ojai blog - news and events in the Ojai community

The Ojai Post

in case you haven't noticed... i'm doing all of my blogging over at The Ojai Post...

Meet The Champion Ojai Masters Swim Team

press release from a reader... congrats, team!

OJAI MASTERS SWIMMERS PLACE FIRST IN SO. CAL.

The Ojai Masters Swim Team, coached by Rick Goeden, came away with the first place trophy at the Southern California Regional Swimming Championships in Santa Clarita. Competing against 21 other teams, 42 Ojai swimmers from 25 through 89 years of age bested the field. Ojai’s final point total was 1897, almost twice that of second place Long Beach with 953.

For about 10 years, Ojai and Santa Barbara were a combined team and won many championships. This is the first time Ojai has won the championship as a single team. Ojai’s domination of the meet was attributed not only to the fast swims posted by many swimmers, but also to its depth. In relay competition, Ojai fielded teams in age groups all the way up to 80 and over.

Ojai’s Jennie Taylor, the most senior swimmer of the meet, won two events and received standing ovations after many of her swims. She competed on the 80-plus relay with Eleanor Brown, Boyd Ford and Bill Mors. The time posted would have placed them fifth in the nation in 2006. Many Ojai relay teams posted times that would have placed them in the 2006 National ‘Top Ten’. Results for the 2007 Top Ten relays will be announced later this year.

Three Ojai swimmers, Mitnee Duque, Rich Sojka and Eleanor Brown won the high-point award in their respective age groups.

Coach Rick Goeden contributed to the team effort by winning three events and swimming on several winning relays.  Goeden commented “For a small town such as ours to compete with 21 other teams that draw from a much bigger area is an amazing accomplishment.” He also noted “an incredible camaraderie that most coaches can only dream of.”

Swimmers who contributed to first place relay wins were Christel Rogero, Donna Whitman, Camilla Denton, Barbara Wood, Laurie Edgecomb, Tina Drennan, Sheri Ann Cate, Katherine Erickson, Nancy Voyer, Courtney Harris, Franco Campana, Bryan Tally, Kerry Ellison, Peter Christl, Beck Selzer, Grant Wilson, Richard La Plante, Harry Delatre, Peter Lawrence, Brock Bernstein, Jim Beckett, and Bill Wechter.

Ojai also has a junior swim team for children. For more information on Masters or Junior Swim Teams, call coach Rick Goeden at 646-6884.

Other Ojai swimmers who won individual events in their age group were:
Laura Schreiner, 50 free, 50 butterfly, 100 free.
Sara DelVecchio, 100 I.M., 200 breast, 50 breast
Kitty Johnston, 100 butterfly, 200 breast, 200 I.M.
Jermaine Britton, 50 free, 100 free
Carole Borland, 50 breast, 100 I.M.
Scott Wilson, 50 free, 100 back
Kelley Van Houten, 100 back
Sue McMahon 1000 free

Social Justice Action Convening

press release...

Social Justice Action Convening

United States Congressional Representative Lois Capps will be the featured speaker as the Ventura County Working People's Alliance, a coalition of labor, community, and faith-based organizations, hosts a series of speakers on various social and economic justice issues at their 2nd Annual Action Convening.

This free event will be held on Saturday, May 19th, 2007, from 8:30 am to 2:00 pm at the North Oxnard United Methodist Church, 2300 West Gonzales Road, Oxnard.  Lunch will be provided.  For more information, call 805-385-4487 or email laborfoundation@aol.com.

Theater 150’s Multi-Household Sale

from a reader...

Saturday, April 14th at 8 AM

at the Ojai American Legion
843 E. Ojai Ave., Ojai CA

Vintage dresses, coats, shoes and lingerie! Theater 150 will host a giant multi-household sale at the American Legion in Ojai this Saturday.  Furniture, appliances, electronics, clothing and much, much more. Don't miss it!

If you're interested in renting a space to sell your own goods alongside us, we still have a couple of prime spots left for $25 a spot, but they're going fast!  Reply to this email or call the theater (805-646-4300) for more details.

"Weekend of Delight!"

Check out GlenMuse.com for the details on these two great events...

Friday March 9
Triple Bill World Music Concert

Incendio: Latin guitar world fusion
“whizzing through a musical virtual reality”

HuDost: alternative world rock "Country & Eastern"
a rich, eclectic blend of traditional Sufi music, Bulgarian and Balkan adaptations, Farsi, Turkish and Arabic pieces with elements of folk, pop, rock and Southern Gospel

Lisa Lynn: Celtic harp
Windham Hill and New Earth Record labels; her last 4 CDs have been among top 20 on the Billboard music charts

Saturday, March 10
"Radical Ecstasy" All Day Workshop

Based on Sufi teachings that have been evolving for over a thousand years, we work with music, sound, breath, energy, and magnetism, to develop an awakened sense of self (which in meditation is often oriented beyond life) directed toward creative action in the world.

These techniques ignite a power source in your body, emotions, and mind, to let you virtually explode with creativity in your actions, what you bring to life, and how life responds to you.

Improvisational Music and Ecstatic Dance

From a reader...

Session of Improvisational Music and Ecstatic Dance coming to Ojai March 9th
Contact:    Philip Novotny
(805)  748-3815
email:  philiption@aol.com
What:    The ŸUM Session from San Luis Obispo
Where:     Sacred Space Studio - -  410 Bryant Circle #A, Ojai
When:      Friday, March 9th   8 pm to 10 pm
Details: The ŸUM Session is an inter-play between dancer and musician, musician and dancer with an open invitation to playful, artistic, spontaneous movement.  The ŸUM Session is a practice of attaining heightened body awareness through breath, through beat, through dance, through movement.   It’s Live, continuous, improvisational music blending East / West grooves with ambient sound landscapes moving you through an energetic wave into a blissful stillness at journey's end.
No experience required...
$15 to $20 sliding scale @ the door…   

Ojai Garden time!

The Ojai Garden Tour 2007 is approaching.  Saturday May 5th is the big day - Cinco de Mayo!  Plan on touring Ojai's lush private gardens followed by a pitcher of margaritas at your favorite Mexican establishment.

Get in touch with the Ojai Chamber if you want to buy tickets, sponsor the event or show off your garden.

Rolling Blockade Through Ojai

from the Ojai Chamber...

Your day and/or business may be temporarily affected by the Amgen “Tour of California” bike race on Saturday, February 24th.  Stage 6 of the race travels from Santa Barbara to Santa Clarita.  The City of Ojai is preparing to close city roads from approximately 12:15 to 12:30 p.m. via a rolling blockade.  For additional information, visit www.AmgenTourOfCalifornia.com

Auditions at the Ojai Art Center

Ojai Art Center Theater is conducting open auditions for “The Heidi Chronicles,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Wendy Wasserstein, from 1-3 p.m. Feb. 17 and 18 at the theater, 113 S. Montgomery.

Callbacks will be Feb. 19 and 21 and the play runs at Ojai ACT from May 4 to June 3.  All roles are available for actors between the ages of 20-40.  It is a smartly-crafted play dealing with the changing role of women from the 1960’s on, and the production is a tribute to the playwright, who died last year at age 55.

For questions, contact Director Steve Grumette at 649-4000 or email stevo@ojai.net.

Ojai Blood Drive

Blood donors needed

PLEASE GIVE BLOOD

Hosted by the Ojai Valley Board of Realtors
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
12:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Located at the Ojai Valley Women's Club
441 East Ojai Avenue

Please contact Debbie Curry at (805)233-2638 for your appointment

For questions about deferrals or procedures, call 800-843-2949 ext. 7066
Please bring picture ID or Red Cross donor card when you donate