NEIGHBORS / SHORT TAKES : On the Map : Oregon company can plot Newbury Park, but spelling the name of the town correctly is another matter.

In the “We don’t get no respect” category:

A catalogue from “Raven Maps and Images” arrived in the mail the other day, touting the Oregon company’s many detailed wall hangings. In it, Raven claims to have made “precision” maps since 1976. The goal of the business, says the brochure, is “to produce the highest quality maps possible, combining great detail with an elegance and clarity of presentation. . . . “

We flipped from page to page noticing the fine “Landform and Drainage” map of the continental United States and the “World Cities at Night” map, identifying the approximately 8,300 cities in the world with a population of 25,000 or more. Great detail.

Then we turned to Page 13 for the map of Southern California. We were pleased to see Thousand Oaks and Oxnard highlighted in the picture. We even spotted Montalvo. Then we noticed Newbury Park--or as Raven, the “precision” map-making company referred to it, Newberry Park.

Well, at least they know we’re out there.

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Anyone notice the sign in the window of the Mirabelle Pastry shop in Victoria Plaza?

From a distance it reads: “SUGAR FREE LOAVES, STRUDELS, COOKIES, PIES AND BIRTHDAY AKES.” We don’t know about you, but we have more than enough of our own birthday akes (or aches)--in fact, we have more and more with each passing year.

Note: If one gets close enough to the sign, a hand-scrawled “C” becomes visible in front of “AKES,” clearing up any confusion.

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The announcement a couple of weeks ago that President-elect Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, might, from time to time, stay in Summerland seemed to raise the spirits of some locals.

Well, according to Ventura’s favorite historian-ghostbuster, Richard Senate, those spirits might not be the only spirits being stirred up.

“Summerland was founded as a colony for burnt-out mediums,” Senate said. “It was seen as a place to communicate with the other side.”

Senate said a group of spirituality seekers founded Summerland in the mid-1880s as a place where they could practice their beliefs and hold seances without ridicule.

So are there any remnants of the old days left for the Clintons? “It was rumored at one time,” said Senate, “that every other house was haunted.” And consider that it was no more than a year ago that people thought Clinton didn’t have a ghost of a chance.

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Back in September, if you remember, the Conejo Coalition to Prevent Homelessness put on its debut project, a course on job-seeking for unemployed and underemployed people. Well, today is the day for project No. 2.

The group has organized a community Thanksgiving dinner at the United Methodist Church in Thousand Oaks. The meal is for “the homeless, low-income people, the elderly who don’t have family here,” said Leslie Godwin, one of the group’s founders. “It’s for anybody who feels the need to be there.”

Food will be served beginning at 11 a.m. The church is at 1000 E. Janss Road.