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Carpenteria/Santa Barbara:
Chapter members June Van Wingerden and Connie Thompson continue to work on fundraising for the tractor shed project at
the high school. Our chapter held a 50/50 raffle and on October 15 June and Rene Van Wingerden hosted the Oktoberfest party,
where the winner was drawn. Rosemary Brown, also a chapter member, won the drawing and has decided to return some of the
winnings to CWA or the Tractor shed project.; A win/win situation for all. On October 21st we held our Sweetest Day plant
and flower sale at Carpinteria Middle School and finally finished all our fundraising projects for the year. Our year will
end with a balanced budget and a relaxing Christmas luncheon at a local restaurant.
Santa Maria:
Casino Night at the Santa Maria Country Club was another awesome event. Kari Campbell-Bohard and her committee organized
and amazing fundraising evening. The Live Auction drew quite a few bidders and the Silent Auction offered a huge variety
of choices. The bucket items were generous, the bingo had a good amount of players , food was delicious and the music entertaining.
All in all it was a fun evening and we raised money for our chapter. A big THANKS to all who helped.
Our 2006 term is slowly coming to an end but there is still much to do. We will review ballot initiatives at our next
meeting.
Salinas Valley:
A major goal of our chapter is to educate the community about agriculture with booths at our local fairs and other events
and participation in farm day activities. In September we were able to help inform our agricultural community as well by co-hosting
an Agro-terrorism Awareness Seminar. Over 60 local growers, PCA's and others attended this half day, hands-on training seminar
on agro-terrorism to learn more about agricultural bio-security and emerging plant diagnostic and control systems.
We're looking forward to our annual Bus Trip on November 4, which has become so popular we've added another bus (6 total)
to accommodate all of our guests. This annual trip to San Francisco on the first Saturday of November provides a fun opportunity
for participants to get ahead on Christmas shopping and is a major fundraiser for our scholarship program.
The last farm day of the year will be October 26 in Monterey, where our chapter will have our famous Veggie ID booth to
help children (and the adults accompanying them) learn about the different fruits and vegetables grown in the Salinas Valley.
It has been an honor to be your Salinas Valley Chapter President this year; thank you for the opportunity to work with
such a wonderful group of women for agriculture.
Ventura:
Our chapter is striving to educate and enlighten our members with interesting guest speakers at our monthly meetings.
In September, local Ventura County Star newspaper columnist John Krist expanded on his ongoing series about agriculture, "Farming
on the Edge" with comments and a power point presentation. We also enjoyed a catered lunch by a local restaurant that
supports local agriculture and family farmers. In November we will co-sponsor a meeting with the Ventura County Farm Bureau
on food safety, featuring as speaker the director of the Western Institute for Food Safety and Security at University of California,
Davis. We felt this would be a timely topic in light of the recent spinach scare.
We also had a display at the "Home for the Harvest" event at Faulkner Farm in Santa Paula in October. This
is an educational and fun day for the whole family which emphasizes the history and future of agriculture in Ventura County.
Gardening demonstrations, a u-pick cornfield, a sunflower maze, music and square dancing were some of the activities. As
this was geared towards families with small children, we did not attract much attention to our group; working women with small
children are just not our target for membership. However, we always appreciate the opportunity to promote CWA.
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