Oak View Reaches Out To Community

Civic Council looks for fresh faces, ideas to invigorate efforts, projects

By Sondra Murphy
Hoping to capitalize on the good will of the community after its 2008 pageant and Memorial Day parade, the Oak View Civic Council is looking for new council and board members as it prepares for another year of community service.
Discussed at its June 4 formal meeting were ways to get more people involved in the many events that provide opportunities for neighbors to connect while benefiting local organizations that help nurture the lives of residents.
Council board positions open for nominations are secretary, first vice president, treasurer and two members at large. One of the latter will be vacated July 1, when Al Buczkowski takes over as honorary mayor of Oak View.
Nominated at the meeting were Catherine Lee for parliamentarian, Danna Prock for member at large and Nancy Graham and Patrick Gorey as treasurer. The council elections will take place at the July 2 meeting.
After March’s Miss Oak View pageant, court members and parents are working to form a pageant committee. With the OVCC members having announced last month that they were considering withdrawing their sponsorship of the pageant, contestants and winners, both recent and from years past, attended to request that the council continue supporting the pageant.
The Miss Oak View Pageant stresses poise, community service, academics, public speaking and inner beauty in a way that reflects well on the community. The pageant is an intensive process that requires many hours of preparation. Kim Armstrong expressed interest in remaining as pageant chair, a job she has put her heart into for the last three years.
“We have two limitations,” said Gorey. “One is financial and the other is manpower.” During discussion, several council members expressed hope that the people to whom the pageant means so much will step up and become actively involved with its production.
The council voted to fund the pageant committee as they do a number of other groups in Oak View. “We will be a major sponsor, but not ‘the’ sponsor,” said Prock.
Community groups submit a written request to the council that includes a dollar figure and OVCC gives each what it can afford. This donation process has been used by such organizations as the Ojai Valley Little League and Art to Grow On.
With OVCC remaining as a pageant sponsor, the Oak View pageant will have the benefit of insurance coverage, the use of the Community Center and historical knowledge of the event’s needs.
Pageant participants will continue to help raise funds for the event.
Membership to the OVCC is open to residents of Oak View and the surrounding unincorporated areas. Cost to join is free or, with a $10 donation, local merchant coupons are received by the new member. Council meetings are generally the first Wednesday of each month at the Oak View Community Center, 18 Valley Road. For more information, contact President John Herndon at 649-2919.
Past pageant participants are particularly encouraged to join the pageant committee. For information, contact Armstrong at 640-0727. Check out the web site at oakviewca.org for examples of all the council does and watch for the Oak View float and pageant court cruising down Ojai Avenue in the 2008 Fourth of July parade.