2009 Spring Outlook

Vol. 5 No. 1

Spring 2009

Ventura Hillsides Conservancy Receives Gifts of Land and Funds

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e have previously announced in the media our recent good fortune in receiving three gifts in the last few months. It is important to acknowledge them again.

In December 2008 we received a $10,000 gift from Tom and Kerry Weisel, and another $10,000 from The Wallis Foundation. Both donors have gifted the Conservancy in past years.

The Weisels hope that their gift inspires more donations to assist the

Conservancy’s work. Said Tom Weisel, “The Ventura Hillsides Conservancy has demonstrated an impressive level of progress in working to achieve open space preservation goals, and I have every confidence that they will succeed.”

“Ventura is a very attractive place, with a great feeling to it.”

Jack Baker, a former Ventura resident who sits on the Wallis Foundation board, facilitated The Wallis Foundation gift. The donation adds to two prior gifts by the Foundation. Although he has not lived in Ventura for many years, Mr. Baker has retained a fondness for the community, especially its scenic hillsides. “Ventura is a very attractive place, with a great feeling to it,” says Mr. Baker. “Hopefully some of its beauty and simplicity can remain.”

In February 2009 The Ventura Hillsides Conservancy received a second donation of land to add to its conservation holdings. The land gift came from the Gene Wave Waldo Trust and measures just under one acre. The two contiguous parcels comprising the land gift are located along the Ventura River just west of the Ventura River Trail and south of Foster Park.

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Inside

Trustees Appoint Advisors Group...........................2 Volunteer Awards..................................................3 Children’s Hillside Field Trip..............................4 - 5 Hillside Beauty......................................................6

Gene Wave Waldo Trust’s gifted land. Photo: Barbara Harison

Land Trust Advisors...............................................7

Trustees Expand Efforts through Appointment of Advisors Group

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ith the purpose of expanding the work of the Conservancy in the community, the Board of Trustees has appointed an Advisors group. The new group convened with the Trustees this past December for an initial orientation and mixer, and came together again March 7th to participate in the organizational assessment meeting sponsored by the Land Trust Alliance (see related story).

The Trustees have named fifteen advisors. The group includes longtime volunteers and supporters, professionals new to the Conservancy, and past Trustees. The appointments last for a three-year period. Ventura Hillsides Music Festival producer Lynn Bartosh, photo archivist and creative property expert Karen Bedorz, and biological resources expert Jackie Bowland Worden were named. Retired CSUN literature professor and Outlook editor Robert Chianese, VC Reporter publisher David Comden, and environmental planning consultant John Hecht were also appointed.

Additional Advisors include hydrologist Gerhard Hubner, art director and Music Festival co-producer Kate Larramendy, and educator Mindy Lawrence. Also appointed were longtime key volunteers Angela Rockett Kirwin, the Conservancy’s webpage designer and ongoing webmaster, and Randy Shore, the land trust’s database designer and manager. Dr. Geoff Loman, botanical gardens trustee Kris Taylor, environmental scientist and 2

UCSB professor Mel Willis, and past Trustee Martha Zieher round out the appointments.

“I am really pleased how the Advisors have stepped up to assist in our conservation work” says Stephen Svete, Board President. “Their commitment has reinvigorated our efforts to advance land conservation in Ventura. Recently, some of our advisors have signed on to represent VHC at the Santa Clara Valley Fire Safe Council (Willis), and to serve as editor of the Outlook (Chianese).”

Many other advisors are already engaged in Conservancy work.

Svete added, “On behalf of the Trustees, I want to extend our gratitude to the fifteen community members who have accepted appointments to Ventura Hillsides Conservancy’s inaugural group of Advisors. We already benefiting from their efforts, and look forward to more success with their help as VHC grows.”

Gifts of Land and Funds continued from page 1

The children of Gene Wave Waldo— Wave Lee Stonerock of Nipomo, Jennifer Tidwell Kennedy of Casitas Springs, Robert Waldo of Medford, Oregon, and Sue Brax of Lancaster­— donated the scenic riverside property in honor of their mother. The family chose to give the acreage to the local land trust to ensure that it would remain as open space in perpetuity.

Our whole community will benefit from all this generosity.

