After years of planning, design and construction starts and stops, the new Camarillo Center opened its doors to the community March 11.  With an open house and outdoor ceremony, the new facility was officially inaugurated.

CCC Director David Muraki was a speaker for the event, along with Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, Cal Fire Southern Region Chief Dale Hutchinson, CCC Foundation President Tom Riley, Camarillo Mayor Michael Morgan and several others.  Corpsmembers Sarah Borman and Jose Puga served as the emcees.

"We had a great mix of community and project partners -- it really was an open house and a great celebration of our new home," says Camarillo Center Director Christie Rochte.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, guests had a chance to see the fire crew do a tool-up demonstration in full gear.  That was followed by tours of the center buildings, with corpsmembers as tour guides.

Camarillo Center Director Christie Rochte addresses the guests.

Christie Rochte, at the podium, generates smiles from Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, left, CCC Director David Muraki, and Cal Fire Southern Region Chief Dale Hutchinson.  Photo by Tim Rochte.

CCC Director David Muraki receives the key to the center from corpsmember Javier Rodriguez.  The key was made of wood from the new buildings.

Guests included former San Luis Obispo Center Director Tim Rochte, left; former Camarillo Center Director Nacho Piña; and Los Angeles Conservation Corps Executive Director Bruce Saito.

The Camarillo firefighters provided a tool-up demonstration.

The afternoon was capped off by a John Muir Charter School graduation.  Nine corpsmembers were awarded their diplomas in a ceremony hosted by C II Jim Kastner.  The graduates were congratulated by teacher Cristina Vanderlaan and teacher's aide Kate Kelly, along with Center Director Christie Rochte and special guests including CCC Director David Muraki, Muir Executive Director Buzz Breedlove, CCC Foundation President Tom Riley and Region 2 Deputy Kris Escarda.

"Graduations always make us very proud of corpsmembers who worked so hard to achieve their high school diplomas," Christie says.  "It was another special part of the day."

Graduate Alfredo Burgara says a few words at the ceremony as Jim Kastner, Kate Kelly and Cristina Vanderlaan look on.

Graduate Robert Oliver is all smiles.  Photo by Ali Widmar.

Camarillo Center Director Christie Rochte chats with Region 2 Deputy Kris Escarda after the graduation.

SARDINES, SANDBAGS AND MUD

BACKCOUNTRY CREWS SELECTED 

Members of the six Backcountry Trails crews have now been announced for the 2011 season and 48 lucky corpsmembers will start preparing for a five-month work and living experience in a California wilderness area.  Ninety corpsmembers applied for the program.

Those locations in Region I sending corpsmembers are Chico, Fortuna, Greenwood, Napa, Placer, Redding, Siskiyou, Ukiah and Weaverville.  In Region 2, Backcountry participants have been chosen from Camarillo, Inland Empire, Los Angeles, Los Padres, Monterey Bay, Pomona, San Diego, Santa Maria and Tahoe.  There is also a participant from Conservation Corps North Bay.

Along with CCC members, the Backcountry Trails Program, with partial AmeriCorps funding, also hires people from outside the Corps.  This year's applicants came from 41 states and the District of Columbia; those selected represent 25 of those locations, with the majority from California. 

The six crews are made up of 67 men and 37 women.  The 2011 crew locations are as follows:

Inyo Crew --  6 weeks in Los Padres National Forest, 16 weeks in Inyo National Forest.

Kings Canyon Crew -- Kings Canyon National Park.

Klamath Crew -- Klamath National Forest, Marble Mountain Wilderness, Siskiyou Wilderness.

Shasta-Trinity Crew -- Shasta-Trinity National Forest,Trinity Alps Wilderness.

Stanislaus Crew  -- Stanislaus National Forest.

Yosemite Crew -- Yosemite National Park.

A seventh crew is new this year, composed of a majority of veterans.  Veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan will construct and maintain trails in Big Basin State Park, the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Sequoia National Park and Inyo National Forest.  Support for this crew has come from California State Parks, Proposition 84, Sequoia National Park and the U.S. Forest Service

The Backcountry's Karlson Hubbard crisscrossed the state to do presentations at nearly every CCC location, aided by Brian Lussier and Kiva Vigil. Karlson's excited about the 2011 season.

"We've got great projects lined out and have selected folks who'll benefit the backcountry trails in terms of experience, work done and personal and vocational development," Karlson says. "We've made the crews as diverse as possible for great learning and great life experiences."

Orientation for the crews will take place April 18-22 at McClellan Park in Sacramento. 

