Today: California Coastal Cleanup Day & Ventura Hillsides Conservancy Concert

STATEWIDE: California Coastal Cleanup Day 9-noon

The 26th Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day
Saturday, September 25, 2010

California Coastal Cleanup Day is the premier volunteer event focused on the marine environment in the country. In 2009, more than 80,600 volunteers worked together to collect more than 1,300,000 pounds of trash and recyclables from our beaches, lakes, and waterways. California Coastal Cleanup Day has been hailed by the Guinness Book of World Records as “the largest garbage collection” (1993). Since the program started in 1985, over 800,000 Californians have removed more than 14 million pounds of debris from our state’s shorelines and coast. When combined with the International Coastal Cleanup, organized by The Ocean Conservancy and taking place on the same day, California Coastal Cleanup Day becomes part of one of the largest volunteer events of the year.

Coastal Cleanup Day is the highlight of the California Coastal Commission’s year ’round Adopt-A-Beach program and takes place every year on the third Saturday of September, from 9 a.m. to Noon. (The 2010 Cleanup will take place on the fourth Saturday of September so as not to conflict with Yom Kippur.) Coming at the end of the summer beach season and right near the start of the school year, Coastal Cleanup Day is a great way for families, students, service groups, and neighbors to join together, take care of our fragile marine environment, show community support for our shared natural resources, learn about the impacts of marine debris and how we can prevent them, and to have fun! Coastal Cleanup Day is also the kick-off event for Coastweeks—three weeks of coastal and water-related events for the whole family.

Participating in Coastal Cleanup Day is as easy as 1, 2, 3! For tips for teachers participating with their classes, see our Educator’s Guide.

The Coastal Commission is committed to reducing the environmental footprint of Coastal Cleanup Day. Please join efforts this year by turning out to the Cleanup with a “Bring Your Own” philosophy. For more information, contact (800) COAST-4U or coast4u@coastal.ca.gov.  Be part of the solution to marine pollution!

Can’t make it to Coastal Cleanup Day? Or, want to keep enjoying coastal resources after the cleanup is done? Then  check out  COASTWEEKS Calendar! Coastweeks takes place in the three weeks following Coastal Cleanup Day. Participate in nature walks, restoration efforts, workshops, and more! Just visit our COASTWEEKS page to find an event that’s right for you. Adopt-A-Beach page shows how you can participate in cleanup events all year-round. OR View Synthetic Sea, from the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, which explores the problem of plastic ocean debris and helps explain some of the reasons why Coastal Cleanup Day is so important.

LOCAL: Ventura Hillsides Conservancy Music Festival 1-5pm

FEATURED ARTISTS

Ventura Hillsides Conservancy presentw the remarkable talents of Emmylou Harris, Colbie Caillat, Gin Blossoms and WPA at our 2010 music festival on September 25th. Get your tickets now!

		Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris is truly one of the most loved and respected recording artists in America. Her career has never waned in its near 40-year span of top selling and critically acclaimed releases. Her solo career would be impressive on its own, but it grows legendary when you see the list of contemporaries who have been drawn to her sweet voice and intimate lyrics for collaborations. Official site: http://www.emmylouharris.com
Thousand Oaks Songstress Colbie Caillat Announced as Special Guest for 2010 Music Festival
		Colbie Caillat Colbie Caillat is homegrown, having called Newbury Park home for most of her life. She debuted in 2007 with Coco, which included hit singles “Bubbly”, “Realize”, and “The Little Things”. In 2008, she recorded a duet with Jason Mraz, “Lucky”, which won a Grammy. Caillat released her second album, Breakthrough, in August 2009. In 2009, Breakthrough was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 52nd Grammy Awards. She was part of the group that won Album of the Year for her background vocals and writing on Taylor Swift’s Fearless. Official site:http://www.colbiecaillat.com
Platinum-Selling Hit Makers The Gin Blossoms Join 2010 Ventura Hillsides Music Festival Line-Up
		Gin Blossoms The Gin Blossoms join the festival on the eve of the release of their fifth studio album, No Chocolate Cake. The band continues to benefit from an innate chemistry and inspiration—a dynamic that helped catapult songs such as “Hey Jealousy,” “Found Out About You,” “Till I Hear From You” and “Follow You Down” into the collective musical consciousness and helped define an era as well as selling 30 million records worldwide. Official site:http://www.ginblossoms.com
Check out WPA featuring Glen Phillips (Toad the Wet Sprocket) and Sean Watkins (Nickel Creek)
		WPA WPA is an expandable collective, with Luke Bulla (Lyle Lovett), Sean Watkins (Nickel Creek) and Glen Phillips (Toad the Wet Sprocket) at its core. WPA was born out of the musical community surrounding the legendary LA club, Largo, with a wonderful record reminiscent of “more than the sum of its parts” groups such as Fleetwood Mac, The Band, and CSNY. Official site:http://www.wpamusic.com

The Ventura Hillsides Conservancy is a land trust operating in the City of Ventura for the purpose of acquiring open space through gift, sale, or other lawful means. The organization was founded by citizens in 2003 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public benefit corporation to work with land owners, conservation organizations, and public agencies to preserve and restore the hillsides and open space resources in the Ventura region.