2015-2016

Details

Category: 2015-2016

Chris Drucker has been involved in Living Treasures years before it was founded. Her late husband, Sanford, was the founder of Living Treasures. She was the "hidden treasure" behind the scenes, cheering him on.

She is a retiree with a doctorate in mythology, working on translation and editing of works by Carl Jung.

She has worked with the Ojai Music Festival for over 20 years, is Vice President of the Board of the Museum of Ventura. Chris is also involved with the Red Cross working on disaster preparedness and going out on single family fire calls.

On volunteerism she says, "Find the people who are doing what you really have a desire to do or a passion about and just show up. Show up and volunteer."

Details

Category: 2015-2016

Kay is a licensed clinical social worker with a practice in Ojai. She is a deacon of the Ojai Presbyterian Church and a very active member of the Rotary Club of Ojai.

Through her many travels, Kay saw many needs and sought ways to help. Through Rotary, her expertise in securing grant monies, and personally visiting these areas, she has achieved phenomenal success.

In collaboration with Leslie Clark, she has aided the Nomads of Niger, securing grant monies for training midwives, providing a means of clean water, and aiding in creation of microbusinesses.

She secured a grant, $78,000, for the Streetgirls of Ghana Program which provides young pregnant women who live on the street in Accra with safe housing, prenatal instruction, and employable skills to break their cycle of poverty.

Similarly, aid has been given to the Tibetan Aid Foundation which is providing medical care, a mobile medical clinic, and much more for the people of Tibet.

To quote Kay, "It is so wonderful because I do not have the personal resources to be a philanthropist, but I found this way to get money to projects that I feel strongly about."

Details

Category: 2015-2016

Ray Johnson is recognized for sharing a passion with other people. He learned to fly fish when he was 5 years old. He had such a fondness for the sport, he gladly taught the art of fly fishing to children and adults.

He taught fly fishing at Santa Ana College for over 22 years. He is an expert at rod building, fly-tying, and casting. His willingness to share his expertise makes him a Treasure.

He has also lent his culinary skills to church and community functions, cooking sourdough pancakes and barbecuing.

He coached football for 35 years and is also interested in wood working.

As to his love of fishing, "But just talking fly-fishing, and I get goose bumps."

Details

Category: 2015-2016

Rose Boggs was born in Ojai at her parents' home on Lyon Street and is proud of her heritage, using her full name, Rose Chavez Boggs. Her academic degrees include a BA in history from UC, Berkeley, teaching degree from UCLA, Master's Degree in early education at Azusa-Pacific University and is a retired teacher. She was a champion tennis player and a volunteer at the Ojai Tennis Tournament for many years.

At 87 years old, she has been very active in Ojai. In addition to the Ojai Tennis Tournament, she has been a member of the Historic Preservation Commission for 30 years and volunteers for the Ojai Valley Museum, where she leads tourists on historic tour walks in downtown Ojai and gives lectures on Ojai history.

Rose observes, "Ojai's a very beautiful place to live--it's a very healthy, healing place."

Details

Category: 2015-2016

Stephanie Midgett has only been in Ojai for 11 years, but she's contributed so much in this time.

She is a member of The Rotary Clug of Ojai West. She and her husband, Don attended CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) classes for 7 weeks. Inspired by this, she had the classes filmed and distributed nationwide as a "textbook on TV" DVD entitled "People Like You". It covers disaster preparedness, first aid, and extensive coverage of situations we may all have to face.

Her love of children has prompted her to teach children 3rd through 6th grades about Lake Casitias and environmentally based instruction through Rotary West's boat tours.

Stephanie is also a dancer. She leads a dance group, Spirit Loving Dance. She teaches liturgical dance and stages programs for churches and nursing homes.

Details

Category: 2015-2016

The name, Thacher is woven into the historical fabric that is Ojai. It is associated with a school, a road, Pixie Tangerines, the Ojai Tennis Tournament, the Ojai Museum, and many other things.

He, his wife, and family are so generous to the community. He runs Friend's Ranch with his wife of 50 years, Anne, and his children. He has consistently shared his citrus, his monetary assets and his time for the good of the Ojai Community.

He supports the Ojai Tennis Tournament, started by his family in the late 1800s. He has been involved with the Regional Water Control Board, where he became interested in water availability and quality in the Ventura and Los Angeles areas.

He has been a member of Ojai Rotary for over 40 years, a former President. He was a prime mover in the Club's educational scholarship program which gave 18 scholarships this past year. He serves at the Ojai Museum, is on the advisory board of CREW and enjoys traveling. He returned recently from a trip to Cuba, where he organized donations of baseball equipment for their youth.