WHAT: Citrus Blossom Century and Metric Century Ride offers cycling enthusiasts and fans the opportunity to ride one of California’s prime agricultural regions while supporting youth mentoring programs of Big Brothers Big Sisters. Smell the fragrant fruit blossoms as you tour agricultural highlights of Ventura County. The route winds up Grimes Canyon through the Los Posas Valley, Somis, Camarillo, Oxnard Plains, East Ventura Foothills, Santa Paula farmlands, Bardsdale orchards and Fillmore fields. The day begins at Two-River Park in Fillmore. The metric century route takes in the Fillmore Orchards to Camarillo Foothills / El Rio Strawberry Fields and follows the foothills of Ventura and Santa Paula, before returning to Fillmore. Elevation gain is 2,756’. A 5-mile family ride is also available.

HOW: Register online or by mail. $55 for Century and metric century; $25 for Family Ride before April 1st, 2013. Late registration is $65; event day registration is $75. Visit http://www.active.com/cycling/fillmore-ca/fillmore-citrus-blossom-centur... or www.bbsvc.org to register. Registration includes: route slip and bib number; SAG stops with food/water/bike support. Jerseys available for purchase, BBQ available after the ride. If registration is by mail, make checks payable to Big Brothers Big Sisters and mail to 445 Rosewood Ave Suite Q, Camarillo, CA 93010

WHY: 100% of all proceeds will benefit the mentoring programs of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County, an organization dedicated to changing the lives of children and youth facing adversity for the better, forever. Big Brothers Big Sisters serves more than 1,500 youth and their families in Ventura County and neighboring communities, and is the top ranked youth mentoring organization in the country by Guidestar’s Philanthropedia, because of its evidence-based mentoring model with proven youth outcomes.

WHO: Come out and enjoy the best farmlands of Ventura County alongside fellow riders and at the same time support the efforts of mentors and youth programs at Big Brothers Big Sisters. The Citrus Blossom Century ride is supported by the Fillmore Rotary; both organizations work together and help children navigate into adulthood responsibly.

WHEN/WHERE: The Citrus Blossom Century will take place on Saturday, April 6 starting at 8:00 a.m. Event begins at Two Rivers Park, 1300 River Street, Fillmore. Two Rivers Park is at the west-end of Fillmore. You can access it from Highway 126 in Fillmore. Either take D Street or C Street, south to the park. A Google earth KMZ route file to see the elevations and course is available upon request. Helmets required for ALL riders.

We invite individuals, companies and local businesses to consider advertising and sponsorship opportunities by contacting Lisa Meeker at 805.484.2282 x 18 or by e-mailing lmeeker@bbsvc.org.

Visit our website at www.bbsvc.org or call 805.484.2282 for additional event updates. Facebook Event Page: http://www.facebook.com/bbsvc/events

The long valued Fillmore Flower Show, to be held April 13-14, 2013, at the Fillmore Senior Center, 533 Santa Clara Street, Fillmore with the theme, “Fiesta of Flowers”, will provide an opportunity for all gardening enthusiasts and even some non-green thumb types to show off their creativity and beautiful blooms. The warmer weather that we had recently is bringing many roses and iris as well as other spring blooms into blossom.
Young people should bring their flowers and supplies to the center between 7:30am and 9:30am so they have ample time to make their arrangement in the youth room without interference.

The show is free and open to the public from 1-4 pm each day. A Garden Boutique with plants and door prizes will be available and a door prize raffle for lovely items donated by supportive merchants such as roses from Otto & Sons and a beautiful solar light sculpture from Treasure Station. We will also have a 50/50 cash drawing with the winner receiving a check for half the proceeds of this drawing.

Joy Asenas will be playing music on Saturday and Barry Cooper will play guitar on Sunday.

Entry is open to all, but competitive entries are limited to residents of Fillmore Unified School District area which includes Piru, Bardsdale & west to include the Little Red School House students. Entries will be received Saturday morning from 7:30am to 10:30am. Youth entries are free and adult entries (unlimited) for $5.00.

For more information, please contact Joanne King, 805-524-4904 or Linda Nunes, 805-524-3021.

On Tuesday, February 15th, Fillmore Women’s Service Club president Michelle Smith and member Valerie Richards attended the Ventura County Board of Supervisors Donor Recognition Event and accepted a certificate from Ventura County Children and Family Services and the Children’s Services Auxiliary. The certificate was awarded to Fillmore Women’s Service Club for their contribution to the 2012 Holiday activities for Ventura County’s abused, neglected, and needy children. Fillmore Women’s Service Club, established in 1964, provides support to Fillmore’s seniors and youth. We recognize our community’s educators and award numerous scholarships each year. Prospective members are encouraged to join us at our next meeting to be held on Wednesday, April 10th, 7:30 PM at the Fillmore Senior Center.

http://www.homelessresourcesca.org/

Santa Barbara, CA - California Homeless Resources is a new database which lists basic services for people in need. This up-to-date website (www.homelessresourcesca.org) is simple to use and lists current names, addresses, phone numbers and website links for vital services that are available to help people now.

