HAVE AN UNFORGETTABLE OJAI SUMMER

If you’re looking for a vacation home with peace, serenity, and privacy for your loved ones, these two East End properties will make your summer more magical than ever. Because they are adjacent to each other, you can combine them into a phenomenal vacation compound suitable for up to 12 guests or take the one that suits you best. Choose from a 3BR/3BA estate with pool and carriage house apartment or a 2BR/2BA home with a cozy stone fireplace, chef’s kitchen, and lots of vintage charm. The two-bedroom home is o ered long-term as well. There are minimum stay requirements. Contact Sharon for more details and to see the properties. You’ll make this getaway season one you’ll never forget.

ojaisharon@gmail.com ojaidream.com

DRE#01438966

EDITOR’S NOTE: SUMMER 2023

“Passing through, passing through. Sometimes happy, sometimes blue, Glad that I ran into you.

Tell the people that you saw me passing through.”

“Passing Through,” lyrics by Dick Blakeslee

One of the last outposts in California’s Southwest, the Ojai Valley is still connected to the deep roots of its origin story — the Chumash, vaqueros, cowboys, the rugged west itself, and the generations of health and spiritual seekers who settled here before us. The tale of the draw to this east-west-lying valley weaves a common thread over the dusty road of time to the current iteration of Ojai life.

Still they come … today’s easygoing, mystic-curious, dirt-loving, DIY souls who compose today’s Ojai village are not unique to this place. We feel the pull to ride the generational wave toward the wide open space, to neighborly hospitality, and to a slower, looser, simpler life. Most folks in the valley seem willing to take a moment to explore an idea or a memory with a stranger — enjoying the present moment, no matter who it’s with.

Some were born here — chosen by Ojai — not to mention whatever generation before them that migrated to this valley. For those first-generation choosers who now live in this special little western town, it is commonly by cause of life quest.

These days, the dilemma facing Ojaians is how to adjust to the waves of simultaneous influx and outflow of residents during a seismic economic shift. Population and housing numbers have been stagnant for decades, so as a newcomer arrives, another neighbor is lost. Deciding how much we are willing to share space and opportunity will largely determine Ojai’s cultural future. Should the people who work here be able to live here? Are we a small town with a big heart? The answer — through our actions — will say more about the character of Ojai than anything else. It’s not who we were that matters … it’s who we are and who we are becoming. And for those who haven’t realized that we are all visitors here, I suggest they take a deeper look. Native or transplant, we are temporarily in Ojai, at this time, and upon this Earth. Aren’t we all just passing through?

This issue takes a look-in at our collective journey, and specifically some of those who have made and continue to make a formative impact on Ojai culture:

Sheb Wooley, a singing cowboy from the Oklahoma Dust Bowl, arrived in Ojai’s Casitas Springs. The legendary American country-western singer/comedian found peace and sobriety in the valley that soothed his soul.

One of Ventura County’s most powerful prosecutors, former six-term District Attorney Michael Bradbury — a man who still resides at his Ojai Hang ‘em High Ranch — has left his mark as lawman, horseman and cowboy poet. His credo: “Do what’s right.”

Looking forward, Jeremy B. Cohen, the new artistic director at the Ojai Playwrights Conference, raises the curtain on society’s next act through theater.

The good hearts come and go, and forward we march, dance, shout, sing, trip, and trundle on. We at Ojai Magazine continue to be inspired.

With a ection,

EDITOR / PUBLISHER

Laura Rearwin Ward

ART DIRECTOR

Paul Stanton

ASSISTANT EDITOR

Karen Lindell

WRITERS

Karen Lindell

Kerstin Kühn

Perry Van Houten

Gregg Stewart

Mimi Walker

Barbara Burke

Kimberly Rivers

John Fonteyn

Georgia Schreiner/Jake Pinkus

PRODUCTION SUPPORT

Tori Behar, Mimi Walker

ADVERTISING

Linda Snider, director of sales

Catherine Miller, account executive Ally Mills, advertising assistant

CONTACT team@ojaivalleynews.com advertising@ojaivalleynews.com www.ojaivalleynews.com/magazine @ojaimag

Cover art: “A Di erent

Shade of Blue” by Logan Maxwell Hagege www.LoganMaxwellHagege.com

©2023

by KERSTIN KÜHN