Red Ribbons Proudly DisplayedOptimists Honor Writers With Awards and Gifts

The Camarillo Noontime Optimist Club in cooperation with the Pleasant Valley School District honored the winners of the 10th Annual Red Ribbon Week Writing Contest at Dos Caminos School on Thursday, November 9. The contestants wrote on a number of themes appropriate for their grade level.

CAMARILLO NOONTIME OPTIMIST CLUB Newsletter

November 27, 2017 Editor in training: Ron Klemann

By providing hope and positive vision, Optimists bring out the best in kids

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Pictured above front row (l-r): Shana Blair, Camarillo Academy of Progressive Education (CAPE), 5th grade, 2nd place; Kaedyn Meister, CAPE, 4th grade, 3rd place; Angel Perez, Pleasant Valley School of Engineering and Arts (PVSEA), 4th grade, 2nd place; Genevieve Kuykendall, Dos Caminos School, 5th grade, 3rd place; Mary-Kate Head, Cornerstone Christian School, 3rd grade, 1st place; Benjamin Gertler, PVSEA, 3rd grade, 2nd place;Kalia Aparicio, Monte Vista Middle School, 6th grade, 1st place; Jared Caldino, Dos Caminos, 4th grade, 1st place; Christopher Thomas, Santa Rosa Technololgy Magnet School, 5th grade, 1st place. Back row: Lily Sumida, CAPE, 6th grade, 3rd place; Mikayla Gerry, CAPE, 7th grade, 2nd place; Alondra Maya, PVSEA, 7th grade, 3rd place; Ashley Manasala, Cornerstone Christian School, 6th grade, 2nd place; Aellish Manansala, Los Primeros School of Engineering & Arts (LPSEA), 8th grade, 1st place; Devin Chandler, LPSEA, 8th grade, 2nd place; Ainsley Berlingeri, LPSEA, 7th grade, 1st place.

Debbie Maki, Pleasant Valley School District Director of Curriculum, organized and coordinate the Red Ribbon Week Writing Contest for all the schools in the Camarillo area. She announced the names of the winners and the schools they attend. Howard Hoover, Optimist Club board member, organized the members who helped set up, and introduced Larry Davis, club president, who helped with the presentations. Jeanette Bassett, Optimist Club Secertary/Treasurer made the certificates and purehased the gift cards for the contestants. Each first place winner received a $50 gift certificate, each second place winner received a $35 gift certificate, and each third place winner received a $25 gift certificate.

RRW Writing Contest helpers front row (l-r): Howard Hoover, Jennifer Conn, Frank Roth, Janna Visser, Shig Yabu, Luci Pommers, David Stone; back row: Ron Klemann, Larry Davis, Mike Mishler, Marianne Rotenberg, Jack Rotenberg, Jeanette Bassett, and Debbie Maki.

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Nov. 6 - China Sights and Sounds by Jim and Peg Tancreto

Jim and Peg were kind enough and very generous with their pictures, memorabilia, and music of their May 2011 trip to China. With a detailed map of their itinerary they shared the many stops they made during this vacation. Two years ago Jim and Peg gave a wonderful presentation of a 2014 adventure to Africa. Peg is a bilingual retired school teacher who, like Jim, graduated from UC Berkeley. They lived in Washington State while Jim worked for Boeing Co. while attending the University of Washington and working on an advanced degree in Civil Engineering for 5 years. They moved to Camarillo where Jim worked for the Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center in Port Hueneme for 34 years.

Nov. 13 - Shig Yabu and Friends

Shig Yabu brought along many of his friends and acquaintances in sharing some of the very touching and poignant stories of his growing up years in San Francisco and

Heart Mountain, his later years, and his current activities like playing senior basketball at the Freedom Park Gym. To help entertain and set the mood for his presentation, Shig invited Tom Kuznkowski, a basketball gym buddy and accomplished musician and teacher, who played some memorable tunes from the past—“When You’re Smiling,” “You Are My Sunshine,” “This Land Is Your Land,” and more.

