The Conejo Valley Guide "Welcome" blog covers a wide range of topics, local information, highlights of local things to do, compilations and other items. Focus is on information relevant to Ventura County and surrounding areas, including Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Newbury Park, Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Malibu, Simi Valley, Camarillo, Moorpark, Somis, Fillmore, Santa Paula, Ojai, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Santa Barbara and Moorpark.
The Conejo Valley Guide® "Welcome" blog covers a wide range of topics, local information, local things to do, holiday event compilations, announcements and more.
Rancho Tapo Community Park is located at 3700 Avenida Simi in Simi Valley. At the southeast end of the park is Veterans Plaza, a memorial area that opened in November 2002 to commemorate U.S. veterans. The Plaza includes a grass amphitheater area, a ceremonial area with descriptions of American wars going back to the Revolutionary War and an adjacent pond and fountain.
This is a treat...video footage from the 1967 Conejo Valley Days Parade and Miss Conejo 1967 Beauty Pageant.
Speaking of Conejo Valley Days, the 2024 event is planned for June 20-30. Conejo Valley Days has been an annual community tradition since 1956. www.conejovalleydays.us
You may recognize scenes from Thousand Oaks Boulevard, though the Conejo Lodge and Sizzler are certainly long gone.
The Miss Conejo Pageant featured Miss Sally Shop, Miss Conejo Music Center, Miss A&W Root Beer, Miss Conejo Muffler, Miss Service Master, Miss Sizzler and others.
The "Do Something" section of Conejo Valley Guide highlights over 250 things to do throughout Ventura County and surrounding areas, including over four dozen museums. Let's take a closer look at the museums on the list that offer free admission days.
Admission to the Conejo Valley Art Museum is free year-round.
There is no admission charge at the Skateboarding Hall of Fame and Museum that opened at the Simi Valley Town Center in December 2018 (massive collection of vintage skateboards and skating artifacts). Open (as of January 2019) Thursday/Friday 2-9PM, Saturday 10AM-9PM and Sunday 11AM-7PM.
The Santa Susana Depot and Museum in Simi Valley is open to the public on weekends, free of charge.
Historic Dudley House Museum in Ventura is open the 1st Sunday of the month most of the year and admission is free (donations encouraged).
Robert J. Lagomarsino Visitor Center at Channel Islands National Park located at the Ventura Harbor is open year-round free of admission.
Channel Islands Maritime Museum offers free admission on the 3rd Thursday of each month.
U.S. Navy Seabee Museum in Port Hueneme offers year-round free admission.
Free admission at the Museum of Ventura County in Downtown Ventura the 1st Sunday of the month. (ADMISSION FREE EVERY DAY IN 2023)
Free First Saturdays from 11am to 4pm at Studio Channel Islands Art Center in Old Town Camarillo.
There is no admission charge at the Pleasant Valley Historical Museum and Botanical Garden in Camarillo. Open weekends. (NOTE AS OF APRIL 2023 THE MUSEUM IS STILL CLOSED AS IT IS BEING EXPANDED)
There is no charge for looking through the windows into the A.J. Comstock Fire Museum in the Figueroa Street Mall in Downtown Ventura.
Ojai Valley Museum currently offers free admission the 3rd Friday of each month from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Museum of Ventura County’s Agriculture Museum in Santa Paula offers free admission on the 1st Sunday of the month (ADMISSION FREE EVERY DAY IN 2023)
Santa Paula Art Museum offers free admission on the 1st Sunday of the month.
Aviation Museum of Santa Paula is open the 1st Sunday of each month with no admission charge.
California Oil Museum in Fillmore is free admission year-round, though there is a suggested donation of $4.(CURRENTLY CLOSED AS OF APRIL 2023 BUT IS CURRENTLY “RE-ENERGIZING”)
Admission is free year-round at the Reagan Ranch Center Exhibit Galleries in Santa Barbara on State Street in front of the Amtrak Station.
Santa Barbara Historical Museum offers free admission year-round; donations are welcomed.
Free Family Days at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History on the third Sunday of January, February, March, April, September, October, November, and December.
Nethercutt Museum in Sylmar offers free admission year-round to its showcase of vintage cars.
Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles offers free year-round admission.
Kidspace Kids Museum in Pasadena offers Free Family Night from 4pm to 8pm the 1st Tuesday of each month, except September.
The Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades is free of charge year-round.
California ScienCenter in Exposition Park is free admission year-round.
Bank of America offers free admission to over 150 museums around the country the first full weekend of each month.
1956 Rolls Royce Phantom Saloon at Nethercutt Automotive Museum.
You like FREE!? Click here for hundreds of other free activities and things in and around Ventura County!
Fulkerson Hardware circa 2016
If you are ever passing through Somis from Camarillo, you will likely be passing by the historic Fulkerson Hardware Store at 3403 Somis Road.
The Fulkerson Hardware building was designated a Ventura County Historical Landmark on July 1991. This one-story stucco structure was originally built in 1925.
