-abreast chariot racing in 1926, an event notable enough to be mentioned in the Boston Globe, or, as reported by The Ojai, “the garl- darndest, airsplittingest, blood-curdlingest chariot races ever staged on the Pacific Coast.” After the death in 1918 of Joe Donlon, his most formidable opponent, no one seemed able to beat the “mighty dynamo” from Ojai. Bob Anderson, the Flying A hands from Santa Barbara, Happy Jack Hawn, Gene Kennedy, Lieutenant Rockwell, and Captain Joe Rogers regularly went down to defeat. Roy Rogers he beat by three lengths. Tom Mix refused to race unless he were given some assurance of winning; he had his fans to consider. Tom Conrad gives us his grandfather’s answer to that one: “I’ve got my own fans to consider, too — all those kids out there.” The story continues that Mix did return to race another day, the agreement being that he and Clark switch teams. They did. Clark won. How did he do it? In the first place, he used either wild horses or horses not broken to harness. Secondly, he just knew how to drive, as one old racetrack man put it. Whatever, it was spectacle at its best. Tom’s niece, Clare Clark, remembered climbing up on the
whitewashed rail enclosing the half-mile track to wait — and wait for the race to begin (the task of harnessing four wild horses to a chariot, Roman or otherwise, is neither simple nor quickly done — then, the thrill — the rush of wind — the very earth moving underfoot as the “modern Romans” thunder past. It was literally a thrill per second; in 1915, the first year of the race, the winning time was 58 seconds. By 1920, “the sorrel-topped Roman of the Ojai” was wearing a Roman toga and “issuing challenges to Bill Hart, Tom Mix or someone in Mix’s class.” The Ojai announced that Cecil B. De Mille and Tom Mix were both answering the challenge and in 1921 Mix did arrive to compete in the chariot races. “”TOM MIX WOULD NOT RACE WITH TOM CLARK, WINS FROM BOB ANDERSON INSTEAD.” Tom Mix has lost out as an idol in these parts. It is because he backed down in his alleged agreement to race Tom Clark yesterday afternoon. Instead he used Clark’s chariot and won in a race with Bob Anderson. Cliff Burrell managed to give Clark a run for his money in 1926, winning the first race of the fair (Clark “got off to a bad start” reported the ever-loyal The Ojai). Clark then returned the favor, beating Burrell in in the final race of the fair with a time of 52 seconds. In doing so, he set a new world record for four abreast chariot racing. Why did he do it? The Ventura Free Press, as quoted in The Ojai (Oct. 1, 1928) gave one answer: “Tom Clark’s performance was given to the thousands of visitors not for any particular gain for himself, but entirely because of his interest and devotion to good clean sport and to the fair. He won the small purse offered for this race but he will be out far more than this in the expenses of the feature. He contributed to the enjoyment of thousands and his ‘act’ proved one of the great features of the fair.” The Ojai, reporting on the “Educational Exhibit” of the Fair (Oct. 12, 1923) had an answer closer to the heart: “In this department was a reminder of childish hero-worship that should cause Supervisor Clark’s heart to flutter just a trifle. Cut from white paper is a horse, a chariot, and the figure of a man, and in white letters the name, ‘Tom Clark,’ the whole mounted on a black background. It tells of admiration for the veteran charioteer of many triumphs, even if it does not thrill like the race and the man so well remembered by the child artist.” The “veteran charioteer” drove his last chariot race in 1930; he was 65 years of age, winner and still champion. Editor Kilbourne of The Ojai wrote of Tom on his death Aug. 4, 1940, “He was that dearly prized and rare man, a public official whose honesty never was questioned; he served without thought of personal gain or advancement.”
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www.pacifica-institute.com
BOARD CERTIFIED PLASTIC SURGEON
DR. DANIEL G. KOLDER
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2460 PONDEROSA DRIVE NORTH SUITE A-117, CAMARILLO, CA 93010
OJAI HEALTH & FITNESS 128
Healers of Ojai
Creative Ways for Troubled Times
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Retreats of Ojai
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Ask Dr. Beth
Silent Inflammation and What to Do About It
Hiking
Ojai’s Top Seven Paths to Self-Discovery
Dam Nations
Patagonia Teams Up For Dam-Busting Project
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Calendar of Events
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Photo by Bennett Barthelemy
Bellwood Chronicles
To Daughter, Europe-Bound
HEALING ARTS CREATIVE WAYS TO GET THROUGH TROUBLED TIMES
By Karen Banfield
Life can be overwhelming. You’re just walking along, doing the best you can and then BAM, out of nowhere, you’re brought to your knees. Here are a few suggestions to help you along. WRITE: Imagine your problem as part of a story. Create an alternative environment and a character of your choice. Now let your imagination go to work. How did your character get in such a mess? Where did it come from? What was the root? Don’t be afraid to linger in the problem. Sit with the misery for awhile, then when you’re ready, get your character out of there. Maybe you can’t figure it out in real life, but in the realm of imagination, anything is possible. So use your superpowers, summon lightning bolts or the spirit of a dead uncle. Become a warrior. Do whatever it takes to move your character out of victimhood and back into power. SING: A soul song is a personal melody you sing when the world gets overwhelming, your energy begins to dissipate, or you’ve lost your center. It’s a song to remind you of your essence, strength and intentions. It can be
anything: a lullaby, something snappy, happy, even a Christmas carol. Find a melody that’s catchy and will stay with you, then write your own lyrics. Use words that will comfort, sooth and empower you. Sing it over and over until you feel restored. A former slave was asked in a television interview how workers in the fields were able to sing when they were beaten, starved and often raped. She replied, “The air was the only space we could own, so we filled it with our voices.” The space around you is your real estate. Own it. Sing into it; fill it with your voice. ACT: Most of us have heard about pounding a pillow when we feel angry, but what about other situations? Bringing problems into physical reality in a symbolic way can bring awareness, insights and change. Do you feel like you’re carrying too big a load in your life? Try carrying beach stones in your backpack for a mile. Notice your thoughts. Do you feel proud that you’re so capable and strong, then moments later resent your lack of freedom? What experiences in your life
LAURIE EDGCOMB
KAREN BANFIELD
Lic. Acupuncturist since 1986, voted best in Ojai! Natural medicine including Microcurrent, nutritional and herbal consultation, Facial Rejuvenation. Call for a consultation: 805-798-4148 Laurieedgcomb.com
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do you need to put down? Does it feel like all you do is run around all day? Try running around the dining room table for awhile. Realize how it feels to be moving in circles, out of breath and getting nowhere. Let yourself weep about it. You’re doing it anyway; this is just adding deeper awareness. If you feel trapped in a situation you can’t get out of, pick up a kitchen knife and imagine cutting the ties that bind. Cut in the front, on the sides and in back of you. It sounds silly, but it works. Your body needs to go through physical motions for your mind to truly understand. And always remember that there’s a wise place in you that does not die, a place that is eternal and divine. This place holds all that you need and is always available. Calm yourself, send your energy into the earth, imagine a light surrounding you from above, breathe into your core and own your power. Quiet. Listen — and the wise part of you will speak. And don’t worry, because the only thing real about your situation is that it will change.