Shig, in a followup article from his weekly, and some times more often, very fun and informative newsletter—TRASH TALK— said Tom, known as T.K., was spectacular as he played his string instruments and sang songs very appropriate for the Camarillo Noontime Optimist Club.  Those in attendance were Richard Gaz, Donald Salado, Richard Tappi Tappizano, Patrick Connolly, Ed Russell, Oripin Russell, and David Reetz who, with his wife, recently visited the Heart Mountain

Interpretive Learning Center between Cody and Powell, Wyoming. David’s real purpose for this trip was to see the solar eclipse which he and his wife enjoyed very much. They then visited the Buffalo Bill Museum and after the Heart Mountain Interpretive Learning Center. 

Mr. Reetz felt that it was very wrong to imprison over 120,000 Japanese when they did not commit any crimes—no spies or espionage activity was ever

reported!  He noted that our constitution states that “you shall have a trial before putting any person into confinement.”  It was just Americans of Japanese heritage from Washington, Oregon, California, and Southern Arizona that were first sent to temporary camps until they built to Relocation Centers throughout the country.  Mr. and Mrs. Reetz purchased the book/CD called “A Boy of Heart Mountain” at the Learning Center and listened to it all the way home to Ventura County.

Shig went on to describe several of his growing up experiences at Heart Mountain like saving the magpie bird that later became the inspiration for his book—“Hello Maggie” —after shooting it down from its nest. Just last month he returned to Heart Mountain with David Ono news anchor and a team from KABC Los Angeles to see if they could find the grave site of Maggie. They hope to make it into part of a documentary about the Japanese Americans who were sent to internment camps during WWII.

Nov. 13 - Youth We Appreciate—Student Has A Heart For Service Alexis Long, a sixth grader at Las Colinas Middle School, received the Youth We Appreciate Award from the Camarillo Noontime Optimist Club on November 13 at Money Pancho Restaurant. Mrs. Edie Robbins, Alexis’s teacher, said the 11-year-old, excels in all academic areas and finds time to do many school and community service projects. At a young age she began making blankets for the Linus Project for babies. Since then, she has continued

to share her spirit in service through outreach at convalescent homes, donations of gifts for young children, clothes to children’s shelters, food collection and food pantry work, books for abused youth, and she has just signed up as an “elf” for foster children taking pictures with Santa in December. Alexis is also very active in her Girl Scout Troop. In addition to enjoying lunch with her family she earned her school $100 as part of the YWA Award recognition. She was accompanied by her parents, John and Sheri Long; her teacher, Mrs. Robbins; and school principal, Mr. Eric Goldman.

l-r: Mrs. Edie Robbins, teacher; Alexis Long, YWA recipient; and Chantelle Limon, Camarillo Noontime Optimist Club presenter. 5

l-r: Sheri and John Long, parents; Edie Robbins, teacher; Alexis Long, YWA Winner; Chantelle Limon, Camarillo Optimist Club; Eric Goldman, Las Colinas Middle School principal

Nov. 20 - Eugene W. Noller “My 42 Years of Space Engineering”

Roger Ransom introduced his long time friend and space engineer Eugene Noller who shared his history and years of work, accomplishments, and discoveries at the JPL. Mr. Noller was born, raised, and educated in  Southern California. After serving in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean conflict, he started a career in 1956 at Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, that last over forty-two years. His book—JPL Behind the Scenes—My 42 Years of Space Engineering —he covers many personal adventures while working on various Laboratory projects including Voyager I and II,  the Hubble telescope, and Mars Pathfinder. Through photographs, drawings, and personal reflections, he says readers will come to understand  the scope of the United States space race, and the people who made un-manned space exploration a possibility.

With the help and cooperation of originally Roger Ransom’s father’s optical engineering company, and subsequently Roger’s company, they helped design and make mirrors, optical lens, and others items for JPL/NASA space projects. Mr. Noller brought along some of the samples and items used his work.