Fulkerson Hardware was founded in 1912 by Jonathan Fulkerson and this structure sits on the foundation of the original hardware store.
The store is still family owned; Fulkerson's grandson Bob is the proprietor today. Jonathan's brother James opened the first business in Somis in 1892, a blacksmith shop.
You've got to step back into history and check this store out. It is jam packed with items and if you can't find what you need, ask Bob. In a corner of the business is "Jack's Museum." Jack is the son of the original founder and Bob's father. Quite a bit of local history on hand in here. Call 805.386.5795 for hours.
History on display in "Jack's Museum" at Fulkerson Hardware
If you stop by, grab lunch or breakfast at the nearby Somis Cafe and Market, which has been a Somis staple since 1974.
Somis is an unincorporated city of about 3,000 residents in Ventura County that was established in 1892. The name Somis means “water of the scrub oak” in the Chumash language, indicating the presence of water.
My two other favorite things to do in Somis is to visit the more low key Underwood Family Farms Somis Farm Center at 5696 E. Los Angeles Avenue and the Somis Nut House.
Side of building at the corner of Somis Road and Rice Street (photo from 2016)
Newer paint, same retro style circa Fall 2021.
The City of Thousand Oaks has announced a new program to encourage use of our beautiful open space. "Trek & Brek" offers residents who hike to designated pilot locations the opportunity to purchase some of their breakfast favorites.
Program Manager Stu Pidman remarked, "how many times have you trekked up Tarantula Hill, only to be distracted by the desire for a Venti Caramel Latte when you reach the top?" Now you can enjoy the view with a selected fresh brew.
Residents polled indicated a Jack in the Box breakfast is the ultimate incentive for strolling down the Mesa Trail. "What better way to burn off calories en route to Lizard Rock?" says 11 year resident Ivana Eeet. "Frankly I don't enjoy hiking, but knowing a Breakfast Jack is in my immediate future really gets me going."
Sally Fritter and her daughter Apple were the first duo to test the new Krispy Kreme vending machine on the Hill Canyon Trail in Thousand Oaks. Though in the initial pilot they tossed their glazed Krispy Kremes into the Arroyo Conejo after a swarm of bees came after the donuts, they enjoyed the fresh air.
Learn more at www.trekandbrek.com.
The Chumash home, or 'Ap, at Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa in June 2017 (it was subsequently taken down and rebuilt (see video below). unfortunately the newly built one also came down since then.
In front of the Satwiwa Native American Indian Culture Center in Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa in Newbury Park is a replica Chumash home called an 'ap. An 'ap is shaped like half an orange and is made by setting willow poles in the ground in a circle, bending them into shape at the top to form a dome.
What is obviously missing from the 'ap above is the outer, vertical layers, cattails laid out like shingles. The 'aps in the Chumash Indian Village at the Chumash Indian Museum in Thousand Oaks display what those look like, as does the video below from June 2020 showing the rebuilt Satwiwa ‘ap.
'Aps at Chumash Indian Museum's demonstration village. These were destroyed by the Woolsey Fire of 2018 but will be rebuilt.
Oakbrook Regional Park in March 2023 with two rebuilt ‘aps.
There is a hole at the top of the 'ap to allow for air circulation that was covered with an animal skin when it was raining.
The 'ap at Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa in June 2017. I spoke with the ranger about this 'ap, which is quite past its prime and has become misshapen. At some point what the Chumash do, when an 'ap is no longer of use and needs to be re-built, is take the willow poles down and burn them in a ceremony.
Funny that many folks, my kids included, wonder why the Chumash did not live in teepees (or tipis). Teepees are cone-shaped tents made of animal skins on wooden poles that were used primarily by Native Americans in the Great Plains section of the U.S. (Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota and portions of other prairie states). The Chumash did not live in teepees.
There is also a Chumash 'ap on display as part of a Chumash Village exhibit at the Stagecoach Inn Museum in Newbury Park.
The teepee structure at Wildwood Park in Thousand Oaks is fun to hike to and sit under but is not something the Chumash Indians would ever have lived in.
An informational sign describing an ‘ap anis (village) at Oakbrook Regional Park in March 2023.
Last week, the IRS extended the 2022 tax filing deadline for taxpayers in most California counties (including our local LA/Ventura/Santa Barbara/Orange counties) to October 16, 2023. The deadline was previously extended from April 18th to May 15th due to the January storms.
In addition to individual and business tax returns, this extension applies to funding IRAs and to making estimated tax payments for Q422 to Q323 (if applicable).
The state of California has conformed to extension of filings and payments to October 16th. See www.ftb.ca.gov/about-ftb/newsroom/news-releases/2023-03-ftb-california-winter-storm-tax-relief-extension.html for details.
Conejo Valley Guide covers events, activities and things to do throughout Ventura County and surrounding areas.
Conejo Valley Guide® covers thousands of events, activities and things to do throughout Ventura County, California and surrounding areas.
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