Local Buzz covers new businesses, restaurants, closures, local politics, goings on around town and other buzzworthy items in the Conejo Valley and Greater Ventura County. Have a lead? Contact us. Click here for an archive of Local Buzz postings.
Local Buzz covers new restaurants, closures, local politics, goings on around town and other buzzworthy items in the Conejo Valley and Greater Ventura County. Have a lead? Contact us. Click here for an archive of Local Buzz postings.
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Throwback Thursday Food Truck Fest at the Camarillo Ranch is planned from 5-8PM on Thursday, June 27th and Thursday, July 25th, 2024. Events feature food trucks, including beer and wine, live music, house tours and kids’ activities. Free admission. Located at 201 Camarillo Ranch Road.
For more information, visit camarilloranchfoundation.com/tbt-food-truck-festival..
Kaia Tollefson, Jenn Perry, Asha Ramachandra, Matthew Vestuto, Richard Yao, Salvador Tumamait-Ambriz
A Chumash dialect spoken by the Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians thousands of years ago is alive and thriving with a new online Chumash language dictionary hosted by CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI).
Ventureño Chumash, also called mitsqanaqan, is one of six (some say seven) documented Chumashan languages, each named after a mission. There have been other Chumashan dictionaries, but this is the first online dictionary specific to the Barbareño/Ventureño Chumash. These are the indigenous people who lived in Ventura County and the northern Channel Islands for thousands of years.
Matthew Vestuto, Chairman of the Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians (BVBMI) Tribal Council who is a self-trained linguist, has been working for years to get an online presence for the mitsqanaqan dictionary, which was developed by Cal State Fullerton (CSUF) Linguistics Lecturer Timothy Henry-Rodriguez and released in 2019.
Henry-Rodriguez began developing the dictionary when he was in graduate school in 2005 and was later aided by a National Science Foundation Documenting Endangered Languages award for $25,000. He studied the notes of linguist and ethnologist John Peabody Harrington (1884-1961), who specialized in California indigenous people.
After graduate school, Henry-Rodriguez met Vestuto, who helped do more research with the aid of other members of the BVBMI.
“Our last native speakers died in the 1960s and so we’re reliant upon the archival record,” Vestuto said.
When the dictionary was released in 2019, Henry-Rodriguez described it as a labor of love for him, his student researchers, and the researchers from the Barbareño/Ventureño tribe.
“First and foremost are the various Chumash speakers who, despite oppressive social conditions and economic constraints, still understood the importance of recording their language and the urgency to do so,” Henry-Rodriguez wrote. “While they may not have known that all their hard work would come to fruition in the form of a dictionary, it is my hope that this work will honor all the hard work they did. Their bravery and strength truly inspire me continually.”
Although Henry-Rodriguez did the initial research and created the dictionary, he credits the BVBMI with working to get it online, which took place recently thanks to the expertise of CSUCI’s Information Technology Services team and the John Spoor Broome Library staff.
Vestuto and fellow researcher Salvador Tumamait-Ambriz were guests at a recent campus event in which the first phase of the dictionary was rolled out, with phases two, three and four to follow in the future.
CSUCI President Richard Yao took the podium to talk about the campus tradition of honoring the place where the University now sits, and the people who dwelled here. Yao also spoke about the President’s Chumash Advisory Council (PCAC), which was formed in 2023 between CSUCI and the BVBMI.
“In creating this Council, we acknowledge that the Chumash are the first people of the lands on which the University operates, and that CSUCI’s campus is on the unceded territory of the BVBMI,” Yao announced when the council was formed. “CSUCI has the responsibility and desire to maintain strong relationships with the BVBMI, and together we share a commitment to working in collaboration to be stewards of the land and of its natural and cultural heritage.”
The language began to disappear when the Spanish missionaries arrived in 1769 to build 21 missions up the California coast, forcing Chumash to work for them and introducing European diseases to which the Chumash had no natural immunity. The Chumash way of life - and their language - changed.
“The age-old American story is that when indigenous people went to boarding schools, they were taught their language was savage and not worthy and to not speak it,” Vestuto said. “That affects people. For a university to say, we hold your language in high esteem - to say it’s something we want to support - also affects us in a good way.”
CSUCI Professor of Anthropology and Executive Director of Regional Educational Partnerships Jennifer Perry, explained why this project is named the “House of Language.”
“By calling it the House of Language, we are referring to a living repository,” Perry said. “It’s not intended to preserve a static language, but to keep it alive and in practice and constantly evolving.”
Plans are underway to incorporate the Chumash language into the signage around campus, offering the name of a tree or plant, for example, in both English and Chumash. There are also plans to incorporate the Chumash language into the University curriculum.
