First Annual Door Decorating Contest

The Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties Ventura office is having our first annual holiday door decorating contest.  We at Team Dembowski dove right into the competition and decorated our doors with A Beachy Christmas theme.  Voting is going on all day.  We're hoping for a big win!

 

 

Bonus Video Blog from Team Dembowski

Hello everyone!  As some of you may or may not know, we at Team Dembowski have a weekly video blog.  We usually post on Fridays but today we created a special bonus video blog just for you!  Get an exclusive first look at one of our Coming Soon properties as well as our new Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties sign! 




If you are interested in seeing all of our previous video blogs, check out www.teamdembowski.com.

2013 Chili Cook-Off

The 2013 Chili Cook-Off here at Prudential was a huge success yesterday!  I'm sad to say, however, that we did not take home first place for best chili again this year, but we did get second.  I made some yummy cornbread waffles for the Young Professionals Network booth (which I am a member of) and had a great time tasting all the chili. 

Here is a quick play-by-play on how to make my amazing cornbread waffles:

 

First, have someone else make amazing homemade cornbread batter.

 

Second, pour the batter in a waffle iron and make as many as you can before the power in the wall sockets goes out (It can happen to even the most experienced of cornbread waffle makers).

 

 

 

Third, cut waffles into bit-sized and presentable pieces.

 

 

Fourth, sit back and watch everyone else enjoy your cornbread waffles.

 

 

 

 

And there you have it, that's my super secret recipe for the best cornbread waffles!

Backpacks for Kids

Our Ventura Rotary members (including myself and my husband) were featured in an article in the Ventura County Star!  The article covered our very successful Backpacks for Kids event.  If you missed it, here it is:

Ventura volunteers efforts’ help students start school fully supplied

 

Because of the work of volunteers, 850 students throughout Ventura will be strapping on new backpacks stocked up with new school supplies this school year.

On Saturday, about 30 volunteers spent the morning filling backpacks to be given to select elementary, middle and high school students who many not have otherwise been able to afford the back-to-school supplies.

 

“It’s our responsibility to educate our students,” said Joseph Richards, Ventura Unified School District’s business services assistant superintendent and event volunteer. “The students are going to get a better education when they have the tools they need to succeed.”

A collaborative effort led this year by the Rotary Club of Ventura and the Downtown Lions Club, the Backpacks for Kids program benefits any child in need in Ventura schools. The program has been offered to the city’s students for 10 years.

 

Before classes each year, program organizers ask school leaders to provide supply lists and the number of students they think need supplies.

The program continues to grow as the lists get longer, according to Irene Henry, Rotary Club president. Last year, volunteers put together 650 backpacks.

 

 

“We all benefit if our kids are getting a better education,” Henry said.

The program is a three-month effort to coordinate, starting with the organizations collecting donations to ensure every student who needs supplies, will receive them. The Rotary Club contributed the largest monetary donation of $6,200, according to Henry.

 

 

Volunteers teamed up to get all the backpacks assembled Saturday and ready for delivery to participating schools.

In all, 22 schools will receive backpacks to hand out to students. The number of students ranges from three at Loma Vista and Pierpont schools up to 150 at DeAnza Academy of Technology and the Arts.

 

 

 “I want to help as many kids as possible get ready for the school year,” said volunteer and teacher Anna Belitski, of Ventura.

The educator was joined by her husband Danny Belitski and two children, Drayden, 5, and Dylan, 7. Before the Belitski family and the other volunteers formed an assembly line to put together the bags, bins and tall piles of new notebooks, markers and other supplies stood across two U-shaped sections of tables. The volunteers would file through grabbing an empty backpack to take to each supply pile and put at least one of each supply into the bag.

Each bag was checked to make sure it was not missing anything.

 

 

When the packing was complete, the backpacks were stacked across the other end of the room.
Crystalin Boggs, 25, of Modesto, said she was happy knowing she was helping kids. Boggs has volunteered for the past three years.

“When I was growing up it was hard,” Boggs said. “I know how people need backpacks and supplies. I’m glad we are helping other kids who need help.”

 

Source: vcstar.com

 

Team Dembowski Video Blog

We, at Team Dembowski, have posted our very first video blog!!! Check it out!

International Women's Day

To all the women out there, Happy International Women's Day! 

 

              The first International Women's Day was launched on 8 March 1911 in Copenhagen by Clara Zetkin, Leader of the 'Women's Office' for the Social Democratic Party in Germany.