Emotional Healing, Intuitive Readings and Creative Empowerment Visit: karenbanfield.me/ Banfield11@gmail.com 805-804-7024
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ONE LIGHT OF LOVE
Talk to your Spirit Guides. Accurate, detailed readings. Psychic Medium - 40 years experience. Ordained Minister, A Course in Miracles. Officiates Ceremonies. Rev. Kate Hawkins. hawkins776@gmail.com. 805-280-2560 - onelightoflove.com
NUTMEG’S OJAI HOUSE
Functional Art for Heart & Home - American Made Fair Trade - Psychic Tarot and Astrology Readers, Energy and Crystal Healings daily by appt. Walk-ins welcomed: 805-6401656. Open daily 11 am-6 pm 304 North Montgomery Street ojaihouse.com
OJAI MASSAGE
Helping Your Body Feel Like Home. Massage and bodywork to bring you back to center. Deep, intuitive, structural, Reiki, cranio, flow and reflexology. 805-7981289 or massageojai.com.
TO ADVERTISE HERE please call or email Laura Rearwin Ward at: laura@ojaiquarterly.com or 805-479-5400
Nathan Kaehler (Best of Ojai 2014). Licensed Acupuncturist, MA Psychology. Gentle acupuncture, 14 years experience Personalized herb preparations Large onsite herb dispensary (805) 640-8700
ojaiherbs.com
HEALING WITH ALISON EAKIN
Healing sessions for the mind, body and spirit. Guided breath work meditation opens the flow of energy from the universe. Get help with insomnia, anxiety, depression, trauma, anorexia, and addiction. 970-208-7733 HealingWithAlison.com
ALAN CHANG, L.Ac
2nd generation Acupuncturist who brings 13 years of Meditation, Tai Chi and Kyudo Zen Archery experience to his healing practice of Functional Medicine and TCM. AmaraOjai.com 805-486-3494
NAN TOLBERT NURTURING CENTER
DR. LISA LOVE
ALARRA SARESS
Pre-birth to 3; pre/post-natal well-being; infant/toddler development; parent education/ support. birthresource.org info@birthresource.org Phone 805-646-7559
Counseling others for decades with clients all over the world. Specializing in love, relationships, self care and spiritual growth. Author of five books including the best-seller “Beyond the Secret.” 805-233-4291 DrLisaLove.com
LAUREL FELICE, LMT
LESLIE BOUCHÉ, C.HT.
JULIE TUMAMAITSTENSLIE
Offers Swedish, deep tissue, reflexology, reiki, cranialsacral and pre and post natal massage with a reverent and joyous balance of hands and heart. laurelfelice54@gmail.com 805-886-3674
JACALYN BOOTH
Certified Colon Hydrotherapist Ojai Digestive Health With more than 30 years of experience in healing modalities, Jacalyn brings a deep level of caring to the art of colon hydrotherapy. Professional, nurturing, experienced. 805-901-3000 www.ojaidigestivehealth.com
CRYSTAL LIGHT HEALING Rev Deb Court 7 Chakra Crystal/ Color Light Therapy. Endocrine and Immune System. Relax, relieve pain and stress. Heighten awareness/ Deepen Connection Developed By John of God www.crystalclearmiracles.com 805-669-5643
NATHAN KAEHLER, MA, LAC
Cert. Hypnotherapist Find your calm center. Release negative thinking, emotional reactivity, anxiety, fear and unhelpful behaviors. Improve sleep and comfort. Safe, loving, rapid change. It’s time to feel better! 805-796-1616 leslie.bouche@roadrunner.com lesliebouche.com
MICHAEL D. FREDERICK
Master Teacher, Alexander Technique - Feldenkrais Method. State-of-the art in stress management. “Life Just Got Easier.” More than 40 years of international teaching experience. Free 20-minute consultations. 310-880-7700 michaeldfrederick.com
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Gong Meditation and Acutonics Sound Alchemist. Master Bodyworker. Founder of Harmonic Earth — sacred space for healing arts and performance. Call or text. HarmonicEarth.org 107 W. Aliso St., Ojai 720.530.3415
Chumash Elder Consultant • Storyteller • Spiritual Advisor • Workshops Weddings and Ceremonies 805-646-6214 jtumamait@sbcglobal.net
SENSE OF TOUCH
Therapeutic Massage with Suzanne St. Claire. Specializing in massage retreat support for yogis, bachelorette parties, corporate and family celebrations. Available as an individual therapist, tandem, or team. SuzanneStClaire@therapist.net 562-708-2111
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Krotona
Institute of Theosophy An international center dedicated to understanding, harmony, and peace among all peoples, comparative studies in religion, philosophy and science, altruism and the ideals of a spiritual life.
We carry artisanal goods, organic herbs & wellness products for ultimate health during the holiday season! 805-798-9266 201 North Ventura Street (enter at Matilija Street, downtown Ojai)
Library and Research Center Quest Bookshop School of Theosophy
2 Krotona Hill, Ojai 805 646-2653 www.krotonainstitute.org
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RETREAT PAGE
MEDITATION MOUNT
10340 Reeves Road, Ojai • (805) 646-5508 meditationmount.org Open Wednesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to Sunset A center for sacred events and ceremonies. View our community calendar online for programs and full moon meditations. Meditation Mount and our community gardens are entirely supported by your donations. PEPPER TREE RETREAT
Perched atop a hill in the center of the Ojai Valley, Ojai Retreat offers stunning scenery, tranquil surroundings and welcoming staff.