“To us, the language is not imposed upon the land it comes from the land,” Vestuto said. “Language all around the world is like a living entity that pulses through the ages carrying crucial knowledge through the centuries, but it requires new breath. Our language was disrupted. We’ve developed a partnership with this campus and in doing so, we’ve also developed a friendship. The hosting of an online dictionary in our language is a major step toward assisting us in our healing.”
To access the mitsqanaqan (Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians) dictionary, visit ciapps.csuci.edu/ChumashDictionary.
The new Freedom Dog Park, located at Freedom Park at 275 E. Pleasant Valley Road in Camarillo, will host a grand opening event on Monday, October 2nd from 6-8PM. Located near the Camarillo Airport and Ventura County Animal Services. Great place to bring the pooch at night as they have lights! Open until 9pm. www.pvrpd.org/freedom-dog-park-c1fe3e4
UPDATE: Axolotl opened briefly after this was posted.
Axolotl Traditional Mexican Food is coming soon to the former, extraordinarily short-lived home of Culichi Town Mexican Food at 1755 E. Daily Drive in Camarillo. Culichi Town opened this past March. See www.axolotlrestaurant.com and follow their Facebook page for updates.
Here's a great summer deal that will bowl you over! Bowling alleys across the country are offering Kids Bowl Free deals during the summer months once again this year!
Up to two games per kid on designated days and times, subject to lane availability. Note that applicable ages for Kids Bowl Free vary up to 15 to 18.
The deal also does not apply to parties, camps and other organized events. And lastly, the deal does not include bowling shoe rental. With no further ado, here are local alleys in Ventura County and nearby areas that are participating in Kids Bowl Free!
NOTE: You first must visit www.kidsbowlfree.com and register with specific bowling alleys. After registering your children, you will receive coupons via email or through mobile devices, and in turn redeem them at the time of purchase. In addition to the 2 FREE Games, you may be able to purchase a family package (at participating centers) and generally must pay for standard shoe rental rates at the time of bowling.
Harley's Camarillo Bowl offers Kids Bowl Free Monday through Wednesday from 9am to 4pm and Thursday from noon to 4pm for kids 17 and under, from June 6 to August 31, 2023.
Harley's Simi Bowl offer Kids Bowl Free Monday, Wed, Thurs and Fri from 9am to 4pm for kids 15 and under, from June 1 to August 30, 2023.
Harley's Valley Bowl offers Kids Bowl Free Tuesday through Friday from 10am to 4pm for kids ages 18 and under, from June 6 to August 31, 2023.
Click this link to pin down information about all the local Ventura County area bowling alleys.
It appears that a new restaurant - Azafran - will be coming to the former home of Dorothy’s Chuck Wagon at 2344 Ventura Boulevard (at Palm Drive) in Camarillo. Azafran means saffron. That’s all we’ve got at this point. Stay tuned.
The City of Camarillo provides trolley bus service Sunday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Friday and Saturday until 9 p.m.
The fare price is $.50 for seniors and ADA riders and $1 for adults and students.
The service provides convenient, air-conditioned, nostalgic transportation to Camarillo retail and dining destinations. Accommodations for persons with disabilities are provided.
The trolley bus route starts at the Metrolink train station, runs west on Daily Drive, south down Las Posas Road, and then east on Ventura Boulevard back to the Metrolink station. Here are the stops and the minutes the trolley reaches each stop after each hour and half hour:
Metrolink (Camarillo Train Station) (0 min)
Ponderosa Center (next to 99 Cent Store) (4 min)
Camarillo Plaza (Daily Dr west of Murray Ave) (7 min)
Carmen Plaza (Daily and Carmen) (9 min)
Las Posas Plaza (Daily and Calle La Roda) (11 min)
Camarillo Town Center (between Ross and Walmart) (17 min)
Premium Outlets Promenade (Ventura Blvd) (20 min)
Premium Outlets Main Court (Ventura Blvd and Camarillo Center Dr) (22 min)
Old Town (Ventura Blvd and Fir St) (25 min)
Dizdar Park and Camarillo Chamber (27 min)
Metrolink (30 min)
The trolley stops at shopping centers all along the route on a 30 minute schedule. Riders can also flag down the trolley to board anywhere along the route.
Where IS the trolley at any given point in time!? Well you can get that answer on the Trolley Tracker at www.camarillotrolley.com.
www.ci.camarillo.ca.us/residents/public_transportation/camarillo_trolley.php
Red-legged Frog
California State University Channel Islands (CSUCI) and the Santa Barbara Zoo have announced a partnership that will enrich academic opportunities for students and enhance wildlife conservation, research, and outreach throughout the region.
