Ventura County Active Seniors

We're a meetup for over-50 active seniors. We walk and hike every week: there is a "start-the-week-off-right" walk every Monday [generally at either Seabridge or Marine Emporium Landing in Oxnard] and at least one longer hike, generally in the 5 to 7 mile range. We mix "elevation" hikes [Ray Miller Trail, Zuma Ridge, Sulphur Mountain, etc.] with flatland hikes [Lake Casitas, Sycamore Canyon, Ormand Beach, etc.]. Sometimes we mix the two. For example, at Sycamore Canyon part of the group may opt to stay on the flat trail while the rest hike up one of the side trails. Last year went to Santa Cruz Island for some hiking, and we'll probably go back. We throw in bike rides, on occasion, knees permitting. I'd like to do some camping, and we do have a camp, but tent camping is a hard sell to many in the over-50 crowd. I would like to camp at Jalama Beach and Santa Cruz Island in the next year.

We also do many less rigorous things. Cultural things, for example. Classical music is a focus. So we organize all six of the New West Symphony yearly concerts as MEETUP events. We've gone to one or two Hollywood Bowl concerts most seasons. Each season, the Metropolitan Opera simulcasts 10 operas from New York to various theaters around the world, including the Century at The Collection in Oxnard. We go to nearly all of them. The experience is really much better than if you attended live in NY: more comfortable seats, better than front row view of the action, popcorn or whatever to chomp on. 

Continuing on the cultural  theme, The Bolshoi Ballet broadcasts several ballets a year. We see those at The Collection as well. Then there are the plays from National Theatre Live: we've seen everything from War Horse to Frankenstein streamed to a local theater. And we throw in an occasional live play. We've also attended various arm chair museum and other tours. The one on Pompeii was my favorite. One night we saw "Last Night of the PROMS," probably my favorite of all the events we've seen. [For you non-Brits, PROMS is a summer series of concert events that are sort of like a combination of the Hollywood Bowl and a party.]

Each year we go on a fireworks cruise out of Ventura Harbor. Another yearly event is a special charity BBQ for St Jude Hospital.  

A special opportunity last year was the Flamenco Arts Festival in Santa Barbara-- a movie [called, fittingly "Flamenco, Flamenco"] and a live performance. Flamenco is not everyone's cup of tea, but for some of us...No Festival in 2018, but it will return in 2019.

Then there are the special musical events offered at the theater at The Collection. Which brings us to the other "classic" music we favor--classic rock and blues. Examples include the Rolling Stones Latin American tour, Grateful Dead concerts raised and remastered from the Jerry Garcia era, the Who in concert, Eric Clapton's "Crossroads," and more. Nonmusical special events at The Collection have included a mixed bag of things.  We saw the opening night of TED 2017 streamed live, for example.

We don't ignore movies, although we're not hard core. About every other week the Oxnard Film Society presents a foreign film. These are frequently very good and very often present cinema you'd never see from Hollywood. Plus they often give some insight into foreign cultures and societies. We attend nearly all of them. Then there are the classic movies--everything from Gone with the Wind to The Graduate--remastered and resurrected on the big screen. Seeing them on that big screen is a much different experience from Netflix on your iPhone. We don't ignore contemporary movies, but we're selective. You won't be seeing "Guardians of the Galaxy 2" with us. But "Born in China" or "Allied?" Sure.

In most events, some sort of meal is included, either at a restaurant, or bring your own picnic basket, or a potluck. So we have eaten at and explored the cuisine at a variety of conveniently located restaurants--The Golden Egg, Moqueca, Settebello, Kabuki, Yard House, The Spot [Carpinteria], Sura, and various others. In some of the restaurants they know us by name. Sometimes we skip the pretense of an event and just eat out. The goal beyond getting fed is of course to have a social outing. Not much socializing can go on in a dark theater, at least not without being thrown out.

As you can see, this MEETUP is not narrowly focused. It follows my tastes in general, but I'm open to adding events suggested by members, especially if you're willing to help in organizing the event. And although I don't mind having members who belong to 100 different MEETUPs and attend one of ours infrequently, my goal is to have a group of friends who do many things together. That adds the social side to eventing. So welcome to Ventura County Active Seniors and I hope to see you at an event soon.

John

Some loyal group members have "Chipped In" from time to time to help defray the costs of running this MEETUP group. But the MEETUP folks have suppressed this option in their ongoing effort to anger organizers and make the MEETUP app less useful.  But the function is still there, although hidden:

https://secure.meetup.com/Ventura-County-Active-Seniors/contribute/