CAMARILLO NOONTIME OPTIMIST CLUB Newsletter March 18, 2016 Editor: Roger Ransom (when computer is not down), Ron Klemann, Temp.

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1 CAMARILLO NOONTIME OPTIMIST CLUB March 18, 2016 Editor: Roger Ransom (when computer is not down), Ron Klemann, Temp. By providing hope and positive vision, Optimists bring out the best in kids Joel McCrea Winners and Principals (l-r): Wayne Lamas, principal, and Lisette Herrara (absent) Frontier HS; Joseph Clausi, principal, and Alejandro Monjardin, ACE; Kim Stephenson, principal, ACHS; Wyatt McCrea, Joel McCrea Foundation; Brian Jeffers, ACHS; William Dabbs, principal, and Dominique Derse, Rio Mesa HS The Camarillo Noontime Optimist Club hosted the 35th Annual Youth Banquet at the Camarillo Community Center, Thursday, March 10. More than 100 students from five local high schools were honored with several hundred family members and friends in attendance!

2 Sophomore, junior and senior students from ACE (Architecture, Construction and Engineering Charter), Adolfo Camarillo, Frontier, Rio Mesa and, for the first time Rancho Campana, High Schools were selected by their faculty and counselors for awards in six categories: fine arts, scholarship, leadership, community service, most improved and all-around or combined (scholarship, leadership and community service). The top combined award winner for each high school received the Joel McCrea Award. Joel McCrea was a long-time actor, resident, philanthropist and community service figure in the area. His grandson, Wyatt McCrea of the Joel McCrea Foundation, delivered the keynote speech and helped present awards. Other honored guests on stage to help with award presentations were Ada Lee Sullivan, president of the Camarillo Optimist Club; Kathy Long, Supervisor, Ventura County; Mike Morgan, Mayor City of Camarillo; Dr. Trudy T. Arriaga, Superintendent, Oxnard Unified High School District; Patty Quiroz, representing Hannah Beth Jackson, State Senator 19th District; and Patty Delgado, representing U.S. Congresswoman Julia Brownley. Each of the honored guests shared messages of congratulations and appreciation to the award winners. Jeanette Bassett, Optimist Club Treasurer, along with help from Mike Kroll, spent months planning, preparing and organizing the Youth Banquet by calling and writing letters to schools, parents, dignitaries, etc., and recruiting helpers. As in the past, a cadre of Optimist Club members, friends and students helped set up, decorate, register award winners and guests, serve meals, and clean up. A special thank you is extended to Mrs. Camille Kavon, JOOI Club advisor from CAPE School, for rounding up dozens of students, staff and parents to very efficiently serve all the hungry attendees. Mark Mehrali, Camarillo Optimist Club member and local dentist, gave opening remarks and was the master of ceremony. Larry Davis gave the invocation and Doug Biggs from DJ s Catering prepared and delivered the dinners. Combined Winners: Spencer Emmons and Isaiah Robinson (absent, mom accepting), ACE; Jonathan Chhang, Danielle Chen and Ethan Chen (absent), ACHS; Matthew Navarrete and Laura Gaona, Frontier HS; Ronnie Chase, Rachel Hoppe, and Randle Porte, Rio Mesa HS 2

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5 Jan. 30 6th Annual Walk for Youth The Camarillo Noontime Optimist Club members and friends conducted the most successful event in memory with all six JOOI Club schools PVSEA, Tierra Linda, Rancho Rosal, CAPE, Cam Heights and Las Posas earning over $1,300 for the schools and nearly $6,000 for the club s youth programs in this fun fundraiser. Thanks to donors like Morgan Adams, Inc. $2,000 Platinum Donor and over 20 member and community $100 Silver Disk donors, the event was a hit financially. A big thank you is extended to all the members, JOOI Club advisors, parents, kids and friends for the time and effort they gave planning and preparing for the Walk. This year PVSEA (Pleasant Valley School of Engineering and Art formerly El Descanso School received the Top Walkers Plaque for earning the most donations for the event! Shig Yabu Grand Marshall donated his 1984 Olympic Torch for the youth walkers to carry. Type to enter text 5

