Happy Valley Foundation

Congratulations to the Besant Hill School of Happy Valley Class of 2018! The vision and hopes of the Founders are reflected in your accomplishment, your love of the land, and your respect for your fellow students, the faculty, and humanity.

Our book... http://www.happyvalleyfdn.org/book.html

Our Book: The Story of Happy Valley

Spring in Happy Valley!

On January 3, 1927, a group of individuals, including Dr. Annie Besant, J. Krishnamurti, D. Rajagopal, Rosalind Rajagopal, Sara Logan, Fritz Kunz, Frank Gerard and Max Wardall first visited the place that came to be known as Happy Valley. Soon after, the land, consisting of approximately 500 acres, was purchased and the Happy Valley Association – later the Happy Valley Foundation – was created. It was believed that the land was the ideal place to create a model for a New Civilization, and particularly conducive to exploring the potential of the arts, culture and education.

Chamber On The Mountain | Chamber Music Series in Ojai

An important part of Dr. Besant's original vision for Happy Valley, the School was the first to be created, through the dedication of pragmatic individuals who worked to make that vision a reality. It all began with asking individuals to join with us in this work, and now we must ask for you to join with us again.

https://www.besanthill.org/giving/fire-relief-fund/

Fire Relief Fund | Besant Hill School The Thomas Fire that raced through campus, Ojai, and many parts of Ventura County destroyed faculty homes, the students’ ceramics studio, the old barn from the 1920’s which was packed with items in storage, the entire maintenance department facility (including vehicles tractors, tools, etc..), a...

http://www.happyvalleyfdn.org/

The Happy Valley Foundation, Ojai, California

New Civilization in America In 1927, Dr. Annie Besant created the Happy Valley Foundation, with the believe that the Ojai Valley was the ideal setting for the New Civilization in America.

The Happy Valley Foundation began with a vision. Annie Besant was a political reformer, fighting for women’s rights and worker’s rights, as well as Indian independence. From a young age, she was passionately engaged in the work of creating a better world. Nearing her 80th birthday, she sat on a hilltop in Upper Ojai for a few quiet moments with Rosalind Williams, looking over the land that would come to be called Happy Valley. Within the year, she was reaching out to an international community of believers, raising funds to purchase the land.
“Such is the setting for the cradle of the New Civilization in America,” she wrote. “A new and brotherly civilization to spread the leading of a more simple, more natural, and more beautiful life by all; the making of the surroundings all more inspiring and shaped by Culture...”
To make clear the grand scope of her vision, she quoted Tennyson’s King Arthur: “To serve as model for the mighty world, and be the fair beginning of time.”

Learn about the history of the Happy Valley Foundation here: http://www.happyvalleyfdn.org/history.html

www.happyvalleyfdn.org

Today was the 71st Commencement Ceremony at the Besant Hill School of Happy Valley. In his opening remarks to the Class of 2017, and those in attendance, Head of School Randy Bertin referenced an NPR TED Radio Hour podcast titled "The Source of Creativity", which is well worth a listen...
http://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/351538855/the-source-of-creativity

Chamber On The Mountain is one of the activities of The Happy Valley Cultural Center. Learn more here: http://www.chamberonthemountain.com/

This Sunday (May 7, 2017) Chamber On The Mountain presents Mayuko Kamio, Violinist!

Program:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Sonata in E minor, K. 304
Maurice Ravel - Sonata for Violin No. 2 in G Major, Op. 77
César Franck - Sonata in A Major

Japanese violinist Mayuko Kamio, the gold medalist of the 2007 International Tchaikovsky Competition, is widely praised for her luxurious silken tone, long expressive phrasing and virtuoso techniques. The New York Times has called Ms. Kamio an "exciting young musician" and "a radiant talent." Ms. Kamio made her concerto debut in Tokyo at the age of ten under the baton of Charles Dutoit, in a concert broadcast on NHK television. Since then, she has appeared as soloist with the Boston Pops conducted by Keith Lockhart, the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich with Mstislav Rostropovich, and the Israel Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta. Engagements in the 2016-17 Season include orchestra appearances with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Nihon Philharmonic, Symphony Silicon Valley. Columbus Symphony (GA), Guiyang Symphony Orchestra and Saginaw Bay Symphony, as well as give recitals with Chamber Music San Francisco, Chamber on the Mountain and Merkin Hall in New York City.

She has toured with the National Philharmonic of Russia conducted by Vladimir Spivakov, the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Ivan Fischer, the Munich Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta, the Prague Philharmonic, the BBC Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, the Oviedo Symphony Orchestra of Spain; and appeared in Japan as soloist with the Tokyo, Hiroshima, Kyoto, NHK, Osaka, Sapporo and Yomiuri Nippon symphony orchestras; and the Japan, Tokyo and Tokyo City philharmonics.

For more information:
http://www.chamberonthemountain.com/

An excerpt from Dr. Annie Besant's 1927 Appeal for Funds for the Happy Valley Foundation.

Dr. Annie Besant's desire to create a better world was central to the creation of the Happy Valley Foundation. Learn more about her life and work through this information program.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkJJeBqL1Ns

Theosophy UK Annie Besant Story.wmv More at http://theancientwisdom.co.uk

For the last several years, the vernal pool in Happy Valley has been dormant and dry. Recent rains have brought one of last remaining natural pools of its kind in Southern California to life. A vernal pool is a temporary pool of water that provides habitat for plants and animals. They are considered to be a distinctive type of wetland usually devoid of fish, and thus allow the safe development of natal amphibian and insect species unable to withstand competition or predation by fish.
The conditions for a vernal pool are commonly associated with Mediterranean Climate and all vernal pools dry up periodically. Vernal pools are so called because they are often, though not necessarily, at their maximum depth in the spring ("vernal" meaning of, relating to, or occurring in the spring). Despite being dry at times, vernal pools teem with life when filled. The most obvious inhabitants are various species of breeding frogs and toads. Some salamanders also utilize vernal pools for reproduction, but the adults may visit the pool only briefly. Other notable inhabitants are Daphnia and fairy shrimp, the latter often used as an indicator species to decisively define a vernal pool.

"I venture to say to him that it is a lamentable thing to see a man of intellect and literary power pr******te his talents in railing and raving at one half of the human race. Not by shrewish carping and bitter taunts, but by patient co-operation and loyal friendship, shall humanity rise out of the slough of its past, and climb the mountains of happiness which lie before it. Woman and Man have their special weaknesses, but they have also their special strengths, and the redemption of the race lies not in the hands of either s*x alone. With all our faults, Humanity has need of us, and those will deserve best of posterity who strive to ennoble, and not to degrade, the mothers and the mates of men." - Annie Besant, 1887

Radha Rajagopal's book, the Story of Happy Valley, is now available online as a free pdf. Read the story of this place and the remarkable people who made - and are making - Dr. Annie Besant's vision a reality:
http://www.happyvalleyfdn.org/book.html

www.happyvalleyfdn.org

It's a beautiful time of year in Happy Valley, with wildflowers everywhere. This is Purple Owl’s Clover (Castilleja exserta).

The end of a beautiful rainy day in Happy Valley.

Performance today at the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts! http://www.chamberonthemountain.com/

Chamber On The Mountain | Chamber Music Series in Ojai Chamber On The Mountain honors the traditional while celebrating the innovative and the intermingling of nascent talent with venerated masters.