Ventura Benefit to Aid Fire Victims

The Livery Art Center in downtown Ventura will reverberate with blues, celebrity impersonations and folk songs Sunday at an outdoor benefit organized to aid victims of Southern California’s wildfires.

Money raised from the afternoon of music and fun will be given to the American Red Cross to aid those who were burned out of their homes or suffered other damage from the fires, organizer Carol Maitland said.

Headlining the entertainment will be Hollie Vest, a Tina Turner impersonator. Several bands are scheduled to perform, including Ray Brewster and the Cadillacs, folk singer Matt Lauder and the rhythm-and-blues Buddy Smith.

Maitland, a Sherman Oaks resident, is organizing the event in conjunction with the Downtown Ventura Improvement Program and Cafe Voltaire, a coffeehouse in the Livery.

Tickets cost $12 and can be purchased at the door. The Livery is at 34 N. Palm St.

Maitland said she got the idea to hold a fund-raiser after seeing the devastating fires on television.

“I was so touched by all these people losing their things,” she said. “So I said, ‘Let’s see what we can do.’ I have to admit it has grown much larger than I anticipated.”

A Ventura hair-cutting salon will also hold a fund-raiser Sunday to benefit fire victims. Operators at DeCut Hair International will cut hair from noon to 4 p.m., asking for a $15 donation per person.

The donations will be forwarded to the American Red Cross, officials said. The salon is located at 1437 S. Victoria Ave.