Tag Archives: gifts

Ball Drive Cannot Fail Thanks to Givers

by Woody

“The gift is to the giver and comes back most to him,” wrote the wise, and Santa Claus-bearded, Walt Whitman. “It cannot fail.”

Sometimes the gift that comes back is a sweet memory, as Joe Paul can attest after giving 10 basketballs to “Woody’s 2023 Holiday Ball Drive” for local disadvantaged youth.

Specifically, Joe gave Mikasa brand balls, recalling fondly: “When I was a little kid, I got a rubber Mikasa basketball every year for Christmas. I can still remember the squeaking noise the rubber made on the wood floor on the rare occasions I got to play indoors. Usually, I was on the outside courts or in my backyard counting down the final seconds and taking the last shot for the Lakers in the NBA finals. By Christmastime of the next year, I had worn off all the rubber nubs and the ball was perfectly smooth.”

This Christmas promises to create countless similar happy memories thanks to generous givers like Joe and…

Kym King donated 10 basketballs, as did a person wishing to be anonymously recognized as “Basketball Jones,” and 10 more came from the Lewis family of Jan, Tom, Cory, Emily, and Maddy.

Representing opposite bookends of life, Nick Sarris gave 41 assorted smiles “in memory of baby Sienna” and Rebecca Fox donated two soccer balls “in memory of Arlys Tuttle, a dear friend and the beloved matriarch of the Tuttle family” who passed away recently at age 101.

The Hein family of Chris, Julie, Audrey and Howie gave 25 assorted balls and Sally and Tom Reeder donated 13 more “including one basketball because that’s how the whole thing started.”

Terry and Draza Mrvichin gave five basketballs; Nita Perkins dished out four; Signe Smale gave three; Scott and Randi Harris assisted with two; and Dennis Jones, Susan Adamich, and Kris Young contributed one each.

Jim Parker, my ol’ sports colleague, donated six balls as did Lynn Kenton, noting: “I hope these will make it to some deserving kids and make a difference in their lives.” To which I reply: They will and they will.

“In memory of Tim Fahringer ‘Ute9’, a loyal friend and teammate, VHS Class of 1980,” an anonymous benefactor gave a baker’s dozen of smiles while Kelly Lanier gave five more in honor of her recently deceased mother, Judy Lautenschleger.

Alan and Kathy Hammerand kicked in three each soccer balls, footballs, and basketballs; Olivia Reddy-Daly assisted with the same triple trifecta; and so did Don and Lynne Steensma.

Paul and Patty Schuster contributed five basketballs in memory of Charlie Feyh, “an instrumental and influential coach for our youngest daughter during her formative years,” and five soccer balls “to acknowledge the great coaching our older daughter received at Buena High School.”

Jeff Barks passed in eight balls, Sherrie Basham gave six, James Barney added three, and Allison Johnson donated two basketballs in honor of “my brother Michael Demeter who played basketball for CLU and is a very generous person.”

Dave Stancliff, my first newspaper boss, donated one basketball, noting: “I still remember getting my first ball on my fifth Christmas and going over to a nearby school that had an outside court. It was just me that morning. I heaved the ball towards the hoop … and missed, and missed again and again, for what seemed like hours. When I finally made a basket, I was sold. This was going to be my game. Sadly, old age and injuries keep me off the courts these days, but I still play vicariously in every Lakers game.”

There is still time to become an MVP – Most Valuable Philanthropist – by dropping off new balls at Jensen Design & Survey at 1672 Donlon St., Ventura CA 93003 (weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Dec. 11); or have online orders shipped to this same address; and I will take it from there. The Thousand Oaks Goebel Adult Community Center also has a bin for ball collection.

And please be sure to email me at woodywriter@gmail.com about your gift so I can add your generosity to this year’s tally and thank you in an upcoming column.

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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.

Holiday Balls Roll And Bounce In

by Woody

Jim Parker, my former longtime colleague in The Star sports department, lived up to his journalistic nickname “Swami” by peering deeply into his crystal ball and donating two basketballs seven months before my column ran kicking off “Woody’s Annual Holiday Sports Ball Drive.”

Also getting any early jump on the ball was JoAnn Bowen, who threw a party this summer to welcome home her granddaughter, Brooke, from Paris. JoAnn asked each reveler to bring a new sports ball and the result was 17 holiday gifts for local disadvantaged children.

More donations have begun to flood in…

Peggy and Paul Graham gave one football and one basketball; Karen and Dave Brooks kicked in two footballs, two basketballs, one soccer and one volleyball; and Peter Hochschild’s family donated a mix of 27 balls.

Some of the gifts for kids!