Ventura Hillsides Conservancy Outlook

Board of Trustees Cycles Out One, and Adds One

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he Board of Trustees has implemented its first round of rotating memberships since adopting an accession and succession plan in 2008. Effective January 1, 2009, Martha Zeiher cycled off the Board, and Advisor Tom Weisel was appointed to Martha’s seat.

Martha Zeiher, a founding Trustee of the Conservancy, served as the organization’s Secretary for over five years. Long active in open space issues in Ventura, Martha was a leader with Ventura Citizens for Hillside Preservation prior to the founding of VHC in 2003. She was immediately appointed to the 15-member Advisors group and will stay active as a member and a volunteer.

Tom Weisel was appointed to Martha’s open seat for a three year term. Tom is the founder of ArchDay Design, a medical device design development firm.

He brings a strong business sense to the Board, and an abiding passion for natural places.

Thank you for years of dedication, Martha, and don’t stray too far! And welcome a-Board, Tom!

Ventura Hillsides Conservancy Outlook q

Tel: (805) 643-8044 P.O. Box 1284, Ventura, CA 93002 www.venturahillsides.org Robert Louis Chianese, Editor email: editor@venturahillsides.org

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Outlook is published semi-annually by the Ventura Hillsides Conservancy, a 501 (c) (3) California nonprofit organization.

Story submissions and ideas welcomed.

Copyright ©2008 Ventura Hillsides Conservancy.

All rights reserved.

Spring 2009

Your Opportunity to Make a Difference in Your Community The Ventura Hillsides Conservancy relies on committed volunteers in a variety of capacities to ensure our hillsides, canyons, and open spaces are preserved.

Here are a few ways you can get involved:

Congratulations to Ken and Kate, our 2008 Volunteers of the Year.

Annual Barbeque Features Second Annual Volunteer Awards We Honor the Passion and Dedication to Our Land Trust

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n Sunday, October 12, 2008 over sixty volunteers gathered at Arroyo Verde Park with Trustees and Conservancy staff to acknowledge and thank our hundreds of volunteers. The annual event traditionally follows the Ventura Hillsides Music Festival, which is made possible through thousands of volunteer labor hours. Volunteers were treated to a full New Mexico tamale meal, courtesy of Gary “Green or Red” Bednorz, southwest chef extraordinaire.

“The Dog and Pony Show” provided the live soundtrack, a blend of Texas Soul and American Roots music. Door prizes included Conservancy merchandise and Music Festival artist CDs.

For the second year, the Barbeque included a presented the VHC Volunteer Awards. Kate Larramendy and Ken Merideth were the 2008 recipients, Kate for her ongoing art direction advice (logo design, poster design, etc), while Ken was acknowledged for his expert financial bookkeeping efforts and work as Treasurer since 2003.

Additionally, Carolyn Blossom received special recognition for her role in serving as the Ventura Hillside Music Festival Volunteer Coordinator and Fred Schmidt for his dedication to Music Festival operations.

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Website Assistant- Help keep the VHC website interesting and up to date by working with our Web Team. Knowledge of Dreamweaver and Photoshop is helpful.

Land Steward- Work outdoors to enhance properties owned and managed by the Conservancy. Assist with clean-up of Arroyo Verde Park as part of VHC’s partnership with the City of Ventura.

Outreach Booth Attendant- Engage in lively dialogue with the community as we work to promote VHC, sell merchandise, and recruit new members and volunteers at a variety of community events: Earth Day (April 18), the Farmers Market (May 2), and SummerFest (May 30).

Consider joining the Conservancy’s volunteer corps at: www.venturahillsides. org or call Jenise at 805-643-8044.

Ventura Hillsides Conservancy Board of Trustees

Stephen Svete, President Gary Bednorz, Vice-President William B. Smith, Secretary Kenneth R. Merideth, Treasurer Brooke Ashworth Jamie L. King Donna C. Santo Tom Weisel Barbara Harison, Executive Director — Our Mission — To preserve the hillsides, canyons, and open space that contribute to the natural environment and unique character of the City of San Buenaventura and the surrounding region for the benefit of present and future generations.

VHC is a proud member of the Land Trust Alliance and of the California Council of Land Ttusts Visit www.lta.org.