OJAI RETREAT
160 Besant Road, Ojai • (805) 646-2536 ojairetreat.com The Ojai Retreat has 12 cozy guestrooms, most with stunning views. This 5-acre hilltop retreat center welcomes individuals, couples, and groups from all walks of life. It can also be rented for weddings, corporate retreats and film shoots. Priced between $90 and $250, many guestrooms have private patios and all have free wireless internet, a refrigerator and a microwave. A delicious European-style breakfast buffet with many organic choices is included. Yoga classes and massages are available on request. The first floor of the Main House offers a spacious and bright Great Room with picture windows and a library, while guests can enjoy reading, writing and meditation in the Reading Room on the second floor. Guests can find serenity among The Ojai Retreat’s walking trails, towering trees, waterfall garden, and 2 outdoor patios with panoramic views. It also offers cultural events for its guests and the community, and received the Chamber of Commerce’s ‘Spirit of the Ojai Valley’ Award in 2016. A past guest called The Ojai Retreat “one of the most beautiful places in the world,” while a visitor from Europe said “I would come back to California just to stay at The Ojai Retreat again.” The Los Angeles Times placed The Ojai Retreat at the top of its list of places to stay in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, and The Ojai Retreat is the only place in the Ojai Valley with a 5-star rating on TripAdvisor.
1130 McAndrew Road, Ojai • (877) 355-5986 peppertreeretreat.com Pepper Tree Retreat offers a quiet setting for those who want to leave behind the noise of the world. The only sounds are the chirping of crickets, the hooting of an owl, and the wind rustling through the trees. Nestled in the foothills of Ojai’s east end, all rooms have a private bath, writing desk, wireless internet, and air conditioning. A vegetarian breakfast buffet is offered each morning and the nearby Krishnamurti library offers inspiration, reflection, and insight. PEACEFUL SELF RETREAT
PeacefulSelfRetreats.com • (805) 233-4291 Retreat with Dr. Lisa Love and receive: 1) A retreat manual of transformative experiences created especially for you; 2) Assistance in helping you find the right place to retreat (work with me, live in Ojai, or virtually by way of phone or internet in a location near you); 3) Counseling sessions and spiritual guidance! 4) Audio and video meditations during your retreat and to use again for as long as you want when it is over. See Testimonials on the website!
Your FriendlY neighborhood gYm
• Full Service Workout Facility
Buddhas to Birthday Cards
OJAI HOUSE m
a
and a Huge Selection of Crystals
est. 2000 ...
um
Bumperstickers to Beeswax
ys tical empori
INTUITIVE READERS DAILY Tarot Readers Spiritual Counselors Astrologers
• Large variety of free weights & machines • Cardio equipment • Fully equipped Pilate’s studio • Personal Training • Over 50 weekly fitness classes • Yoga & Qigong • Great club atmosphere • Helpful and friendly staff
Chair Massage & Energy Healing
OPEN DAILY 11-6
304 N. Montgomery Street, Ojai, CA
2 blocks north of Ojai Avenue & A World Apart!
805.640.1656 • OjaiHouse.com •
• Spa Services
nutmegs_ojai_
• Massage • Microdermabrasion skin treatment • Watsu (water massage)
Pepper Tree Retreat
• Steam room • One to three day health retreats
& Krishnamurti Educational Center
• Convenient Hours • Discount Rates Available
Call us for a tour 805 . 646 . 2233 The Pepper Tree Retreat & Krishnamurti Educational Center offer a beautiful, serene setting for weekend workshops, study intensives & personal retreats. See our events calendar at kfa.org/events-calendar for more information.
406 Bryant Circle Ste. “Q” Ojai, CA 93023
peppertreeretreat.org | 805.646.4773 | 1130 McAndrew, Ojai 132
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FULL SERVICE PHARMACY
Specialty and Long Term Care Pharmacy
Delivery Service Available • Competitive Prices Most Vaccinations Available
Including Shingles, Flu, Prevnar 13, Gardasil and Travel Vaccines
Travel Vaccines and Consultations Now Offered Durable Medical equipment on site
Compounding Available
Testing Available
Creating medicines right for you including Bio-identical Hormones
Visit our new location in Ventura 3350 Loma Vista Road
805-765-6046
•Flu & Strep • A1C • Blood Sugar • Blood Pressure
rn Buat! F
Make an appointment with our coaching clinic at our Ventura County Pharmacy location
Amani Hishmeh, Pharmacist
960 E. Ojai Avenue
805.646.0106
M - F 10 - 6 pm | Sat. 10 - 1 pm Visit your App Store, search “Pharmacy Health Connect” to download our App.
Open to Love Dolphin Retreats Free your heart, Swim with Wild Dolphins, Receive the Love.
Healing with Alison
Alison McKelvie Eakin
Join me for one of my magical retreats where we will. . .
• • • •
Swim with wild dolphins, Gather together in community for healing, Replenish our bodies with nourishing healthy foods, Ground into the sacred land
• Empowered Woman Program • Reiki & Breathwork Sessions
Tto find out dates for my next retreat please text or call 970-208-7733
www.healingwithalison.com
www.opentoloveretreat.com Healingwithalison
@Healingwithalison
• Woman's Circles • Sound Healing Events
Healingwithalison
@Healingwithalison
Alison Mckelvie Eakin 206 N Signal St Suite M, Ojai, CA 93023 Text for appointment: 970-208-7733
www.Healingwithalison.com
Warmest
Holiday Wishes Assisted Living & speciAL needs 701 N. Montgomery Ojai, CA 93023 805.646.1446 GablesofOjai.com Lic.#
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Ojai’s Premier Senior Community for over 60 years, voted Best of Ojai Valley by OVN for 6 consecutive years!