For more information about Eugene Noller or to acquire his book you are directed to the following websites: jplbehindthescenes.net and jplbehindthescenes.org.

l-r: Eugene W. Noller, speaker; Ben Ransom, Rogers son and photographer; Eugene’s daughter, Jaime Rodriguez, computer set up and projectionist; Roger Ransom.

Welcome Aboard to our newest member of the Camarillo Noontime Optimist Club—Christina Mahone, principal of Frontier High School!

Larry Davis, club president, inducted Mrs. Mahone at our November 20, 2017,

regular meeting and presented her with an Optimist Club hat and official pin. We look forward to inviting her to the High School Awards Banquet in March along with the outstanding students who will be receiving awards and recognition as selected by the teachers, counselors and school staff.

In the near future we hope to get to know Mrs. Mahone, a native of Ventura County, better and learn more about her growing up years and academic and personal accomplishments.

Our new meeting venue starting Monday, December 4, 2017, will be Boys & Girls Club of Camarillo. 8

President’s Message

Hello Optimists

It’s a new Optimist year and we’re off and running. We’ve had a Youth We Appreciate presentation and the Red Ribbon Week Writing contest awards night at Dos Caminos school. A big thank you goes out to Janna Visser and Howard Hoover along with Debbie Maki of PVSD.

The Koeze Nuts order is on the way with delivery in a couple of weeks or sooner. Ron Klemann will notify you when the orders are here and how to pick them up. That is our first fundraiser of the year. Ron has been working on the 8th Annual 5K Run/Walk for Youth which is scheduled for Saturday, February 3, 2018.

The big change for the club is moving to the Boys and Girls Club on December 4th. You can bring your brown bag lunch or for $5 there will be a limited number of sandwiches available. The Club Board also decided to have regular meetings only on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month except Holidays and not meet in July and August.

We have two new members. They are Christina Mahone from Frontier High School and Veronica Ortega from the PVSD Superintendent’s office.

Yours in Optimism – Larry

Calendar Dates to remember:

Dec. 4 - Cindy Belmonte—New Allergy Tests & Treatments; and Youth We Appreciate

Dec. 11 - No meeting

Dec. 14 - Christmas for Needy Families at Dos Caminos School 4 - 6 p.m. Santa will be there!!!

Dec. 18 - Chantelle Limon—2016 Summer Olympics Trip to Rio

Dec. 28 & Jan. 1 No meeting

Jan. 8 - Dr. Scott Packham—Dentist “Heart of Hope”

Jan. 15 - No meeting

Jan. 22 - Dave Norman—Camarillo City Manager

Jan. 29 - No meeting

Feb. 3 - 8th Annual 5K Run/Walk for Youth fun fundraiser at Arneill Ranch Park 9 a.m. Top Ten Reasons

Why Dogs Are Better Pets Than Cats…

1. Dogs will tilt their heads and try to understand every word you say.Cats will ignore you and take a nap.

2. Cats look silly on a leash.

3. When you come home from work, your dog will be happy and lick your face. Cats will still be mad at you for leaving in the first place.

4. Dogs will give you unconditional love until the day they die. Cats will make you pay for every mistake you've ever made since the day you were born.

5. A dog knows when you're sad. And he'll try to comfort you. Cats don't care how you feel, as long as you remember where the can opener is.

6. Dogs will bring you your slippers. Cats will drop a dead mouse in your

slippers.

7. When you take them for a ride, dogs will sit on the seat next to you. Cats have to have their own private basket, or they won't go at all.

8. Dogs will come when you call them. And they'll be happy. Cats will have someone take a message and get back to you.

9. Dogs will play fetch with you all day long. The only thing cats will play with all day long are small rodents or bugs, preferably ones that look like they're in pain.

10. Dogs will wake you up if the house is on fire. Cats will quietly sneak out the back door.

A Couple of “Old Jokes” thanks to Shig Yabu…