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First Grade Students Increase Environmental Literacy with VHC-led Hillside Field Trip VHC VOLUNTEERS, STAFF, AND A DEDICATED PARENT AND TEACHER MAKE A FUN TRIP TRULY EDUCATIONAL. Children look at everything.

It’s sometimes tough to get their full attention with all the visual stimulation they have around them. Their natural curiosity keeps them scanning the scene for whatever might offer a treat for the eye.

If we want children to do more than look and scan, we have to practice the art of focused attention with them. Every parent and schoolteacher knows how hard that can be at times. And what if your goal is to get very young students to pay close attention to the natural world? That is what VHC set out to do, with the support and careful planning of others.

Dedicated teacher Stephanie Dillon and creative parent Kim Charnofsky gave a dozen or so first graders of Junipero Serra Elementary School an experience in focused attention at Arroyo Verde Park on Saturday February 28, 2009. Robert Chianese, VHC Advisor and Outlook Editor, joined the group as unofficial tour guide.

We only walked a short way into the woods on a well-used trail, but it was enough to focus the eyes and ears and other senses of the students on some basic elements of the local scene. As one of VHC’s educational outreach programs to some of the youngest group of participants, it was a success. This photo essay offers some convincing proof.

Preparation was everything. Mindy Lawrence, VHC Advisor and Education Outreach coordinator, primed the class with a slideshow orientation about the Hills and local wildlife. Teacher Dillon made a chart to record student’s expectations about what animals they might see and discussed their predictions. Parent Kim Charnofsky devised a Bingo game that led students to look for specific things and mark them on a sheet of paper. She also made flashcard pictures of plants and animals likely encountered on the trail and wrote and played original songs about the Hills!

And then parents volunteered their time for the Saturday excursion.

We walked and talked and touched and smelled and listened and got big views and small details in focus. We learned that first graders wish to see elephants and lions, but when asked to look at the actual things in front of them—pine cone, dead branch, budding tree, spring flowers--they are just as pleased and happy to learn about them, how they grow, what uses they might have. The hills hold such treasures large and small.

Follow up is just as important. Students together composed a “Class Poem” about the experience, remembering many sensory delights—four senses to be exact. They stressed the need for skin and cover for living things—such as bark for trees. They also drew crayon pastel versions of what they saw, wrote journals, and filled in an acrostic poem, H-I-L-L-S. Teams of students will ultimately compose a “Big Book” of local animals and submit it to the Young Author’s Faire sponsored by the Ventura County Reading Association and Cal State Channel Islands.

These students had more than a fun day in the park—they took in the local environment and learned how to appreciate, sense, and understand it better.

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Ventura Hillsides Conservancy Outlook

Spring 2009

Teacher Stephanie Dillon and students.

Sign: Watch out for Rattlesnakes

Animal Burrows

H-I-L-L-S Poem

Hiking on a hill.

I know to be kind to the animals.

Listen and look to learn.

Love is in the hills.

Snakes are sounds you hear.

Redtailed Hawk

Two Trees

Class Composed Poem The hills are beautiful because they are fun to look at.

I saw lots of colorful birds and they were really light colors.

I heard birds going, “Eeee,” and it was very soothing.

I felt sugar sand in my hands.

I smelled the plant that made medicine and sage.

Hills are treasures because they are a home to lots of animals like Scrub jays, hawks, butterflies, hummingbirds, and crows.

I will remember the hike I took, the cool trees, the fun, The Hummingbirds, and that everything alive needs a cover, especially Trees need bark.

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more distinct ones, a few slightly taller than the others, though easily resolved into symmetrical forms as they flow and blend into each other. Together they gently rise and fall in nearly equal mass and shape as if expressing some rhythmic pulse of the land.

Beauty

The

of the

Hillsides Considered

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he Ventura hills are original, natural features that define our region and give it character.

As environmental elements with living plants and animals, they call out to our own instinctive natures for connection to the land, for openness and endurance and adventure.

But we mainly view them from below and declare the visual hillside panorama “beautiful.” With that word, we acknowledge their capacity to produce pleasure as we view them from afar.

What are those pleasures? The hills give color and form as well as health and vitality to our lives. Their changing shapes, seasonal colors, and lighting effects provide variety. At different times we notice different patterns even in their immovable forms.