The creator of the California Homeless Resources site is Matthew S. Kennedy, who was working in the Real Estate industry prior to the decline of the economy in 2008. For the last 2+ years, he created this website for people in California that want to get the help they need so badly all in one place.

Matt spent over 1,000 hours creating the California Homeless Resources database. In fact, still currently living in his vehicle (1990 Ford Van) in Santa Barbara, he uses the free internet service at McDonald’s and the Library to add cities to the website every day. On December 15th, he finished adding the final city - #481. Please share this valuable resource with people in need: www.homelessresourcesca.org

Ventura County Library announces the Axis 360 digital media library, now available to all cardholders through the Ventura County eLibrary. Axis 360 provides a state-of-the-art system for circulating ebooks and Blio ereading software.

Jackie Griffin, Ventura County Library Director states, "Adding the Axis 360 platform will enhance our current ebook offering of OverDrive and EBSCOhost. This additional partnership will give us a wider range of selection for our patrons who are clearly sending the message that more downloadable content is desirable."

Axis 360 offers a dynamic presentation of titles on their Magic Wall as well as book reviews and recommendations for further reading. Cloud-based delivery greatly simplifies the process of downloading onto patrons preferred devices, including iOS, Android and Windows tablets and smartphones.

Axis 360 is available now on the Ventura County eLibrary page under eBooks.

The Ventura County Library is available 24/7 at www.vencolibrary.org.

Ventura, CA - Community Memorial Hospital’s Cancer Resource Center is offering a free class on Monday, April 15, to help insured cancer patients and their families understand their insurance benefits and assure they are being billed correctly by hospitals, doctors and labs.

Wendy Gorrell, a certified public accountant and cancer survivor, along with Jody Giacopuzzi, a licensed clinical social worker, will conduct the class. Wendy learned by experience how to keep the financial stress under control while undergoing cancer treatment and will share that knowledge. The class will be held from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the CMH Cancer Resource Center. Teaching points include:

 Understanding your Explanation of Benefits (EOB’s)
 Not to paying more than required
 What to keep and for how long
 How to organize your medical bills and information
 Dispute resolution techniques

The Cancer Resource Center is located at 2900 Loma Vista Road, Suite 105, in Ventura. For more information or to RSVP, call 805/652-5459.

Community Memorial Hospital is a member of Community Memorial Health System, a not-for-profit health system, which is comprised of Community Memorial Hospital, Ojai Valley Community Hospital, and 11 family-practice health centers entitled Centers for Family Health. The health system is located in Ventura County, California.

FHS Junior, Niki Spencer to do the Avon two day Walk for Breast Cancer. Spencer's Grama was diagnosed and passed away with breast cancer before she was born. Niki has dedicated her walk especially to her grandmother Gladys and hopes her endless dedication will aid others with this form of cancer from her fundraising for the walk. She is due to do the event in Santa Barbara on the weekend of September 7-8, 2013. If you would like to donate the cause and help Niki reach her goal go to http://info.avonfoundation.org/goto/nikitosave and click "Donate Now".

The Fifth annual Fillmore Flower Show, to be held April 13-14, 2013, at the Fillmore Senior Center, 533 Santa Clara Street, Fillmore, California, 93015, with the theme, “Fiesta of Flowers”, recognizes the effort by Vision 20/20, Civic Pride Committee to bring back, yet again, this long valued community tradition of 75 years, with intermittent breaks for World War I, World War II and a break in the late nineties through 2008.
The Civic Pride Committee members were able to revive this well respected and well attended show in 2009 after searching through a treasure trove of information in the meticulously kept scrapbook belonging to Conway Spitler, who had been a chairman of the event, and by reviewing a scrapbook held at the Fillmore Historical Museum. Many community members also stepped forward to volunteer their expertise from previous years, their props & velvet drapes and their labor to bring the show back again each of these years.
The show is free and open to the public from 1-4 pm each day. A Garden Boutique with plants and door prizes will be available.
Musicians, Joy Asenas and Barry Cooper, will add ambience with lovely melodies on piano (Saturday) and guitar (Sunday).
Entry is open to all, but competitive entries are limited to residents of Fillmore Unified School District area which includes Piru, Bardsdale & west to the Little Red School House. Entries will be received Saturday morning from 7:30am to 10:30am. Youth entries are free and adult entries (unlimited) for $5.00.
For more information, please contact Joanne King, 805-524-4904 or Linda Nunes, 805-524-3021.