565800551
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ASK DR. BETH
ATION R E P O “Silent Inflammation,” what is it and why should we avoid it? How do we know if we have it? How can we prevent or reverse it? Silent inflammation is chronic subclinical inflammation that can smolder along undetected for years. A person may be completely unaware they have silent inflammation until their doctor tells them they have fatty liver, diabetes, prediabetes, or heart disease. Implicated in cancer, depression, Alzheimer’s, and autoimmune disorders silent inflammation is systemic, affecting any organ system in the body including the fat tissues, the liver, the central nervous system, the blood vessels, and the gut. Scientists are still working out all the factors involved, but the “Western Diet” and obesity are believed to play a major role. Adipose (fat) tissues become inflamed (infiltrated with immune cells). These inflamed fat cells no longer function properly and become toxic. Inflammatory cytokines are released and insulin signaling is impaired. Toxic fat cells spread to other organs (muscle, liver, and pancreas) and metabolic syndrome develops. Unchecked, progresses to type 2 diabetes within 8 to 10 years. There are many other pathways and hormone signals potentially involved. Our modern diet has tipped the balance in favor of inflammation. For this reason, it is imperative we “stoke” the anti-inflammatory pathways with our daily food choices to bring us back to, and maintain, our health. In The Journal of Nutrition 2009, researchers published a dietary Inflammatory Index. Scientists anaylzyed relevant journal articles from 1950 to 2007. Foods and components received a score ranging from -1 pro-inflammatory, to +1 anti-inflammatory. Foods deemed neutral with regard to inflammation received a 0 score. Researchers validated the index by
Inflammatio w o L n
showing that it predicts changes in highsensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). A simple blood test your doctor can order this test at your next check up, hs-CRP is a red flag, indicating diet and lifestyle needs attention. You may need a cardiovascular risk assessment too because hs-CRP is highly correlated with risk for heart disease. (The leading cause of death in the U.S.) But no need to wait for a blood test. A glance (honest look) at our diets tells us what we need to know. The most potent dietary triggers of inflammation are sugar, fats, and cholesterol. All oils and fats promote inflammation, including monounsaturated fats found in olive oil. However, the most inflammatory fats are trans, saturated (animal), and omega-6 polyunsaturated. The two main omega 6-fatty acids in the American diet are linoleic, (constituting 50 percent to 75 percent of vegetable and seed oils such as corn, soy, sunflower and safflower), and arachidonic, (found primarily in eggs, chicken, and other meats). Both linoleic and arachidonic acid feed directly into the pro-inflammatory eicosanoid pathway in the body (the same pathway we try to block with NSAIDs such as ibuprofen when we have acute injury and pain.) According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), published by the National Institutes of Health, the top ten sources of saturated fat in the American diet are: cheese, pizza, desserts, dairy desserts, chicken, sausage, hot dogs, bacon, ribs, burgers, Mexican dishes, beef, and milk. The top sources of omega 6-fatty acids are: chicken, desserts, salad dressing, potato and corn chips, nuts seeds and pizza. Americans are getting added sugars mostly from: sodas/energy/ sport drinks, desserts, fruit drinks, (ice cream), candy, breakfast cereal, table sugar, sweetened tea and syrups. Eliminating these foods would be the OQ / WINTER 2017-2018
DR. BETH PRINZ The Food Doctor M.D. – Dr. Beth Prinz is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and passionate about preventing disease through healthy living and a whole-food plant-based dietary approach to health.
first and most important step toward reducing chronic inflammation. All the top anti-inflammatory ingredients are plants or plant-derived, with the exception of omega-3 fatty acids, which are mostly found in fish. Magnesium is the most anti-inflammatory substance listed, (0.905 out of 1.0). This is not surprising, given that magnesium sits in the center of the chlorophyll molecule in plants, therefore green leafy vegetables are a major source of magnesium. Turmeric, beta-carotene, fiber, vitamin A, tea, and red wine also topped the list. All plant antioxidants, flavonoids, and polyphenols reduce inflammation. Pre- and probiotics (fiber) reduce inflammation by promoting gut barrier function, preventing inflammatory antigens from entering the circulation. In summary, a low-inflammation diet is abundant in whole fruits, vegetables, whole grains, oily fish, tea, legumes, and spices such as garlic, ginger, turmeric, and herbs. It is low in sugar, cholesterol, chicken, eggs, meat, and fat (particularly animal fat.) Time and again, I have observed patients make the change to a low inflammation diet with impressive results. Joint pains and body aches disappear, inflammatory markers normalize, and the patient feels better than they have in years. In Ojai, our options for low inflammation eating are all around us. Try Rainbow Bridge, Farmer’s Market, Nest, Food Harmonics, Farmer and the Cook, Westridge Market, Noso Vita, and Azu for great plant-based options. 135
Walk-ins welcome!
Give the Gift of Serenity with Gift Certificates for the Holidays!
Reflexology Massage
Full body, foot or chair massage 60 minutes - $35
Oriental Oil Body Massage 60 minutes - $48
Hot Stone Therapy
Ojai Avenue
Open daily from 10 am to 10 pm (except Tuesday open 11 am to 8 pm) 1002 East Ojai Avenue, Suite B, Ojai • (805) 299-5899 • www.BambooCreekSpa.com Our Arcade location • AA Relaxing Station • 323 E. Matilija Street, #112
“The best auto shop I’ve ever worked with in my 30
years of
car ownership... % ... I trust them 100 ” - Kenley N., Ojai
Ojai Valley impOrts 996 E Ojai Ave Ojai 805-646-6106 • Fax 805-646-6434 ovimports@sbcglobal.net
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Shady Lane
Grand Avenue Park Road
AA Relaxing Station
Montgomery
Signal Street
60 minutes - $68
Bamboo Creek Spa
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OJAI HIKES
7 WAYS TO GET LOST By Bret Bradigan
Photo by Caitlin Petersen
1. SHELF ROAD Directions: From Ojai Avenue, head north on Signal Street until it ends. Length: 3.5 miles return trip. Difficulty: Easy. It takes about an hour at a brisk pace to walk the length of the trail and back between the trailheads at either North Signal Street or Gridley Road. This hike is perfect for visitors or residents to get “ the lay of the land” in Ojai. It is also one of the most “dog friendly” walks around.