Then, as we move about the city they seem to move with us, so we may not be able to have a fixed notion of their forms in our heads. Still they set a familiar, steady backdrop for our personal and social dramas. As we go about our business, we seem to check in on them many times a day as barometers perhaps of our own moods and outlook.

by Robert Louis Chianese But can we be more precise about what we mean?

Objective definitions of beauty become impossible. Still we have often heard that the coast of southern California evokes the Mediterranean, where western aesthetics were first defined by ancient Greco-Romans. We might apply that Mediterranean aesthetic to our local hills.

That ancient world saw beautiful things as expressing basic features, Symmetry, Unity, Simplicity, and Gracefulness among them. Our own hillsides can be seen to exhibit these characteristics.

The hills give color and form as well as health and vitality to our lives.

Symmetry refers to balanced elements that echo each other in equal proportion—nothing isolated, exaggerated, or spare. Our bodies follow a bilateral symmetry of two hands, two eyes, two legs, etc., which form a basis for human beauty.

All of this makes up components of their “aesthetic” or sensory delights, and characterizes what we mean when we declare them “beautiful.”

The symmetry of our hills consists of their nearly equal proportion—neither irregularly tall nor thin, they flow as regular waveforms across the back of the city. I count eight, ten, twenty or

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Ventura Hillsides Conservancy Outlook

Like waves, our city hills flow in crests and troughs, but rarely do they “break” and leave a ragged scarp. The rains and debris flows soon soften their shapes, rounding and smoothing them into their gentle symmetry. This erosion of course is not always so benign.

Unity refers to a sense of connectedness, wholeness. Seen frontally, their various shapes form a flowing band of color and form that stretches in an unbroken mass. There’s no standout peak, nor irregular gap in the grouping. They also express unity in their homogeneous surface of soil and short vegetation that make them seem all of a piece, even though we know they are made up of conglomerates and that people, cattle, and sheep cropped their plants to those of smaller scale.

They could be broken up with jutting rocks and ledges, or spiked with tall trees that interrupt their unity but they present themselves in curvy harmonious outline. The landmark “Two Trees” is an exception (though a symmetrical pairing in themselves), and we’ve made them an icon because of that. But they are set back far enough to meld into the unified totality of the entire mini-range, with just enough protrusion to help us mark the wholeness and unity of the rest.

Simplicity refers to lacking complex, difficult character. Visually, each hill exhibits that in its simple humped shape. There is a consistency in their forms: no large hollows, flats, peaks, nor gullies, at least as seen from below. This makes them somewhat indistinguishable, so much so that we haven’t individually named them.

Consistency also gives them a solidity and fixedness they would lack if they Spring 2009

had extravagant features. Even the repeated waveforms they inscribe are simple sine waves with moderate frequency and amplitude. Their rising and falling arcs are some of the simplest forms in nature.

Gracefulness may be the most subjective aesthetic criteria, but the hills express that in their gentle slopes and soft seeming surfaces. They suggest hips and chests, busts and rumps of gracefully proportioned persons. Grace calls forth dance metaphors and the hills display themselves as a synchronized ensemble.

We are verging far into subjective metaphor here but it would not be too much of a stretch to see them as dancing waves of earth.

One can find visual echoes of the graceful hills in the actual waves of our beaches, and, farther out, in the flowing outlines of the Channel Islands with their grander and starker aspects.

When landforms become extreme, as in towering mountains or deep plunging crevasses or vast open spaces, the ancients judged them “sublime.”

This characteristic of majestic landscape provokes wonder, overpowering delight, awe, and even fear. A visit to the Channel Islands can evoke this sublime response.

Our backyard hills are not Sublime but Beautiful, calming us, making us feel at home in the natural world if only as onlookers. Preserving our views of them will keep that healthy delight alive.

But they are finally “foothills” for walks and meanders and meditations, which someday we will be able to enjoy not just from afar. All of our senses will engage them then and we’ll discover when we’re among them new varieties of beauty we’ve only glimpsed from below.

Robert Louis Chianese is Emeritus Professor of English from California State University, Northridge, where he taught among other courses, Literature and Nature; he is the current editor of the Outlook.