VENTURA, CA - "Beauty," a new awareness campaign by the Ventura County Community for a Clean Watershed, will get underway next week. Designed to celebrate the natural beauty of Ventura County, it also reminds residents that we must all do our part to keep our local streams and creeks clean of pollution. The Ventura Countywide Stormwater Quality Management Program, made up of the County of Ventura, the 10 Ventura County cities and the Ventura County Watershed Protection District, is funding the campaign.

"We are fortunate to live in such a pretty part of California," says Arne Anselm, Ventura County water quality monitoring manager. "One way to keep Ventura County beautiful is to ensure our system of natural waterways is kept clean. Everything that flows into our neighborhood storm drains from our yards, driveways, streets and sidewalks travels through the county watershed systems of creeks and rivers and eventually ends up in the ocean. Any polluted surface runoff degrades creeks, rivers, lakes, ponds and wetlands and can cause health problems for people and wildlife."

Residents will soon see CONTINUED »

Livingston Visiting Nurse Association will hold the following Joint Replacement Class to prepare you for total knee or hip replacement surgery. Home preparation, exercises and rehabilitation information will be discussed. Open to the public and free of charge, the class will be held:

April 3, from 10:00 – 11:00 am @ Cypress Place, 1st floor private dining room, 1200 Cypress Point Lane, Ventura, RSVP Diana Davis @ 642-0239 x 739

April 10, from 10:00 – 11:00 am @ Pleasant Valley Hospital, 3rd floor Classroom, 2309 Antonio Avenue, Camarillo, RSVP Barrie Gilster @ 797-7699

April 10, from 1:00 – 2:00 pm @ Thousand Oaks Surgical Hospital, 401 E Rolling Oaks Drive, Thousand Oaks, RSVP Barrie Gilster @ 797-7699

April 17, from 1:00 – 2:00 pm @ Sunrise Senior Living, Activity Room, 190 Tierra Rejada Road, Simi Valley, RSVP Barrie Gilster @ 797-7699

"Meetings with Uncommon Women" will be performed by Leia Morning at the Memorial Building Tuesday March 26th at the Ebell Clubs monthly meeting. Luncheon cost is only $12.00 for reservations call Glenda at 524-4949.

Harriet Tubman known for her work in the underground railroad, Clara Barton, Founder of the Red Cross and G.I. Jill a composite of women currently serving in the military.

Leia Morning has many degrees and a recipient of many grants for her work portraying women of history. She is also a professional singer-songwriter, musician of many instruments, a ceramist, artist and still has time to teach English at San Marino High School.

All the ladies are looking forward to her program. This is not the first time she has visited the Fillmore Ebell Club. Her programs are always lively, historically correct, and fun.

Morning Hours:
Monday – Friday 6:30 A.M. – 8:00 A.M.
Saturday 8:30 A.M. – 10:00 A.M.

Evening Hours:
Monday – Thursday 5:45 P.M. – 7:30 P.M.

For more information please call 524-4902

Congratulations to Ms. Ruth Barnard and her friendly English Lab, Misha for winning Yard of the Month! Ms. Barnard was presented with a $30 gift certificate to Otto & Son’s Nursery. Please drive by and take a look at 757 Central Avenue. You will find a South African Cape Chestnut Tree; Yellow Gold Medallion tree (that is gold in June) this tree originally came from Fullerton; Various types of succulents, fruit trees and luscious lawns. This home was one of the original farm homes in Fillmore, built in 1919 by Mr. Tighe. Later home was purchased by the Barnard’s in 1952. Brought to you by Civic Pride Vision 2020.

You're all invited to our SPRING EQUINOX PARTY -

Tuesday March 19, 2013, 6:30 p.m. til whenever...
at Fillmore's Health and Wellness Center,
448 Santa Clara Street.

It's a light potluck - bring a dish that celebrates the bounty of Spring.
We'll provide drinks, plates and utensils.

Our theme for this event is: NEW BEGINNINGS
including a time of sharing.
So bring your song, game, poem, thought, dance, artwork etc.
to share with us as we fling into Spring!

Call Valerie (705-0405) or Janine (524-4856 with any questions

Fillmore's Health and Wellness Center
448 Santa Clara St.
Fillmore, CA, 93015
A Space for Healing Experiences

805-705-0405
We Help You Feel Better