2. VENTURA RIVER BOTTOM TRAILS Directions: From Highway 150, there’s a trailhead just east of the Ventura River bridge. From South Rice Road, there’s a trailhead just north of the intersection with Lomita Road. Also from South Rice, take a right on Meyer Road to the Oso Trailhead. Length: Varies. Difficulty: Easy to Moderate. Three trailheads lead you into the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy’s 1,600-acre Ventura River Preserve. This three-mile stretch of the Ventura River offers a spectacular glimpse into old-growth oak canopy, splendid vistas from rocky ridgelines, deep swimming holes, lush fern grottoes, rare wildflowers and many miles of trails to choose from.
Directions: From Ojai Avenue, turn north on Signal Street and drive about 1.2 miles until you see the Forest Service sign on the left. The trailhead is a further half-mile. Length: 4.4 miles to Nordhoff Ridge. Difficulty: Moderate to Strenuous. The Pratt Trail criss-crosses a seasonal stream through the backyards of private properties before opening onto a natural bowl formed by the slope of Nordhoff Ridge. Follow the signs through about two miles of dry and dusty switchbacks until you reach the ridgeline. From there, it’s another two steep, dusty miles to Nordhoff Peak, 4,426 feet above sea level.
Directions: From Ojai Avenue, turn on the Gridley Road.
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6. COZY DELL TRAIL Directions: Head east on the Maricopa Highway (Highway 33) for 3.3 miles. The turnout is on the left, just before and across from Friend’s Ranch packing house.. Cross the street to the trailhead. Length: 1.9 miles to Cozy Dell Creek. Difficulty: Moderate. The trail begins along a seasonal creek and quickly climbs about 640 feet in elevation along a well-forested and wild-flowered canyon to a ridgeline knoll with spectacular views of the Ojai Valley.
7. MIDDLE FORK OF MATILIJA CANYON
3. PRATT TRAIL
4. GRIDLEY TRAIL
Follow it to the gated end, about two miles. Length: 3 miles to the Gridley Springs, 6 miles to Nordhoff Peak. Difficulty: Moderate to strenuous. Elevation gain: 1,200 feet to the springs. This trail, at the north end of Gridley Road just to the left before the gates to Hermitage Ranch, begins with a steep climb, then follows an orchard road through avocado trees before making a northeastward turn along the rocky western flank of the mountainside. The trail winds along the steep flank of the mountain until it enters the cool, dense side canyon wherein lies Gridley Springs.
Directions: Head east on Highway 33 for about 4.7 miles to Matilija Canyon Road. Follow the road to the end — about another two miles. Length: Up to 7 miles (14 miles return). Difficulty: Moderate. Follow the trailhead at the end of Matilija Canyon Road through the gated property to the west side of the creek. The trail, more of a one-track road at this point, heads towards the gates of Blue Heron Ranch, a historic farm with orange and lemon groves. The trail then clambers through thickening chaparral scrub for another 1.5 miles until you can see tilted slabs of weathered granite and a long, green pool to the right. The trail descends back into the creekside sycamore and willow forest through a series of campsites, swimming holes and geologic marvels. The shifting and often-concealed trail eventually leads you to the fabled Three Falls of the Matilija.
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a beautiful and sacred space for weddings and other special times
meditation mount meditationmount.org • 10340 reeves rd • ojai 805 • 646 • 5508
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The once-calmed mind is vast. - Alan Watts
Let us help you undo the clutter.
Ojai Self StOrage www.ojaiselfstorage.com Authorized Dealer U-Haul 805-646-5334 404 Bryant Circle Ojai Self Storage 805-646-8742
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Ojai Valley Trail riding COmpany RIDES & LESSONS Privates & Groups Horse Boarding
0jaiValleyTrailRidingCompany.com 805-890-9340 Photo by Amanda Peacock
Follow us on Instagram!
Ojai’s locally owned and operated magazines. By nationally award-winning writers and photographers.
Explore Ojai Valley’s History, Art and Culture 130 West Ojai Avenue (805) 640-1390 www.OjaiValleyMuseum.org
Ojai Quarterly & Ojai Monthly @ theojai.net
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Creating award-winning, environmentally friendly landscapes to fuel the soul.
Call now to schedule a Free consultation.
513 Pleasant Ave. Ojai
HaneyLandscape.com
HANEY LANDSCAPING, POOLS & SPAS since 1989
phone 805-640-8607 mobile 805-746-2307
Lic. 551409
HOLISTIC, REGENERATIVE GARDENS Organically improving soil water holding capacity and vitality through water catchment systems, applications of active compost, soil injections and foliar spraying compost teas & extracts and mulching
Native and Mediterranean garden specialists
805-640-1827 • www.greengoddessojai.com 144
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Finding The Lucky Path from Matilija Dam to the Blue Heart of Europe
Photo: Jan Pirnat
Story by Bennett Barthelemy
Rok Rozman, leader of the Balkan Rivers Tour, stands in front of the first dam on the river that defines the Balkan Peninsula, Sava River, his home river. Determined that there will be no new ones he, together with fellow kayakers and fishermen, paddled down the river and organized a protest afterwards.
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the natural services a river provides. This obviously includes fisheries, but degraded water quality and the loss of natural flood regimes also impact communities.” Paul also shared that in terms of life spans, a dam lasts about 50 years. At 70 the Matilija dam long ago passed its prime, in fact it became obsolete not even 20 years after construction because they lowered it some 65 feet in 1965 due to structural concerns. The original contractor had cut some big corners to save money and trucked in closer but poorer quality materials to make the concrete. Ponying up the money ($50 million to de-commission, contrasted with just $1$ million to build) and shoring up downstream of the dam will take a bit of time. But there is hope now that within a few years the dam will be a memory, spawning steelhead in abundance and opportunities for trails that can be managed by the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy — and even local opps for some good whitewater kayaking.