DOLORES HUERTA VISITS LOS PADRES

Dolores Huerta, second from left, poses beside a painting of Cesar Chavez at the Los Padres Center.  With her are C I Victor Rocha, left, her husband, Richard Chavez, and crewleaders Jolina Elliott and Rebecca Lipthay.

As part of the Los Padres Cesar Chavez Day celebration for corpsmembers, Dolores Huerta visited the center one evening last month.  Her grandson, David Ybarra, is a current corpsmember at the center and asked her to talk with corpsmembers and staff regarding her life's work, nonviolent community activism and the importance of service to others.

Huerta co-founded the United Farmworkers of America with Cesar Chavez.  She organized the 1965 national grape boycott and has been an advocate for farmworkers' rights and other causes since that time. In 1968, Huerta was standing on the speaker's platform near Senator Robert F. Kennedy the night he was shot.

Los Padres Center Director Domenic Santangelo said Huerta's appearance at the center was "a historic moment" as she spoke to 60 corpsmembers.  "They asked her about her fears, her biggest challenges, her best moments in her life and her worst moments (losing Bobby Kennedy), never giving up and why, what makes her continue her work and many more questions -- she answered them all."

Huerta told corpsmembers Cesar Chavez told her "you only lose when you give up" and she related that advice to corpsmembers about everyday life.

Huerta told Domenic later how she and others in the UFW were mad at Governor Jerry Brown (but only for a short while) when he took the best organizers to start the CCC back in 1976 -- then she said "I'm happy he did." 

Dolores Huerta signs an autograph for Araceli Loayza.

 

Huerta is the mother of 11 children; her current husband is Richard Chavez, the brother of Cesar. One of Cesar Chavez' grandsons was also a corpsmember at the Los Padres Center a few years back.

Dolores Huerta and her grandson, David Ybarra.

ASK THE DIRECTOR

LEADERSHIP TRAINING -- HOW TO BECOME A CREWLEADER

"It's not what I expected," says Chico crewleader Ryan Scarbrough. "I expected to be sitting in a classroom for hours a day, doing nothing."

What Ryan and 19 other corpsmembers discovered at Placer in February was a 36-hour Leadership Training course that drew rave reviews for instructor Charlene Tapia of the Training Unit.

"She had a great energy about her, she really knew how to motivate us," says corpsmember Chelsea Saeland of Fortuna.

The 10 men and 10 women in the class were all nominated by their supervisors and all already had Class B driving permits.  Most had been in the CCC at least six months.

The Training Unit's Charlene Tapia

Charlene says the class is a pipeline, a pathway to becoming a crewleader.  "A couple of folks went home and got their red hats (crewleader hats) right away."

The class used to be offered 10 times a year by the Training Unit but now will be given five times region-wide through June.  Along with Charlene, C Is have been designated leadership instructors to provide five additional trainings for their region. Placer C I  Teresa Hallada "shadowed" Charlene during the recent course.

Charlene describes the training as very interactive, with team-building and "thinking" exercises, videos, music throughout the week, and tasks such as writing a safety plan.  There was emphasis on the "Do Rules," what you can do, the possibilities. And there was the popular "Are You Smarter Than a C I ?" assignment.

But the piece de resistance had to be the obstacle course exercise.  Participants had to build a course with multiple barriers (traffic cones, tape, etc.). Their partners would then be blindfolded and have to get through without touching the barriers, but guided by the other person. The exercise demonstrated the value of good communication, with the need for both sides to listen carefully.  Corpsmembers also honed their skills in planning, organizing, assigning and implementing.

Jamie Lucero navigates the obstacle course with the help of Eric Crane.  Both are from the Sacramento Satellite.

"You let the magic happen," Charlene says. "Good C 1s don't tell everyone exactly what to do."

She says C Is ask corpsmembers questions and, when safe, give people a chance to think on their own.

During the training, Charlene shared her CCC background and was able to bring up examples from her Corps experience.  She spent a year-and-a-half as a corpsmember at the Woodlake and Placer centers.  She took crewleader training -- two months long at that time -- and became a crewleader.  Later, Charlene was hired as a C 1, devoting seven years to being a crew supervisor.  She spent time as a recruiter before coming to the Training Unit.  She has led 20 different trainings.

"I've taken some of my own life experiences and lessons and put them into the Leadership Training," Charlene says. "I ask a lot of questions and give the corpsmembers exercises to get them thinking and talking about the answers."

"One of our objectives is to remember that when you're a leader, you're not a dictator," she says. "You're finding everyone's strength to accomplish the goal, to get the job done."

