Food Share | WOODY WOODBURN

Sometimes we all need a smile. Here are three reasons to do so…

Earlier this week my granddaughter, age three – “almost four” she will tell you, even though her birthday is not until December – went to the dentist for the first time.

The milestone event was not anticipated to be like dragging a millstone up a hill. After all, Maya has not only received two COVID-19 vaccination shots without a fuss or fallen tear, out of curiosity she actually watched the needle go in both times. Yes, as Shakespeare wrote in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, “Though she be but little, she is fierce.”

Alas, in the waiting room of the pediatric dentist, nervousness was getting the best of Maya and she began to tug on her mommy’s hand to escape home. Just then, an older patient, a boy aged 9 or 10, came out after his exam carrying a long, purple balloon sword…

…and seeing Maya’s distress, the boy became a knight in shining armor by gallantly offering over his sword. Instantly, like a wisp of smoke in a gust of wind, Maya’s fears disappeared and a smooth visit ensued with a full cleaning and fluoride treatment.

Oh yes, and a big smile with no cavities and a second balloon sword.

With inflation up, and the need for help with food up even more, an experience by a dear friend of mine, who wishes to remain anonymous, seems well worth sharing. A frequent volunteer at a local food pantry, she recalled her first time doing so.

“I spent the morning stocking shelves, breaking down boxes, and helping to distribute food to clients,” she began. “Everyone I encountered was so friendly and genuinely grateful.

“I will remember one woman in particular who was beyond excited to get a package of ground turkey. She was nearly jumping up and down with excitement. The experience made me realize what a gift it is to be able to go to the grocery store and choose what I want to eat. The clients who come to the food pantry are entirely dependent on what the in-coming donations have been that week. I was especially surprised how in-demand canned beans and dried beans always are. Indeed, we often ran out of beans quickly.

“Ever since, I have always been sure include beans when I make donations!”

With the Ventura County Fair in full swing through this Sunday after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, a cherished memory from my youth has given me a smile.

It was a smaller “Country Fair Without Ocean Air” in Ohio. I was 8 and my best friend Dan was 2 – he was born on Feb. 29 and stubbornly only counted his Leap Day birthdays. Dan’s mom gave us, and Dan’s older brother Tom, $3 each as I recall. That was a small fortune considering the games and rides cost a quarter and food treats were equally cheap.

Come afternoon’s end, Tom had miraculously not spent a single dime and his mom said he could keep the $3. Naturally, he taunted us, as big brothers will, bragging about the baseball cards and Matchbox cars he could now buy.

But Dan and I had no regrets. We had gotten dizzy on the rides, been conned shooting hoops and throwing darts at balloons and tossing rings at bottles without winning any prizes, but we still came out ahead and we knew it.

All these years later, I guarantee you Tom doesn’t remember what baseball cards he got, but I still remember the fun Dan and I had.

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Essay copyrights Woody Woodburn

Woody writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @woodywoodburn. His SIGNED books are available at www.WoodyWoodburn.com.

Personalized Signed copies of WOODEN & ME: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach and Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece” and “Strawberries in Wintertime: Essays on Life, Love, and Laughter” are available at WoodyWoodburn.com

Querrey Serves Up Big Highlight

A pre-Thanksgiving serving of leftovers from my notepad . . .

If you had to choose a single word to describe Thousand Oaks native Sam Querrey “big” would be difficult to top.

For starters, the world’s No. 31-ranked tennis player stands 6 feet 6 inches tall.

His serve is also certainly big, having been clocked at 147 miles per hour. To give you further measure, James Blake once watched an ATP Tour-record 10 consecutive aces off of Sam’s racket strings fly past him.

Indeed, Sam has a big game (he has been ranked as high as No. 17); a big trophy case (seven pro singles titles plus four in doubles); and a big bank account ($5 million in career prize winnings).

Oh, yes, and a big heart.

When Querrey learned about a wish by Thousand Oaks resident Kevin Feinbloom, who was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 esophageal cancer, the American Davis Cupper served up his services.

“He played and sat with us for two hours,” Feinbloom recalled, noting that his two children – Cole, 17, and Julia, 14 – also got to hit balls with the tennis idol. “It was the coolest thing ever.”

Actually, something even cooler happened. During that magical afternoon on the court Feinbloom was hit with a new dream: to put on a fundraiser to help send Ventura County children to Andrea Jaeger’s remarkable Little Star Foundation camp in Colorado that specially serves kids who are battling cancer.

“After a few days of my head spinning around and thinking how I can’t believe what the hell I’m going through, I figured that instead of sitting back and letting it kick my butt, I’d better do something,” Feinbloom explained.

And so was born the “Fans In The Stands Foundation Tennis Festival” this Sunday (Nov. 24) at North Ranch Country Club in Thousand Oaks from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Ticket information: www.FansInTheStands.org)

Querrey not only volunteered to take part in the worthwhile event that includes a youth clinic, he recruited former USC Trojan and two-time NCAA singles champion Steve Johnson to play in an exhibition.

Jaeger, who at age 16 was ranked No. 2 in the world, will also be on hand.

“(Feinbloom’s) story and wanting to do something like this really touched me,” Jaeger told former VC Star tennis writer Steve Pratt. “When I first saw his email, I just sat down and said ‘wow.’ I mean, the father has been diagnosed with Stage 4, the same year his wife has had breast cancer treatments, and they have children.

“Kevin is determined to make a difference.”

Speaking of making a difference, for every $1 donated to FOOD Share (www.foodshare.com) it will provide over $5 worth of food for families in Ventura County – especially priceless during the coming holiday season.

Another local difference-maker is the Ventura County Community Foundation that will give away $1.2 million via 455 scholarships for the 2014-15 school year. For application information visit www.vccf.org.

On the topic of academics, it was reported that of the more than 104,000 students who this year took the Advanced Placement Calculus exam worldwide in 59 countries, only 11 earned a perfect score.

All 11 pefectos are from the United States. With all the derision directed at our educational system, this is definitely worth bragging about.

Another news story this week: “Analysis of studies on millions of children around the world finds they don’t run as fast or as far as their parents did when they were young. On average, it takes children 90 seconds longer to run a mile than their counterparts did 30 years ago.”

Meanwhile, for some kids a bigger challenge is trying to run as fast as their parents do NOW. For example, the offspring of a quintet of Ventura County sheriff’s deputies – Randy Pentis, Tim Hagel, Paul Higgason, Dave Kenney and Frank Underlin – who earlier this month completed the Bagan Temple Marathon in conditions (102 degrees and 90 percent humidity) more suitable for basting a turkey than running 26.2 miles.

Pity the crook of any age who tries to escape one of them on foot.

Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for the Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com. His new memoir WOODEN & ME is available at www.WoodyWoodburn.com and Amazon.com.