Matilija Dam. Photo: Bennett Barthelemy
This continual flow of data and experience spins inexorably inward. If we are lucky, at a certain point of intensity this spinning kicks out the superfluous. Our internal Coriolis effect of ideas and intention eventually hits a nadir. Or maybe it is an apex, or an equator perhaps – and flips. It slowly oscillates the other way and begins colliding, collecting ideas and associations, linking passions with strangers that may be similarly aligned. Awareness expands with the collected synergy, these refreshed landscapes vivify with color, contrast and clarity and the senses renewed. These seeds of wonder finding fertile soil sewn, rooted, sprouted and fruits shared. We are all waves upon this flowing river reaching the vast sea, this collective economy of the ideal sustaining and nurturing. If we are unlucky we swim headfirst into a concrete wall. We stagnate, we ossify and much of what is around us becomes compromised. When the flow slows we suffer, when it stops we die. If we were to pick a physical object that we can all relate to, that exemplifies the unlucky path, some would choose a bottle – or if we got radical maybe a church or the White House. I will choose a dam. It is difficult to envision a better way to clog an artery and slowly choke life across the riverine landscape than this shunt of ground up stone, with the dendritic byways that can feed and nourish far from the heart and brain, diverted or cut off. The profusion and promise, the energy and the hope that sustains this collective heartbeat, this unique watershed, sacrificed. Orbits are an interesting concept when applied to human interaction. We may fly by making eye contact in the space of seconds, or we might collide throwing each other upon the stifling shore of regret for a while before the floods of renewal find us. Or maybe we harmonically converge our trajectories and share space for a while… Rivers can be a catalyst for these interactions as well as exemplify them. Rivers are ideas flowing ambivalently over artificial borders, lines drawn in sand or stone and forest. They can jump orbits, finding new paths but keep their focus on finding the sea, flowing with gravity and engaging and enriching its surroundings with abundance. In my life, I may have been responsible for the dams that found me, but when I am on a river, sharing orbits and the lifeaffirming flow, I feel alive again and in solidarity – enjoying the ride to the collective sea. Continuing this cycle, keeping it healthy. This Spring, a metaphorical dam was suddenly removed for me…. I stood on a landing of suspect concrete in close proximity to the now iconic painted scissors with the dotted line, with a crew of journalists from around the US and a few folks from the clothing company Patagonia. We had been invited here by Patagonia to hear Paul Jenkin speak about flow. Patagonia, along with Paul are part of the community engaged to remove the Matilija dam here in the backyard. Paul has dedicated a good chunk of his life to see that this watershed regain the flow and health it once had. His path as surfer and head of the local Surfrider Foundation meant he witnessed firsthand the effects of healthy undammed rivers and unhealthy dammed rivers at their mouths where they met the sea. As engineer he had the academic training to see how faulty and limited the structures can be and how they can adversely effect many things. Paul shared with us that, “In blocking sediment transport, dams wreak havoc on the riverine ecosystem, and compromise
Now, re-awakened to the plight of rivers and what is at stake for being lost, I find myself heading for Middle Europe hoping to gain a bit of clarity. NGOs and locals are taking on developers and even the local governments, as 2,700 new hydropower projects are planned, some already under way… The Blue Heart of Europe in the Balkans, named for its many still very pristine and undammed rivers and tributaries. New species are being found currently in this region that was challenged first by war in the ‘90s and then by extreme poverty and neglected by the outside world to a large degree. With Western capital driving power projects there is a storm building as local grassroots activists engage to challenge what is seen as shortsighted and less than sustainable means to drive economy. For a bit of guidance I emailed my aunt, Wini Kessler, PhD. She has spent her adult life as a professional ecologist. I often lean on her for insights that she has gleaned in her decades of work across the U.S. and Canada with the Forest Service, the First Nations people in Canada, and spending time on a team advising the Obama administration to help steer ecological decisions. She has also spent a lot of time inside these landscapes interacting with the natural world directly, not just in an office. “Attempts to dam and control rivers will produce significant impacts. So, they had better do a darn good assessment of those impacts as well as an accurate assessment of the benefits they hope to realize. Have they done a credible assessment of both the costs/
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impacts of the projects — including social and cultural as well as environmental? And, have they done an accurate and defensible analysis of the benefits, economic and otherwise? And to whom do those benefits flow?” To this end I emailed TOKA- an organization dedicated to conserving the Albanian Alps as I am very excited to check out not only the Valbona National Park and river corridor because of the potential for Balkan lynx, bear and wolf encounters (pretty much impossible anywhere else in Europe), but also the hiking and limestone bigwall climbing opportunities the wild region offers. I had heard that there is already blasting and tunneling going on by the hydro power company active there… They emailed back a review done by them and the World Wildlife Fund of the Environmental Impact Statement originally produced by the hydro company. The EIS submitted that it had been signed off on, allowing the construction to begin… It read, Local communities. EIAs do not provide a proper record of consultation with all relevant stakeholders, including local communities. Only a basic assessment of local employment is made (“a lot of unemployed persons will be employed”), but no figures or predictions are given beyond general statements. There is no information on potential adverse impacts on local tourism employment caused by the reduced natural status of the area. The Review concludes that EIAs are clearly sub-standard and should not have been used as the basis for approving any development, particularly in a National Park category of protected area. They fail to follow good EIA principles in the following categories of assessment… Pre blast off to the Balkans I asked Catherine Bohne who sits at the helm of TOKA how, as a river defender and with all that
entails, what gives her hope to continue. “Ha. You know, in some ways, I don’t even think it’s about hope. Whether there’s hope or NOT, you STILL have to fight this kind of hypocrisy. When you find this kind of greed, stupidity and irresponsibility, you HAVE to fight it, whether or not you think you’re going to win. Or, you could say, the victory is in the fight - to not be frightened, and to stand up for the right thing. Well, easy for me to say. Tell it to the otters, I suppose. Maybe a better answer is that, despite all evidence to the contrary, I actually do believe that people can be rational - can realize mistakes, make good decisions, and be decent guardians over what they’re lucky enough to have been given. BUT they will not do this if they are not pushed.” It is interesting to circle back, see the Matilija river and its tributaries, as well as the undammed Wild and Scenic Sespe, that sustained me as a child and now into my adulthood, the local creeks and swimming holes, the climbing routes just above them, the mountain biking and hiking on the trails above the drainages. How that still sustains me financially as a wilderness guide and as photographer - and recharges me. I don’t think that the Albanians, Serbs, Croatians, Montenegrins, Slovenians are getting much of a chance to realize a potentially sustainable future through eco-tourism. Something that could also keep the region healthy if all these projects are not all realized. Once the environment is compromised, it will take a very long time to recover… International awareness and interest is key… I look forward to writing a part two once my journey through the Balkans is complete. Learning what I can from the locals and what healthy rivers will tell me, and sharing a bit of perspective across borders.
