Youth club embarks on 40th year of inspiring members
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

THEN AND NOW- Boys enjoy the camaraderie of being together for after-school activities in the early days of the Boys Club of Camarillo, which operated out of this Barry Street house, above, from 1967 until 1975, when it moved to its current location at 1500 Temple Ave., right. The club, which changed its name in 1981 to the Boys & Girls Club of Camarillo, will celebrate its 40th anniversary with special events scheduled throughout 2007.

Throughout 2007, the Boys & Girls Club will celebrate 40 years of providing the children of Camarillo with a positive environment and engaging after-school activities.

The local club is part of a 150year-old organization with 4,000 youth clubs spread across the United States.

Ken Eastman joined the board of directors in 1968, a year after club doors opened in a house on Barry Street. He said he's stayed involved for four decades because the club's mission- - to offer programs that inspire youth and provide them tools for a successful and bright future- remains unchanged.

"It's a cause I believe in," said Eastman, whose longevity with the club has made him their unofficial historian. "I believe in the mission of keeping kids out of trouble, off the streets."

Club history

The club moved to its current location at 1500 Temple Ave. in 1975, after the Barry Street house deteriorated to the point of condemnation, Eastman said.

Monetary contributions and the sale of donated property financed construction of the Temple Avenue building. Over the next two decades, the building was expanded to include a gymnasium, performance stage and technology lab.

Known as the Boys Club of Camarillo until 1981, the club nonetheless has welcomed girls from the beginning, Eastman said.

Eastman said he thinks the community may be unaware of all that the club has to offer or may have the misconception that the programs are only available to underprivileged children.

"It's far from the truth," he said. "We just serve a broad cross section from every (income) level. . . . We're serving the whole community."

This year the Boys & Girls Club has served a record 3,200 children and youth in Camarillo and Somis and also launched a satellite program at Somis School that has grown from 40 to 120 youth members.

Camarillo Mayor Jan McDonald and Ventura County Supervisor Kathy Long, longtime members of the board of directors, said the club is an asset to the community.

"It's really the programs that make it unique . . . an all-round great thing for kids," McDonald said.

"Parents trust our programs," Long said.

Club officials point to the young members as proof of the club's contribution to the community. Sixteen-year-old Candice Hueston has thrived in the four years she's been a member. She serves as president of the Keystone Club and was recently honored as the youth of the year.

Candice said the club's career and financial planning workshops have planted the desire to attend college, something she hadn't seriously considered before.

The high school junior wants a career in computer engineering or architecture and would be the first in her family to graduate from a university.

"It's just always been there for me when I needed anything," Candice said of the club.

The president's vision

President Greg Stuart said he envisions the Boys & Girls Club securing more financial support from the community in order to offer more programs, such as robotics, and diet and exercise classes.

To that end, Stuart and board presidentelect Greg Glover recently added to the club's coffers by winning first place in an impromptu role-playing competition at the national Boys & Girls Club conference earlier this month.

The Camarillo club was among five finalists out of a field of 35 clubs that qualified at the national forum. At stake was $6,000.

Before an audience of nearly 3,000 people, the five teams had to conceive and deliver a convincing presentation to a pair of potential club donors.

Stuart said he's sure that Glover's personal experience growing up as a "club kid" won over the judges. He said the money will help fund the club's new summer programs.

Glover joined the youth club when he was in third grade, the year his family moved to Camarillo.

Apart from having fun, Glover said, "you learn responsibility; you learn about character" from club activities.

The qualities and values that club directors taught him as a child- patience, self-confidence and the reward of hard work- he said he uses today in his career as a bank vice president, responsible for 16 branches across Southern California.