Rosness retires from Goleta center

Solvang resident Randy Rosness has retired from his position as executive director of the Goleta Valley Community Center after 21 years. Rosness was hired in 1989 to restore and enhance the old Goleta Valley Union School building and the seven-acres of land surrounding it.

During Rosness’s tenure at the center, 100 parking spaces were added, as well as tennis and basketball courts, an athletic field, a gazebo, MTD and senior bus stops, Hollister sidewalk and pole lights, a seven-pole American Flag Display, brick walkways and an open courtyard arbor.

Rosness established the annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at the Center in 1990 and organized the Veteran’s Day Ceremony program and barbecue held each Nov. 11.

He served on the Goleta Beautiful Board for four years; has been a judge of the Goleta Teen of the Year for 20 years; was instrumental in launching Goleta’s first ever 4th of July Fireworks Show at Harder Stadium in 1999 and co-chaired, with Tammy Dobrotin, Goleta’s first Lemon Festival.

A member of the Goleta Valley Chamber, Rosness was elected its president in 1996 and was honored with the Golden Deed Award as Man of the Year that same year. He is a past member of the Goleta Valley Hospital Foundation and the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission Community Relations Committee.

Rosness is active in his church, serves on the board of the Santa Ynez Christian Academy and regularly takes part in a weekly prison ministry. He and his wife, Sheryl, spend their vacations travelling to foreign Christian missions, which they support. He is an avid sports fan, loves to play golf and has been known to make surprise appearances at Senior Center Mardi Gras party as Elvis.

Congratulations from the Journal on your retirement.

 

Tapas bar opens

Terravant Wine Company has opened Avant Tapas and Wine, its new tapas restaurant, wine bar and wine shop, the first tapas bar in the area.

Thirty-plus Vintners are featured at Avant, and all make their wines at Terravant Wine Center. Terravant is California’s newest high-tech winemaking facility. It caters to the ultra premium wines of the Santa Ynez Valley. Avant is the showcase for these wines.

The tapas bar provides small plates of food in the Spanish tapas style. They can be ordered and consumed as appetizers or several provide a meal. The concept is to enjoy fine wines pared with fine dining. The creative chef for Avant is Jeff Olsson, a well known and long standing local chef and caterer. terravant.com

 

Hospice opens in Valley

Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care has opened an office in the Santa Ynez Valley, which offers all of the same services as its Santa Barbara sister with the added bonus of its entire staff residing in the Santa Ynez Valley.

VNHC offers a wide range of home health, hospice and personal care services. Its mission is to provide high quality, comprehensive home health, hospice and related services necessary to promote the health and well-being of all community residents, including those unable to pay. For more information, call (805) 965-5555 or visit vnhcsb.org. The office is located at 436 First St., Suite 202, Solvang 93463.

 

Winery features new artist

Lompoc artist Joan Jones is the latest artist to have her work featured by Carina Cellars in its tasting room in Los Olivos through November.

The artist’s passion for the human figure will be evident in the show, which will include pastel and watercolor originals from live models, as well as giclee fine art prints of the same.

Although Jones considers watercolor her primary medium, to prepare for this show she worked more in pastels, a medium suited to her skills as a draftsman.

Jones is a member of Santa Ynez Valley Artists’ Guild, Santa Barbara Art Association and Lompoc Valley Art Association. She lives in Vandenberg Village with her husband, Dick.

The Carina Cellars Tasting Room is located at 2900 Grand Avenue in Los Olivos and open daily from 111 a.m. to 5 p.m. carinacellars.com

 

Faith-based movies on Cox

Cox Communications Digital Cable is now offering faith-based movies as part of its subscription-based video-on-demand service.

Each month, Faith & Family Movies will feature 20 faith-based, family friendly movies from Faith & Family Entertainment LLC, a producer of Christian-themed movies and miniseries, including the “Love Comes Softly” series, the most successful Christian movie franchise.

Original faith-based series and mini-series will be added to the service’s on-demand programming in the future, which is available to subscribers on an unlimited basis, 24 hours a day, at anytime with no commercial interruption for $6.99 per month.

 

Student newspaper named finalist

The Santa Barbara City College student newspaper The Channels and its 2008-09 staff have been named finalists for three national Pacemaker Awards from the Associated Collegiate Press. The awards are widely considered the “Pulitzer Prize of student journalism.”

Both the print and online Channels were named finalists in their respective categories in the two-year college categories In addition, The Channels’ staff photographer James Sinclair was named one the top five student photojournalists in the “spot news category” for his panoramic photograph of the Jesusita Fire in Santa Barbara.

 After 18 years of serving as The Channels’ adviser, Journalism Department Chair Patricia Stark was particularly pleased with the national recognition.

“I’m thrilled to receive validation that so much of what we’re trying here is on the right track, particularly with the nomination for our online product and the new technology that involves,” Start said.

“It’s a tremendous honor to be recognized for both our print and online versions,” said Kenny Lindberg, The Channels’ print editor. “It was a lot of hard work on the part of many people. Sixty-hour weeks were common.”

The Associated Collegiate Press will acknowledge all national finalists and announce winners in each category at the ACP-College Media Advisers’ Annual Conference Oct. 28 to Nov. 1 in Austin, Texas.

 

Valley gal joins Foundation

Molly Carrillo-Walker has joined the Santa Barbara Foundation as a community investment officer.

As CIO, Carrillo-Walker will serve as a full time liaison and partner for the North County nonprofit community. This is a new position for the foundation, which is looking to expand its presence in North County. 

Carrillo-Walker and her husband, Guy, and their two children live in Santa Ynez. She earned her Master’s degree in public administration from Cal-State University, Northridge, and her bachelor’s degree from Cal-State University, Los Angeles.

The Santa Barbara Foundation was established in 1928 to enrich the lives of the people of Santa Barbara through philanthropy. In fiscal year 2008, the foundation awarded over $14 million in grants and $2.5 million in student loans. 

 

Calling Valley women

A women’s “giving circle” has been created to fund selected human services for disadvantaged families and children in the Santa Ynez and Los Alamos valleys.

Called the Valley 100 Women’s Independent Giving Society (WIGS), membership is being limited to 100 women.

Organizers say the goal of the Valley 100 is to simplify giving and empower women by pooling their resources. People Helping People has been selected as the group’s umbrella organization.

The selection of programs to fund will occur each year at a luncheon hosted by WIGS founders at which PHP will present its programs and members will vote. 

Founding members include Nancy Englander, Mila Hart, Claire Hanssen, Annette Serrurier, Carolyn Balaban, Nancy Eklund Hunsicker, Sandra Focht, Barbara Crist and Phyllis Hennigan.  For more information on how you can participate, please contact Mila Hart (milahart8@aol.com) or Claire Hanssen (clairehanssen@west.net).