Lisa Gonzales returned to Fortuna and reflected on the training.  "I had a lot of fun, got close to a lot of people, and realized they had the same situations I had to deal with."  She also posted copies of the Corpsmember Bill of Rights she received at the training around the center.

Chelsea Saeland says, "I actually implemented one of the games at our last banquet. And the listening skills were super helpful."

Working on a poster design are Greenwood's David Rourke, left, Ukiah's Adrian Redoble and Placer's Stacie Ochoa.

Ryan Scarbrough says the course was "definitely" worth it.  "I think every corpsmember should go through it."

He returned from the training and within a few weeks got his red hat. "It feels good, and I'm putting everything I learned into the crew."

Charlene also came away with positive feelings after the recent course.

"I don't know who's really been taught -- is it me or them?  I'm so inspired when I'm done."

The next Leadership Training class is set for March 27- April 1 at Camarillo.

Photos by Charlene Tapia.

GREAT PROJECTS

Independence Trail:  Placer C 1 John Anderson tells us about his crew's work in the Auburn State Recreation Area on the Independence Trail. The location is just north of Nevada City off Highway 49 where it crosses the south fork of the Yuba River.

This is a disabled-access trail that the Corps first began working on back in the 1980s.  "It's one of the few ADA-wheelchair trails in the woods anywhere," John says.  He notes it gets about 250,000 visitors a year, from local elementary school students to children with cerebral palsy in wheelchairs.  "It's a privilege that we get to do this work."

The crew is rebuilding some of the trails and flume bridges originally constructed by the CCC years ago.

Crew supervisor John Anderson tests the rock work on part of the trail.

USFS Energy Retrofiting:  Pomona C I James Roe's crew recently finished an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act  (federal stimulus) - funded project sponsored by the U.S. Forest Service.  The work took place at the USFS' San Dimas Technology and Development Center The corpsmembers replaced 1,160 existing fluorescent lamps with a more energy-efficient variety.  They also installed 85 light switch motion sensors.  Pomona's Jennifer Dulay tells us that some of the corpsmember training was through the Edison Customer Technology Application Center.

At the completion of the project, the corpsmembers received certificates of appreciation and T-shirts.  Thanks to USFS' Carlos Garcia for the work photos.

Urban effort: Those are Fortuna corpsmembers, below, working with Keep Eureka Beautiful, planting 27 new street trees on G and Wabash streets in Eureka.  The CCC's efforts were commended by the Eureka Times-Standard.

Oroville Willow Project: Three Chico crews have been planting hundreds of black willow trees at Lake Oroville, including some along a steep embankment. The purpose? To stop erosion and create fish habitat.  The work was sponsored by the Department of Water Resources and was featured in a story in the Oroville Mercury-Register.  Supervisors for the three CCC crews are Ken McDonald, Clayton Forbes and Laramie Griffith.

FIRST MONTEREY BAY PATCH 

ENERGYSMART JOBS -- SAN DIEGO

Our San Diego EnergySmart Jobs crew supervisor, Bill Johnson, says his corpsmembers, like their counterparts in other parts of the state, are identified by their dark green polo shirts. 

San Diego corpsmember Linda Ibrahim checks for direct install possibilities.

There are eight corpsmembers and a special corpsmember on the San Diego crew.  All eight have participated since their original training in September 2010.  They work in San Diego and Orange counties and parts of Imperial County.

Bill says along with surveying stores, the corpsmembers give away what they call "direct installs."  These include two different types of compact fluorescent lights -- one for colder areas and one for warmer areas, both to replace less energy-efficient bulbs.  The CCC crew can also offer a "Coolermiser," a device that's a movement sensor monitoring traffic flow patterns in a store.  It also knows when the store is closed, and shuts down the refrigerator it's connected to until movement activates it once again. 

"These devices save a lot of energy and money," Bill says," and the price is right (free) to those stores who want them."

Angelica Jauregui and Ericka Barboza making cold calls to area businesses.

When there was a surplus of survey requests in northern California, the crew was sent on a 10-day spike to Santa Rosa to help out the Sacramento crew.  An added bonus was a chance for the corpsmembers to see a bit of San Francisco for the first time.

Other CCC EnergySmart Job crews are located in Sacramento, Inland Empire, Norwalk and San Jose.  The Los Angeles Conservation Corps also has an ESJ crew.

TWO CORPSMEMBERS TO GO TO RUSSIA AND MONGOLIA

CORPSMEMBERS TAKE GRAND CANYON WORK TRIP

FISH HABITAT SPECIALIST MEREDITH HARDY HONORED 

Los Padres Fish Habitat Specialist Meredith Hardy received the "Restorationist of the Year" award at the 29th annual Salmonid Restoration Conference, held recently in San Luis Obispo.  Los Padres Center Director Domenic Santangelo commended Meredith for her "successful efforts in the restoration field and providing corpsmembers with high quality resource work."

