NEIGHBORS : Brush With Fame : Many saw Bernard Tamborello’s hayfield artworks from the Ventura Freeway, even if he didn’t make the network news.

By now, you’ve probably heard of the exploits of Ventura land planner Bernard Tamborello.

Yes, the same guy who proposed converting the parking structure near the Ventura Pier into a 1920s dance hall is also the person responsible for the paintings that appeared in a hayfield along the northbound Ventura Freeway near Seacliff.

The six vivid paintings on canvas--including one of the Statue of Liberty and another of a test pattern--were all large artworks, with the biggest 6 feet by 6 feet. They were up for just two weeks and were taken down last week. But in that time, said Tamborello, people driving by took notice.

Tamborello was hoping that the paintings would cheer people up during times of bad news and bad weather. Ultimately, he said, it would have been nice to get some national attention for his work. “What I wanted was for it to be on CBS News,” he said. “And Dan Rather would say, ‘Now out to California for mysterious paintings in a field.’ ”

Who says it doesn’t pay to be rowdy at school?

It sure worked for the Channel Islands Clippers ensemble, which sent 19 of its 32 members to a San Bernardino vocal competition a couple of weeks ago and came away with a victory in the small chorus division.

The group performed two songs--the ballad “Sunny Boy” and the comic piece “Little Red Schoolhouse.” Paul Digby, one of the lead singers, said the group “dressed up and acted like naughty schoolboys.”

Why do you like Mozart, Haydn, or Beethoven?

That’s the question being posed to local first- through 12th-graders in the second annual Mozart and Friends Essay Contest, sponsored by a local chapter of the Music Teachers Assn. of California.

One question: Do the younger kids really have something to say about these composers? “Every now and then you get a very unusual case of somebody interested in (classical music) instead of dinosaurs,” said Linda Fern Fay, president of the association’s Pleasant Valley chapter and event co-organizer.

Ada Lovingfoss, another of the contest coordinators, said the younger children are often interested in things other than music composition. On the subject of Mozart, she said: “They just get excited that somebody played for a king and a queen.”

For information on how to enter the contest, call 647-7213 or 985-0405.

When Connie Francis sang “Where the Boys Are,” she probably wasn’t referring to the Conejo Valley. As of early this week, those involved with Sunday’s Conejo Valley Days Tiny Tots pageant were facing a boy shortage.

The plan was for 25 girls and 25 boys, ages 3 to 5, to participate in the contest at The Oaks shopping center. The 25 girls registered quickly, but the males lagged behind. Spokeswoman Penny Hoffman was hardly surprised. “Doesn’t everybody always want little girls to be beautiful?” she asked.

And finally, congratulations to local author Kathryn Cocquyt, whose children’s book “Little Freddie at the Kentucky Derby” was just published. There will be a reception in her honor Saturday evening at North Ranch Design in Westlake Plaza. Call 371-5322 for more information.