On Friday, April 14, at 10 a.m., at the Santa Barbara Zoo, CSUCI President Richard Yao and Zoo President and CEO Richard Block will sign a memorandum of understanding formalizing the relationship. The agreement paves the way for future collaboration and outlines plans for a zoo-owned and managed conservation center on the CSUCI campus.
“By partnering with a world-class zoo right here in our backyard, we are strengthening our commitment to be a ‘conservation campus’ on the Central Coast,” said Yao. “We are excited about the opportunities for our students to work side by side with Zoo personnel and CSUCI faculty to protect and reestablish threatened species in our region and to develop vital skills in conservation education and management. It is our hope that students and faculty from all disciplines and programs of study will have a chance to benefit from and contribute to our partnership with the Zoo. It will present rich opportunities for interdisciplinary collaborations.”
“We are excited to partner with CSUCI to establish the first zoo-owned and managed facility accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums on a university campus,” Block said. “Through this alliance, we look forward to expanding our Zoo conservation programs and providing a learning laboratory where students can assist in the important work of wildlife conservation, education, zoo management and marketing, animal husbandry, guest services, and more. The opportunities to align our programs and resources with CSUCI are limitless.”
The partnership resolves the Zoo’s urgent need for more space in which to expand its wildlife conservation efforts. At its 28-acre Santa Barbara site, which is home to more than 400 animals representing 146 species, the Zoo is running out of room to house a growing collection of threatened and endangered species. They include Western snowy plovers, California red-legged frogs, California condors, and Western pond turtles. In the coming years, the Zoo plans to shift the majority of its conservation activities and staff to the conservation center at CSUCI.
“It’s game-changing because it enables us to scale up what we are doing in terms of direct conservation interventions on behalf of species recovery,” said Estelle Sandhaus, Director of Conservation & Science at the Zoo. “It vastly increases our capacity to take in and protect species during extreme weather events, which is something we are being called upon to do more and more often by our federal and state agency partners.”
That work aligns perfectly with conservation education and research already underway at CSUCI. Associate Professor of Biology Allison Alvarado says she’s looking forward to integrating the Zoo’s expertise into courses like Conservation Genetics, where her students perform case studies on recovery efforts for the island fox and the California condor.
“The Zoo's expertise and involvement in recovery of these species will offer students additional first-hand insight on the challenges and rewards associated with the process,” Alvarado said. “We are excited about the hands-on opportunities this partnership will offer for students and faculty to engage in local conservation science and the protection of endangered species in the area.”
CSUCI has identified a 60,000-square foot site on the western edge of the campus near Modoc Hall that is ideal for the Zoo’s needs. Under the agreement, CSUCI will lease the land to the Zoo and the Zoo will own the conservation center buildings and facilities. Preliminary plans for the site include classroom and meeting spaces, offices for conservation staff, pens for animal care, containment and breeding, native plant gardens, and spaces for the public to enjoy and participate in the conservation center.
In the meantime, other collaborations are being explored with CSUCI’s other academic disciplines. CSUCI’s Performing Arts program is working with the Zoo to develop and stage live shows and performances for Zoo visitors. Students in a Spanish capstone course led by Associate Professor Javier Gonzalez are translating materials for the Zoo’s summer camps and other educational materials. And CSUCI’s Early Childhood Studies program is teaming up with the Zoo’s Early Explorers Preschool to bring its bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Studies to Santa Barbara County in Fall 2023.
“The Zoo partnership embodies everything that CSUCI stands for in terms of serving our region as a hub of conservation and education,” said Jennifer Perry, Executive Director of Regional Educational Partnerships at CSUCI. “Our region is home to a globally recognized biodiversity hotspot. Through our partnerships with the Zoo and other agencies like the National Park Service, our faculty and students can be instrumental in bringing species back from the brink of extinction and restoring habitats in a way that’s viable. We can make a difference and be a model of success stories in the face of climate change.”
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY CHANNEL ISLANDS
California State University Channel Islands (CSUCI) is Ventura County’s only public university and opened in 2002 as the 23rd campus in the CSU system serving the regions of Ventura, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles counties, as well as the entire state. CSUCI is located between Camarillo and the Oxnard Plain, midway between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles and 25 miles north from Malibu.
The campus is nestled against the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains and is a 10-minute drive from the Pacific Ocean. With more than 5,600 students, 24,500 alumni, and 1,000 employees, CSUCI is poised to grow in size and distinction, while maintaining one of the most student-focused learning environments in public higher education with more than 90 academic degrees, teaching credentials, certificates, and professional and community programs.
Connect with and learn more by visiting www.csuci.edu or CSUCI’s Social Media.
The University encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs, events and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation, or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact the respective area below as soon as possible, but no later than seven (7) business days prior to the event/activity:
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