Meredith has been integral in planning, implementing and doing post-project maintenance on fisheries restoration projects since 2000.  She has worked in multiple counties and watersheds on about 35 different projects.  The work has included bank stabilization, fish passage, bioengineering, floodplain restoration, instream habitat enhancement, erosion control, native vegetation restoration, water conservation and promoting monitoring efforts. Meredith was influential in creating a CCC Watershed Crew, a Watershed Stewards placement site and a native plant nursery.  She has trained hundreds of corpsmembers.

As was indicated in the Meredith's nomination for the award, " Wherever restoration is occurring on the Central Coast, you can pretty much bet that Meredith is involved.  She has a can-do attitude and eternal optimism." 

HAZWOPER TRAINING CONTINUES

GOOD STUFF

Meet Your Legislators: San Diego Business Services Officer Justina White let us know about several legislative contacts in recent weeks. The photo below was taken at Assemblymember Ben Hueso's district open house. 

At Assemblymember Ben Hueso's open house, from left: Corpsmember Janna Hollman, BSO Justina White, corpsmember Ericka Barboza, Assemblymember Hueso, corpsmember Maurice Thornton-Dewberry and San Diego Center Director Victor Avila.

 Assemblymember Toni Atkins also had an open house, where Senator Christine Kehoe was on hand as well.         

San Diego corpsmembers Susan Al Wardi, left, and Liza Ibrahim talk with Senator Christine Kehoe.

At Assemblymember Toni Atkins' open house, are San Diego C II Sara Weaver, corpsmembers Angelica Jauregui and Liza Ibrahim, Assemblymember Atkins, corpsmember Susan Al Wardi and BSO Justina White.

And Justina shares another legislative contact: she was flying home from the Business Services Officer training in Sacramento and saw Senator Kehoe on the plane.  "I sat next to her and talked to her from Sacramento to San Diego."

Kudos to Fortuna Crew: Daron and Amie Springer contacted us via our website to share an experience with C I Rachel Siska's Fortuna crew last month:

"WHAT A GREAT CREW YOU HAVE! My husband Daron and I met a CCC crew yesterday in a little town called Myers Flat in Humbolt County. We are from the San Francisco Bay Area and were in a rented RV heading north to enjoy a little spontaneous vacation.

With no specific plans for a place to stay for the night we were exploring RV parks along the 101 highway when we noticed a sign out of Myers Flat and decided to see how it looked. We pulled in and the sign on the guard shack said they were closed. So we decided to pull around and leave. The only problem with our plan was that our exit strategy took us right into a closed area where your crew was working.

We decided to pull into a spot to turn around and of course we got stuck. After a few minutes of trying to get ourselves out the mud the crew gathered around with some branches and some much needed muscle and helped push us out of the muck in record time. They were all so very polite and friendly and we would most certainly be stuck in the mud still had they not been there. We want to thank each and every member of the crew wholeheartedly and we hope and pray that if we ever get stuck again there will be a CCC crew around!"

Rachel Siska's crew was working on a watershed restoration project funded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration federal stimulus dollars, together with Fish and Game funding and support from the Eel River Watershed Improvement Group.

Assistance at Firefighter's Memorial: Corpsmembers from Los Angeles and Camarillo provided logistical support before and after the memorial service for a firefighter from the Los Angeles City Fire Department, Glenn Allen.  Allen died from injuries suffered when a ceiling collapsed on him while battling a house fire.

The corpsmembers are shown at the site of the service.

Service Group of the Year:  The Grover Beach (San Luis Obispo County) Parks and Recreation Department recently held its annual awards dinner.  Among those honored: the Los Padres CCC Center as Service Group of the Year.  Corpsmembers assisted at the South County Holiday Parade and worked as guardians and trail markers in the back dunes of the 10K portion of the "Dune Run Run."

Humboldt Job Fair: Fortuna Recruiter Will Folger was featured in a Eureka Times-Standard photo staffing a booth at a Health and Safety Job Fair. The event for both private and public sector employers was held at the College of the Redwoods facility in Eureka.

Los Padres Wilderness Trail: Conservation Supervisor Mike Anderson tells us the CCC's trail work in the Santa Lucia and Santa Barbara Ranger Districts was recognized in a recent U.S. Forest Service publication.  The work was funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (stimulus funding) and helped create recreational opportunities for short or long hikes as well as equestrian riding trips.