6 Jan. 25 Val Rains Portraying the life of Lena Lewis (Pioneer family of the Camarillo Community) YWA Youth Willing and Active Student Jack Ozima, a 6th grade student at St. Mary Magdalena School, was selected as the Youth We Appreciate award recipient by his teacher, Simon Bass, for excellent academic achievement and exceptional service to his school. Jack was described as a highly motivated learner with a 4.0 GPA who volunteers to read at weekly Mass for his class. He is also active in Camarillo community sports baseball and basketball and will be participating in the upcoming Camarillo Academic Olympics. Jack earned a $100 gift for his school along with his YWA certificate. l-r Chantelle Limon, Optimist Club presenter; Simon Bass, teacher; and Jack Ozima Type to enter text Feb. 1 David Moe (Assistant Director of Community Development City Planning YWA Top Student Entertains Too Skylar Klemann, a sixth-grade student at Monte Vista Middle School, took time to sing and play the ukulele for the members and visitors at the Camarillo Optimist Club Youth We Appreciate recognition at Round Table Pizza. Her science teacher, Mrs. Susan Melhorn, noted that in addition to being a straight A GATE student in Honors classes, Skylar chose Yearbook as her elective and is busy taking pictures and interviewing others throughout the school week. She is on the Super Quiz team for Camarillo Academic Olympics and performing in Oliver in Moorpark doing 19 days in Feb. and Mar. She also plays softball, club soccer and runs crosscountry. At Right, l-r: Mrs. Susan Melhorn, teacher, Monte Vista Middle School; Skylar Klemann, YWA; Ada Lee Sullivan, Optimist Club President and presenter. 6

7 Feb. 8 Bob Diehl Photo Tour of Cuba Feb. 22 Mrs. Vicki Murphy, Casa Pacifica Ada Lee Sullivan, Optimist Club President, and Mrs. Vicki Murphy YWA Conscientious A Student Recognized Kaitlyn Katelhut, a sixth-grade student at Camarillo Academy of Progressive Education (CAPE) School, was honored by the Camarillo Optimist Club as the Youth we Appreciate Award recipient from her school. Her teachers, Mrs. Michele Keefer, noted that Kaitlyn is a very conscientious student that serves her school as a member of the Leadership Team planning and organizing dances and other school events. Among several community service projects like participating in the Breast Cancer Walk, she runs a lemonade stand and gives all proceeds to the Animal Shelter because she loves animals. She also finds time to participate in soccer, softball and choir. l-r: Mrs. Karen Schlemmer, CAPE Type to enter text Children and Families Mrs. Vicki Murphy, Chief Advancement Officer and Director of Transitional Youth Services, shared many of the programs and activities the facility and outreach efforts offer youth and families in the area. Serving around 80 kids, Casa Pacifica helps meet many of the challenging times they are experiencing and helps them overcome some of life s most difficult circumstances abuse and neglect, emotional and behavioral issues and family crises. Located on a rural 24-acre campus a few miles from Camarillo, the staff helps provide emergency shelter for infants and youth to the age of % financed by government sources, the operation depends on contributions and donations to raise the other 11%. Optimist Club members and friends have been invited to visit the campus anytime. 7

8 Feb. 29 Monica McGrath Camarillo Police Chief Commander Monica McGrath was selected as the Chief of Police for the City of Camarillo this year by City Manager Bruce Feng. Commander McGrath is a 27-year member of the Sheriff s Office. Born and raised in New Jersey, she received a BA in Business in 1985 and joined the Sheriff s Office two years later. She has worked various positions and stations throughout the county before her Camarillo top job. She has been involved in many community based organizations including Rotary, Interface Children and Family Services, the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Clara Valley among others. Ada Lee Sullivan; Camarillo Police Chief Monica McGrath; Larry Davis, Camarillo Noontime Optimist Club YWA Empowered Youth Honored Angelina Hernandez, a sixth-grade student from PVSEA (Pleasant Valley School of Engineering and Art), was honored by the Camarillo Optimist Club as the Youth We Appreciate recipient on February 29. Angelina s principal, Mrs. Clara Finnegan, and her math Teacher, Mr. Scott Frank, shared many of her school and community accomplishments and activities. In addition to being a top student, Angelina serves on the Student Council as the Treasurer and created a money-tracking spreadsheet! She sings in the Daniel Pearl Choir program in the county and is a member of the Girl Scouts. As a daughter of a Navy officer, she has traveled to many parts of the U.S. and Japan learning Origami from her Japanese scout group. Angelina was selected for this award by the school because she exemplifies the core values of PVSEA. Along with the award certificate, she earned a $100 gift for her school. Angelina Hernandez flanked by her principal, Mrs. Clara Finnegan, and her math teacher, Mr. Scott Frank. Annual Youth Benefit Golf Tournament and Dinner Friday, May 13,