Spring 2009

Save the Date!

May 17 The VHC presents th

Hills On Wheels II Pedal the watershed and visit our latest land acquisition. all ages welcome.

More information will be forthcoming.

Memorialize a Loved One with a Donation to VHC In our last issue of Outlook, we highlighted that memberships and donations to VHC make great gifts for birthdays, weddings, and retirements. For our 2008 year-end appeal campaign, we took that idea one step further and gave donors the option to make a donation to VHC in honor or memory of a loved one. This seems to resonate with our members, because we received seven donations in honor or memory of loved ones for a total of $855.00.

VHC is pleased to be a part of honoring and remembering loved ones in this way.

The Ventura Hillsides Conservancy is a 501(c) (3) non-profit public benefit corporation. Your donation to the Conservancy is tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

Your gifts are critical to fund VHC’s efforts to preserve permanently the hillsides, canyons, and open space that contribute to the natural environment and unique character of the Ventura region.

For more information about our membership or donation options, please contact Lisa Clements via email at lclements @venturahillsides. org or via telephone at (805) 6438044.

Ventura Hillsides Conservancy Outlook

Navigating the Path to Land Trust Excellence. . . .

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he Conservancy Board of Trustees hosted an Organizational Assessment Workshop on Saturday March 7, 2009.

The Trustees were joined by nine of the newly appointed, Conservancy Advisors, along with staff. The workshop is part of an overall assessment process, funded by a $2,500 grant from the Land Trust Alliance (LTA). The process helps land trusts assess how well they are meeting standards for best practices in land conservation. This assessment process is one step along the path to accreditation of our trust by the LTA. Cheryl Belcher, an LTA approved Consultant, facilitated the afternoon workshop. She introduced the group to the 12 Land Trust Standards and Practices and identified areas of strength and challenge for our Conservancy.

Workshop attendees were able to share ideas to improve the Conservancy’s effectiveness. Gary Bednorz, Vice President of the Board said, “It was great to have the Advisors working with the Board to help us improve the organization.”

Actions the group proposed include: diversification of fundraising, greater engagement of advisors and volunteers, improved use of technology for communications, planned events on the land we hold, and enhanced public awareness through a branding campaign.

Belcher’s final report will offer an objective evaluation of our Conservancy’s organizational capacity to carry out its mission and meet its goals.

It can serve as a basis for our strategic planning.

By working together with national organizations, local partners, and our advisors and members, we will navigate the path to land trust excellence.

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www.venturahillsides.org • Printed on recycled paper.

Ventura Hillsides Conservancy PO Box 1284 • Ventura, CA 93002 A d d re s s Serv i ce R e q u e s te d

Sixth Annual Members Meeting Scheduled Friday April 17th Members, friends, and neighbors are all welcome to join with Trustees, Advisors, and fellow members to celebrate six years of conserving open space lands in Ventura. The sixth Annual VHC Membership Meeting will be held Friday, April 17, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. We will meet at the Patagonia/Great Pacific Ironworks, 259 West Santa Clara Street, Ventura, California. The meeting will convene in the 2nd floor conference center in the Firehouse building, located at the Main Street end of the Patagonia campus. Free parking is available This year, the meeting is a wine and hors d’oeuvres social

event, so plan on mixing! Featured will be a screening of the trailer for the upcoming Rich Reid documentary Watershed Revolution, a film examining the growing movement to manage the Ventura River as a natural resource of great value. As of this writing, the meeting will also feature a presentation from a representative of the office of Congresswoman Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara). Capps represents a portion of Ventura County and is a strong supporter of open space conservation.

The Members Meeting provides an opportunity for both members and friends in the Ventura community to learn about the progress the VHC land trust has made and to become involved in our future plans and projects.

Take the Shirt Off Our Back!!

Vintage Music Festival T-shirts

100% organic cotton Many sizes, colors and years available

f Mix & match as you like Cost: (1) $10 (2)$15 (3) $20 additional shirts same order $5 ea includes shipping and tax f

e-mail: gbednorz@venturahillsides.org to place order or for more info.

Photo by Tim Davis.

www.ve ntura hillside s.org 8

Ventura Hillsides Conservancy Outlook

Spring 2009