Ann Cowan donated 10 basketballs in honor of her late husband, Jim, who had done similarly for nearly two decades. Making it a family affair, John Cowan donated another five basketballs in remembrance of his dad “and the good times I had in VYBA and playing basketball all the way through high school.”

Kent Brinkmeyer passed in four basketballs; Lynn Kenton donated three basketballs; and Chuck Russell donated one basketball.

“When my two sons were growing up, I was fortunate to be able to provide the sports equipment they needed,” noted Kelly Lanier, who donated an assortment of 13 balls. “I hope these balls can help some boys and girls to be able to participate with the same joy and learn the same valuable lessons.”

The Lewis Family – Tom and Jan, and daughters Cory, Emily and Maddy – also donated 13 gifts, all basketballs while Sandra Janotta, and her coworkers at J & H Engineering, tossed in three volleyballs and two basketballs.

Despite being diagnosed with diabetes back in January; a month later being hospitalized for two weeks with COVID-19; then “hitting the trifecta,” as he puts it, with cancer surgery in September and now undergoing chemotherapy, Nick Sarris turned his focus off his own troubles to donate a cornucopia of 70 balls.

“It has been sort of overwhelming, but I will win,” Nick shared. “This whole health merry-go-round has been filled with uplifting positives in a bad situation – I have been carried on the shoulders of some wonderful people. The ball donation is just me relishing the chance to pay back some of the goodness/blessings I’ve received. It just might make some kid’s day a masterpiece.”

Nick’s generosity and positive attitude warmed my heart, but he also put tears in my eyes. Remembering a column I wrote back in July about my wife and I losing a child to a late miscarriage 18 years ago, a daughter we would have named Sienna, he noted: “My donation is in your Sienna’s honor. She is more than just a special memory, she is a source of goodness. She will be responsible for a few more smiles, which is always a good thing. Thank you for the opportunity to honor her and to provide a little happiness to other kids through her.”

There is still time to provide a little happiness to more kids by dropping off new sports balls at a local Boys & Girls Club, YMCA, church, youth group – or to Jensen Design & Survey at 1672 Donlon St. in Ventura, 93003 (9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Dec. 15) and I’ll take it from there. Online orders can be shipped to the same address.

Also, please email me about your gift at woodywriter@gmail.com so I can add your generosity to this year’s growing tally.

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Woody Woodburn 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

 

 

“Holiday Ball Drive” Kicks Off

by Woody

Editorials are generally as disposable as the newsprint on which they are printed, and yet one that appeared in The New York Sun in 1897 might as well have been carved in granite because it remains relevant and favored well over a century later.

Headlined “Is There a Santa Claus?” it began with a letter from young Virginia O’Hanlon:

“Dear Editor –

“I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, ‘If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.’ Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?”

The Sun’s reply included the now famous line, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus,” and continued: “He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence.”

A mountain of gifts from “Woody’s Holiday Ball Drive.”

Indeed, how dreary would the world be with no Virginias – and, alas! no Sarahs, Davids and Briannas. Those are the names of just three fabulous kids who have contributed in past years to “Woody’s Holiday Ball Drive” that kicks off once again today to give sports balls to local disadvantaged youth.

Indeed, 10-year-old Sarah emptied her “Jar of Chore Money”; 14-year-old David used his birthday gift cards; and 9-year-old Brianna collected and redeemed recyclables for a full year; all to buy a small sleighful of gift balls to donate.

The seed for this endeavor was planted about 25 years ago at a youth basketball clinic when former Ventura College and NBA star Cedric Ceballos awarded autographed basketballs to handful of lucky attendees. Leaving the gym afterward, I happened upon a 10-year-old boy who had won one of the prized keepsakes. . .

. . . which he was now dribbling on the rough blacktop outdoor court, and shooting baskets with, all while perhaps imagining he was Ceballos with the game clock ticking down to the final buzzer.

Meanwhile, the real Ceballos’ Sharpie signature was of course wearing off.

Curious as to why the boy had not carefully taken the trophy basketball home to put safely on a bookshelf, I interrupted his playing to ask.

“I’ve never had my own basketball,” he answered matter-of-factly between shots.

At Christmastime, visions of that boy – and other boys and girls like him, who don’t have their own basketball to shoot or soccer ball to kick or football to throw – danced through my head. So I asked you dear readers to help make the holidays happier and you responded like champions.

Once again, I am asking you to drop off new sports balls (no batteries required!) at a Boys & Girls Club, YMCA, fire department or house of worship. The organization’s leaders will see that they wind up in deserving young hands.

Also, through Dec. 15, you can handoff your bouncing gifts at Jensen Design & Survey at 1672 Donlon St. (weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) near Target on Telephone Road in Ventura; or have online orders shipped to the same address; and I will take it from there.