9 Mar. 7 Camarillo Noontime Optimist Club Induction of smiling and proud new members (l-r): Aaron Aronson, Marianne Rotenberg, Jack Rotenberg, Mike Mishler and Kris DeVillers (not present) YWA Las Colinas Top Student Honored Analise Rydberg was described by her principal, Mr. Erik Goldman, as an all A student with strong goals. As an ASB member she has participated in Stuff a Bus collecting food for the needy. She has also helped with Valentines for our Military program. As a Girl Scout she has been a mentor for younger girls, walked in the Veterans Day Parade, done caroling at senior care facilities and helped with clothing collections for her church. Analise and her parents enjoyed lunch at Round Table Pizza as she received her award certificate and a $100 gift for her school. l-r Chantell Limon, Optimist Club presenter; Analise Rydberg, YWA; Mr. Erik Goldman, principal of Las Colinas Middle School. 9

10 Mar. 14 Roger Pichardo City of Camarillo Recycling Manager Roger Pichardo shared a wealth of information and answered many questions about the city s curbside trash, yard waste and recycling efforts. Too, he provided information about many of the items that do not belong in the curbside pick ups. Having worked for the City of Camarillo for 10 years, Roger was proud to announce that Camarillo has exceeded required state law of recycling 50% and maintains one of the highest rates in the state 76%. Hazardous products need to be disposed of through the City HHW Program call: He provided a guide for disposing of all the things that cannot be discarded in weekly trash hauls with locations, telephone numbers and websites you may use to safely discard items. You can contact Roger at or at rpichardo@cityofcamarillo.org. l-r Ada Lee Sullivan; Roger Pichardo, City Recycling Manager; Jennifer Conn, Optimist Club member Coming Attractions: March 21 - Mike Mishler President of the Camarillo Recreation and Parks District Board and new Optimist Club member March 21 - Camarillo Noontime Optimist Club Board Meeting, 5:30 p.m. at the Camarillo Boys & Girls Club Members and guest are always welcome March 28 - No Meeting - Following Easter Weekend April 4 - Dr. Dean Amundsen Aging Eyes April 11 - David Simmons Assistant Superintendent Personnel Services, Ventura County Schools April 18 - Chris Nelson Former Optimist Club member in the real estate business April 25 - Optimist Essay Winners will be reading their papers Friday, May 13, 2016, Annual Youth Benefit Golf Tournament and Dinner Sterling Hills Golf Club, Camarillo, California Remember to use our website whenever you need to review past editions of our newsletters, check upcoming events and speakers, or contact the club: 10

11 President s Message from Ada Lee Sullivan As always, March has been a very busy month. Our long time member, Janna was honored as the Chamber of Commerce s Senior of the Year. RaeAnne Michael was honored as Woman of the Year. We are so very fortunate to have these wonderful people, who serve their community in so many ways, as members. We held a most successful Youth Banquet. Many, many students and families attended and enjoyed the evening. We had a lot of club member participation. They all worked very hard and the event went off without a hitch. It is truly amazing. We also had great assistance from Camarillo Academy for Progressive Education (CAPE) from both the JOOI Club with their advisor, Camille Kavon and student participants and CAPE provided three other adult helpers, Ana, Diana and Wendy. We owe them many thanks. I enjoyed representing the Optimist Club at the CAO Awards Night. CAO is a great group and many of our members are very active in it. Thanks go to all of them. We have an interesting event Tuesday, April 26 th. We are sponsoring a Candidate Forum for the County Supervisor s race. There are 7 candidates and this is an opportunity to get to know what they plan to do if elected. I am very excited about it. I hope many of our members and our citizens will participate. We follow that with the Golf Tournament May 13 th. We are very busy and that is good. FILLER: Getting into Heaven An exasperated mother, whose son was always getting into mischief, finally asked him How do you expect to get into Heaven? The boy thought it over and said, Well, I ll run in and out and in and out and keep slamming the door until St. Peter says, For Heaven s sake, Dylan, come in or stay out. An Easter Dress It was that time, during the Sunday morning service, for the children s sermon. All the children were invited to come forward. One little girl was wearing a particularly pretty dress and, as she sat down, the pastor leaned over and said, That is a very pretty dress. Is it your Easter Dress? The little girl replied, directly into the pastor s clip-on microphone, Yes, and my Mom says it s a bitch to iron. 11

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