Kayakers, locals and last big European free flowing river supporters spread 24-foot-tall letters (to show the sheer size of the gravel bar) with a message to defend this beauty at the last day of Balkan Rivers Tour 1 in 2016. This tour traveled throughout the Balkans to raise awareness about the challenges the rivers face with hydropower projects.
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS NOVEMBER “Postcards from Cambodia: The Photography and Musings of Tree Bernstein” Date: Continuing to November 30 Time: Noon to 4 p.m. Location: Ojai Art Center. 113 South Montgomery Street Contact: 640-0117 ojaiartcenter.org “Diane Best: When Ice Burns” Date: Continuing to December 4 Time: Thursday to Friday, noon to 5 p.m., Saturdays 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sundays 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., or by appointment Location: Porch Gallery 310 East Matilija Street Contact: 620-7589 porchgalleryojai.com “10 Traits — Experience the Power Within You” with Alexia Parks. Date: December 17 Time: 7 p.m. Location: The Ojai Retreat, 160 Besant Road Contact: ojairetreateducationcenter.org “Animal Crackers” Date: Continuing to December 17 Time: 7:30 p.m., Friday to Saturday, 2 p.m. 148
THROUGH JAN. 7: The art of Dennis Shives will be shown at the Ojai Valley Museum.
on Sundays Location: Ojai Art Center 113 South Montgomery Street Contact: 640-8797 ojaiartcenter.org “Uniting Heaven and Earth: Ceramics from Shangri-la” Date: Continuing to December 31 Time: Location: Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts, 8585 Ojai-Santa Paula Road Contact: 646-9951 beatricewood.org “Ojai Open Exhibit” Date: Continuing to January 2 Time: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday Location: Ojai City Hall Gallery, 401 South Ventura Street, with additional work on view at Ojai Valley Museum, 130 West Ojai Avenue Contact: 640-8751 ojaivalleymuseum.org “The Art of Dennis Shives” Date: Continuing to January 7 Time: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, Location: Ojai Valley Museum, 130 West Ojai Avenue OQ / WINTER 2017-2018
Contact: 640-1390 ojaivalleymuseum.org
DECEMBER “Nordhoff Hawaiian Holiday Benefit” Date: December 1 Time: 5 to 7:30 p.m. Location: Topa Mountain Winery, 821 West Ojai Avenue Contact: 640-4343 ext. 1861 nhsmusic.com “Paz en la Tierra Exhibit” Date: December 1 to January 4 Time: Noon to 4 p.m., Location: Ojai Art Center 113 South Montgomery Street Contact: 640-0117 ojaiartcenter.org Nordhoff Fall Dance Concert Date: December 2 Time: 5 and 7 p.m. Location: Cafe Stage, Nordhoff High School, 1401 Maricopa Highway Contact: 640-4343 ext. 1861 nhsmusic.com Ojai Community Chorus: “Stargazing” Date: December 2 to 3 Time: 7 p.m. on December 2 , 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on December 3
Location: Ojai Methodist Church , 120 Church Road Contact: 640-0468 ojaichorus.wordpress.com “All About Ojai: Bird Walk” Date: December 2 Time: 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Location: call or see website for more information Contact: 649-6852 ovlc.org
Certified Farmers Market
Chamber on the Mount: “Arianna String Quartet and Michael Levin, Pianist” Date: December 3 Time: 3 p.m. Location: Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts, 8585 Ojai-Santa Paula Road Contact: 646-9951 chamberonthemountain.org
THROUGH DEC. 4: Diane Best’s “When Ice Burns” exhibit will be on display at Porch Gallery.
Historical Walking Tours of Ojai Date: Every Saturday Time: 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Location: Departs from the Ojai Valley Museum, 130 West Ojai Avenue. Contact: 640-1390 ojaivalleymuseum.org
Nordhoff Choral Concert Date: December 5 Time: 7 p.m. Location: Ojai Presbyterian Church, 304 Foothill Road Contact: 640-4343, ext. 1861 nhsmusic.com Nordhoff Winter Instrumental Concert Date: December 7 Time: 7 p.m. Location: on the Nordhoff Quad, 1401 Maricopa Highway Contact: 640-4343, ext. 1861 nhsmusic.com
Date: Every Sunday Time: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Contact: 698-5555 Location: Matilija Street city parking lot behind the Arcade. Open air market featuring locally grown produce, as well as plants, musicians and handmade items.
Full Moon Meditations
DEC. 3: The Arianna String Quartet will join pianist Michael Levin at Chamber on the Mountain.
Dates: Dec. 2., Jan. 1, Jan. 30 and Feb. 28. Time: 7 p.m. Location: Meditation Mount, 10340 Reeves Road Contact: 646-5508 ext.103, meditationmount.org Open meditation at the Full Moon.
‘Eating Ojai’ Food Tour
Agora Foundation Seminar: “The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali” Date: December 9 Time: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Location: 417 Bryant Circle Contact: 231-5974 theagorafoundation.org
“Eating Ojai” Food Tour Date: Call to schedule Time: 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Location: Varies Contact: 295-8687 venturafoodtours.com
OYES Performance: “Alice In Wonderland” Date: December 13 Time: 7:30 p.m. Contact: 646-4300 Location: 907 El Centro Street oyespresents.org
Date: By reservation, 48 hrs in advance Time: varies Location: varies Contact: 272-8102 or email ride@ themobshop.com Ojai bike tour features agricultural, artistic, culinary, cultural, and historical landmarks in Ojai. Riders are guided to eight stops where they answer questions about each place.
