by admin | Apr 28, 2021 | Community Support, Events, News, Ventura
The vital importance of children learning to recycle and protect the environment, for their own future, is at the heart of a unique pair of family-oriented community events being sponsored by E.J. Harrison & Sons and hosted this weekend by the Museum of Ventura County.
“Small Footprints: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle” is the theme of the simple, COVID-safe “Grab-and-Go” drive-thru events, which will begin both days at 10 a.m. – on Saturday, May 1, at the Agriculture Museum in Santa Paula and on Sunday, May 2, at the main Museum of Ventura County in downtown Ventura. The events will end as soon as the museums’ fun grab bags have been given out, so anyone planning to attend is encouraged to arrive early.
Those attending on Saturday should drive by the front of the Agricultural Museum, along Santa Paula’s Railroad Avenue. Those attending on Sunday should enter the parking lot off Ventura’s East Santa Clara Street behind the Main Street museum. Parking attendants will help direct visitors.
Drive-thru visitors will receive gift bags that include fun and informative recycling-themed activities and coloring books; copies of “Mateo Learns About the Three Rs,” an inspiring booklet about one boy’s education in recycling; educational materials on the 3 Rs and what goes in your recycle carts; sustainability-themed recipes from Food Forward; and templates and entry details for the event’s big draw: a family contest to find Ventura County’s best home-crafted trash truck. The contest winner will get a scholarship for a weeklong LEGO Summer Camp.
“The Museum of Ventura County is grateful to have a long and meaningful relationship with E.J. Harrison,” said Eric Knight, development director for the museums, “and we’re honored to have this opportunity to once again work with the Harrison family, in bringing this message of sustainability to the public.”
We’re proud to be the main sponsor of these awesome youth-focused museum events. The future is our children and we need to educate them however we can about climate change and the importance of recycling.
We also are happy to announce that this “Small Footprints” event will kick off our yearlong celebration of Harrison’s 90th anniversary in business.
by admin | Mar 17, 2021 | Community Support, News, Ventura
The rebuilt playground at Arroyo Verde Park will feature new play structures, a sensory garden, planting areas, decomposed granite path, concrete side-walks, two new drinking fountains, updated ADA parking and an upgraded accessible path of travel to the existing restroom. (Rendering courtesy of the Ventura Community Partners Foundation)
Ventura’s Arroyo Verde Park is a uniquely beautiful piece of land and a treasured part of the city’s history.
Open to the public since 1961, the wooded, 132-acre hiking park in the hills and canyons above Foothill and Day roads took a major hit three and a half years ago when it was badly damaged in the Thomas Fire. Among other things, the park’s popular playground was destroyed.
The playground rebuild has been a long, involved and expensive project spearheaded by the city, in conjunction with the Ventura Community Partners Foundation and with the help of generous community donors. The upgraded, 10,000-square-foot, inclusive playground is expected to open in late 2021.
In Harrison’s ongoing efforts to give back to our partner cities – and especially to help local youths – we have taken a leading role in sponsoring the playground rebuild project. The city thanked us kindly recently, during a virtual City Council meeting in which Harrison was publicly commemorated for being the project’s No. 1 corporate donor.
Harrison’s donation is “going to go a long way toward getting this rebuild done,” Ventura Mayor Matt LaVere said at the meeting.
“We wanted to recognize the Harrison family’s support, for this and really all of the philanthropic work they’ve done in the city,” LaVere said. “They really are one of our great corporate partners here, and this is going to be really a huge catalyst in getting this playground rebuilt.”
In a brief video played after LaVere’s remarks, Myron, Ralph and Jim Harrison acknowledged the city’s thanks. “To be involved in Arroyo Verde Park makes us all very happy,” Myron said. “All of our kids played baseball there. I used to ride up there on my bicycle all the time, myself and my wife, so to get to do this event with the city of Ventura, we’re really happy to be involved.” (See video here.)
For more information on the playground rebuild and opportunities to help, visit venturafoundation.org.