If you participate, please email me at woodywriter@gmail.com so I can add your generosity to this year’s tally.

Together, we can prove The Sun’s long-ago words still ring true: Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and ball-giving MVPs – Most Valuable Philanthropists – exist.

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Woody Woodburn 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

 

Holiday Generosity Bounces In

by Woody

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM: @woodywoodburn

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Holiday Generosity

Bounces And Rolls In

The coronavirus pandemic has wrecked havoc in 2020 and, due to stay-and-sheltering, I feared “Woody’s Holiday Ball Drive” would in turn fall victim with a serious deflation in donated gifts for disadvantaged youths this year.

Never before have I have been so happily wrong. You, dear readers, have slam dunked in COVID-19’s face! Below are some of the MVPs – Most Valuable Philanthropists – who have scored on behalf of the kids to date…

Glen Sittel donated two basketballs and one football and said: “Knowing each ball represents a huge smile and a healthier child is a blessing.”

A mountain of gifts from “Woody’s Holiday Ball Drive.”

Sally and Tom Reeder donated 10 huge smiles and Kathy and Joe Vaughan added two blessings while noting to us all: “We will get through this challenging time.”

Judy and Dan Dugan passed out six basketball assists while Irma M. Paramo and her neighbor Kay Handlin teamed up to contribute five basketballs.

Two balls were anonymously donated “In memory of Austin Gambill, the young Ventura High School track and cross-country runner who was tragically taken from us far too early.”

Walt Oliver and his grandsons Elijah Ontiveros and Michael, Brandon and Tommy Kendlinger donated 26 assorted balls.

Mike Spahr and his grandsons Caden, Liam and Leo dropped off one each basketball, soccer ball and football.

Linda and Jerry Mendelsohn, and their five grandchildren, donated 20 balls; Maureen Durkin gave 13 assorted balls; and Jim and Linda Peddie gave 10 balls.

Albert Rodriguez, noting that he grew up as a “huge John Wooden fan,” epitomized Coach’s quote that “It takes ten hands to put the ball in the basket” by recruiting more than 100 hands of family members, friends and former coworkers in donating 127 assorted basketballs, soccer balls and footballs.

Bobbie and Dave Williams gave one football and one basketball while Ethel Yim gave one soccer ball, noting: “I hope it will make a child happy.”

Juan Sanchez made 38 children happy while Sherrie Basham donated 10 smiles “In memory of my mom, Janice Manjoras.”

Carol Ann Roth gave five basketballs; Katherine and Frank Anderson gave three basketballs; Vince O’Neill gave two basketballs; and Anna and Tom McBreen spiraled in one football.

Tom Calvin and the rest of the Mt. View Men’s Golf Club hit a 350-yard drive, so to speak, by donating 30 basketballs, 30 soccer balls and 10 footballs.

The Friday Morning Coaches Breakfast Club gave basketballs in honor of Bob Swanson and Jim Cowan; Ann Cowan, as her late husband always did, donated ten basketballs; and Jim Parker continued his tradition of battling Jim/Ann Cowan in being the first to donate – and won this year with two basketballs.

Charis Werner passed in seven assorted balls; Chuck and Ann Elliott gave four balls; and Lynne and Don Steensma gave three balls.

Alan, Kathy and Tyler Hammerand kicked in three each footballs, soccer balls and basketballs; and Mary and Rick Whiting gave one each of the same.

Allison Johnson gave a basketball and football “in honor of my brother, Michael Demeter, who has all he needs and is generous to others.”

Sheila Raives kicked in four soccer balls; Jeff Barks gave a basketball and soccer ball; and Judy Windle passed in two basketballs.

Howard Reich contributed four assorted balls while Randi and Scott Harris donated three.

Dena Mercer gave two basketballs; Derry and Peggi Clayton gave one basketball and one soccer ball; and Joan Donley gave six softballs.

The Lewis family – Tom and Jan, and daughters Cory, Emily and Maddy – donated a baker’s dozen basketballs while Maya McAuley gave ten basketballs in honor of everyone battling cancer or COVID-19.

There is still time to drop off a new sports ball at a local Boys & Girls Club, YMCA, church, youth group – or to Jensen Design & Survey (9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Dec. 18) at 1672 Donlon St. in Ventura and I’ll take it from there. Online orders can be shipped to the same address.

Also, please email me about your gift at woodywriter@gmail.com so I can add your generosity to this year’s growing tally.

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Woody Woodburn 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 books are available at www.WoodyWoodburn.com.

Check out my memoir WOODEN & ME: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach and Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece” and my essay collection “Strawberries in Wintertime: Essays on Life, Love, and Laughter” …