OYES Performance: “Sing Song Story” Date: December 14 Time: 6:15 p.m. Contact: 646-4300
Ojai Seeker’s Bike Tour
JAN. 20. The Agora Foundation will host a seminar, “Can Machines Think?” based on the work of computer pioneer Alan Turing. OQ / WINTER 2017-2018
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Location: 907 El Centro Street oyespresents.org
JANUARY Chamber Music Concert Date: January 7 Time: 2 p.m. Location: Ojai Art Center, 113 South Montgomery Street Contact: 640-0117 ojaiartcenter.org
ojaiartcenter.org Chamber on the Mount: “Trio Valtorna” Date: January 28 Time: 3 p.m. Location: Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts, 8585 Ojai-Santa Paula Road Contact: 646-9951 chamberonthemountain.org
FEBRUARY
Agora Foundation Seminar: “Can Machines Think? Computing and Intelligence by Alan Turing” Date: January 20 Time: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Location: Thomas Aquinas College Contact: 231-5974 theagorafoundation.org
“Annual Meeting of the Ojai Art Center” Date: February 5 Time: 7:30 p.m. Location: The Ojai Art Center 113 South Montgomery Street Contact: 646-0117 ojaiartcenter.org
“On Golden Pond” Date: January 26 to February 18 Time: 7:30, Friday to Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday Location: Ojai Art Center 113 South Montgomery Street Contact: 640-8797
Ojai Chautauqua: “Diversity & Identity- What does it mean to be an American in the 21st Century ?” Date: February 17 Time: 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Location: TBA Contact: 231-5974
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FEB. 24: Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre” will be the focus of the Agora Foundation Seminar. ojaichat.org Agora Seminar: “Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte” Date: February 24 Time: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Location: Thomas Aquinas College Contact: 231-5974 theagorafoundation.org
Diversity and Identity What does it mean to be an American in the 21st Century? Does good citizenship in the United States require us to share a national identity? How will the youngest and newest American citizens shape our future national identity? Is United States democracy strengthened or threatened by immigrants who assimilate slowly? What roles do race, religion, and prosperity play in a sense of belonging in America? What does it mean to be patriotic in America? Is our constitutional right to freedom of speech under threat? We invite you to join us as we explore these questions -- and yours -- with a panel of experts from academia, government, and media.
The Agora Foundation
Ojai CHAUTAUQUA Saturday, Feb 17, 2018 • 4:30-6:30PM
$20 pre-sale, $25 at the door • www.ojaichat.org The purpose of the Ojai Chautauqua is to engage Ventura County in civil discourse about controversial and passionate subjects. Scholarships for teachers and students - (805) 231-5974
Great books seminars The Agora Foundation offers small groups of interested people a unique opportunity to consider and discuss important themes over a series of inspiring weekend seminars. Explore the questions that have been debated through the centuries by the greatest minds of our civilization. Full Scholarships are available for teachers. Saturday, December 9, 2017 The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali Saturday, January 20, 2018 Can Machines Think? - Texts from Alan Turing Saturday, February 24, 2018 Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte Saturday, March 31, 2018 Nicomachean Ethics - Aristotle on Friendship
Visit our website to Register:
www.theagorafoundation.org
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(805) 231-5974 151
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OQ / WINTER 2017-2018
TO DAUGHTER, 18, EUROPE-BOUND
By Peter Bellwood
D
But age is a weird thing. I don’t hold much pearing at Theater 150 in your play, “The earest Lucy: store by it. You’re off — !!! Leaving Ojai Paper Castle,” is an experience I will never There’s no plan. We’re just alive, on yet another great adventure forget. breathing and open to whatever piques — Edinburgh Festival, and on Your sense of humor is sublime. Your our interest — that’s all that matters. through Europe. How thrilllaugh makes me laugh. You are not fake. But your 18th birthday, and your going You’re real … and it makes me examine ing, and yet how terrifying. off to Europe, affords me the opportunity my reality, and question whether I’m But that’s OK. In my experience, those to pay you some compliments for the living up to my fullest potential (I’m not two feelings always co-exist, cheektreasures you have given us. … yet!) by-jowl, fueling and intensifying each Your presence in our lives has been the So off you go, darling child. Be careful, minute. most powerful gift I could ever imagine. keep an eye on your things (very importWe will miss you — hell, how could You taught me to live in present time, we not feel the absence of such a force of ant), remember to breathe (your advice to nature as your dear, inimme), watch out for weirdos and drunken Scotsmen — itable self! But it’s exciting and drunken Englishmen, for us, too, to see you launch Frenchmen and Italians, for yourself into the vast and that matter! all-embracing world. Take it easy. And rememWhat fun you’ll have, growing and learning every ber, we’re always here for step of the way. you, 24 hours a day, 7 days Mama and I are so old, we a week. All you have to do only have dim recollections is call. The Ojai Badger Netof our first forays into the work will spring into action great beyond — but it sure to support you. was a kick! Finally, here’s a pretAs and when you’re ty poem for you by New inclined (or even only after England poet Philip Booth you’ve returned), we want (1926-2007). He wrote it for to hear all about it. But I also his daughter: remember that contact with “As you float now, where I “folks back home” was never held you Peter Bellwood with daughter Lucy, in a fairly recent photo. high on my list of priorities. And let go, remember I was too busy having my when fear breath taken away. to soften up and let go of so much of the Cramps your heart what I told you: As far as I’m concerned, not hearing bitterness I used to heap on lesser mortals! Lie gently and wide to the light-year from you every five minutes is a good You reminded me that to live life out Stars, lie back, and the sea will hold sign that you’re up to your eyeballs in loud is really the most important thing you.” the business of living your life, and quite of all. right, too! We will keep you posted on deAs a fine, 17-year-old playwright (who Yes, it will! happens to be related to me) wrote: “Love Have a ball, my sweet lamb. Mama and velopments here via e-mail as and when lets you see everything about a person, I love you with all our hearts. appropriate, and will, of course, see you good and bad. You love it all just the — Padre Badger XOXOXOXO “over there” in the fullness of time. same.” That’s a beautiful thought because (This is a reprint of Bellwood’s column You just turned 18. According to law its real, and mature. The privilege of apfrom the Fall 2011 OQ. and custom, an “adult.” And so you are.
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