One of my favorite rules to live by: Unless you go out of your way to spend time with those whose experiences and opinions are very different than your own you will never truly broaden your perspective on the world.

This concept is also the theme of the upcoming One City Family Thanksgiving Celebration this Thursday at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Ventura. It's a commingling of people from all walks of life merged in one spot to pass the gravy and share camaraderie and turkey legs.

Designed to put a spotlight on the city's homelessness issues, it is more than the traditional Thanksgiving "soup kitchen" approach where community leaders typically don aprons for the day to serve an underprivileged population.

"We're reaching beyond the local homeless population and into the community as a whole. We sit together. We share a meal. We share a table," said Jesse Giglio, the event's coordinator.

The day is being planned by the Faith Communities Subcommittee of the Ventura Social Services Task Force (VSSTF). Ten different churches have stepped up to help and another 20 are in the network, Giglio said. The VSSTF is a community-based organization with a goal of ending homelessness in the city of Ventura. It's a big task, no doubt, as the economy worsens, jobs are lost and social services are cut and stretched.

The faith-based and greater volunteer community will be called upon to do even more. But finding the dollars and manpower to help is not easy unless the great need is communicated. And this is an effort to do just that, Giglio said. "It's an awareness and education event as well as a celebration event."

IF THE OUTPOURING OF HELP for "One City" is any indication, Venturans are up for the task. "It's spread to the far reaches of the community," Giglio said. In addition to the churches and local temple, many individual businesses and families have contributed money and food. The new Watermark restaurant Downtown is cooking and serving all the side dishes.

Giglio said he and his volunteers are preparing enough food to feed 600 people. The day will also include live music, a communal art project, plus inflatable jumpers and craft activities for children.

It's clear this group intends to make its efforts last beyond just one day of thanks. The group's next event is "One City, One Weekend, One Fund" set for Feb. 14-17. Details will be forthcoming.

Everyone in the city of Ventura is invited to the free first annual One City Family Thanksgiving Celebration as long as the food lasts. It will be held from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 27, at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 36 Figueroa St. (behind Pierano's/Jonathan's at 100 Main Street). Interested volunteers and other helpers should call Jesse Giglio, Community Life Pastor, Ventura Missionary Church, at 642-0550 ext. 376, or email jessegiglio@gmail.com.

IN THE ANNALS OF Ventura history, there is likely nothing odder than the back-story of Cemetery Park on Main Street Downtown. Established in 1862, the cemetery once sat on the very edge of town before the city sprawled eastward. The site is the final resting place of more than 2,000 people.

You'd never know that by looking at it today. It now functions as a public park with only occasional small, flat markers indicating it was ever a proper cemetery. It's become a gathering space for families and lots of Frisbee-tossing dog owners. I often drive visitors by the spot and point out that while the headstones are gone, the bodies still remain in the ground, a tidbit which nearly always elicits a look of disbelief.

How the resting place of some of Ventura's founding fathers and mothers got to this stage probably ranks as one of the city's more controversial decisions. The church-owned cemetery, filled to capacity in the 1940s, began falling into disrepair over the years, much to the dismay of nearby property owners. A large hedge, planted to cover up the spectacle, did little to appease neighbors.

Years of vandalism took its toll until 1963 when the city, by now the owner of the property, decided -- with only a bit of public outcry -- to convert it to a public park. Bodies resting in mausoleums were moved underground, relatives who could be located were give the option of moving their deceased ancestors and/or collecting the headstones. Flat markers were placed at the request of some family members.

The monuments were unceremoniously moved to a city storage yard and arranged in alphabetical order for relatives to collect. But over the years it became a popular high school prank to steal the headstones and cart them off as grim trophies. Now, many years later, they still pop up from time to time in odd places.

Finally, the unclaimed stones were ground up and used to fill a levee near the Olivas Park Golf Course.

GIVEN THIS CHECKERED history, it is no wonder local residents have clamored for a respectable ending to this resting place for people who have Ventura streets named after them. Finally a plan has emerged that may appeal to everyone, but paying for it in these tight financial times is the difficult part. The city is hoping for help in the form of grants and private donations, Mayor Christy Weir said.

"Since most grant funding will only pay construction costs -- and not design fees -- the city has taken the initial steps necessary to become eligible for available funding by designing a plan for improvements to the park," she said.

But neighbors, who now enjoy the open, restful spot, have complained about the addition of perhaps 2,000 flat brass markers to the site and wonder how recreation and memorials can co-exist. Others in the community say it never should have been made into a public park in the first place and should be fenced off and restored as a cemetery. A map to the gravesites with names still exists.

The new plan also includes refurbished landscaping and repairs to the historic WPA cobblestone retaining wall, a veterans' memorial path and flagpole, original headstones inset into a memorial wall and a memorial garden, which will make it a more pleasant public space.

"The plan is to gather whatever headstones still exist to use them in the memorial wall," Weir said. "We're trying to restore the history and dignity that was lost when the park conversion took place."

The city is hoping to get more public input on the plan on Wednesday, Nov. 19 at 5:30 p.m. at Community Presbyterian Church, 1555 Poli St. The proposed plans are posted at the park, and are also online at the city's Web site.

GRANT PARK, HIGH ABOVE Downtown Ventura, has to be one of the most underutilized and picturesque parks in the city. Many people visit the Father Serra Cross area for its scenic views and religious significance, yet there remain vast areas of the park which are undeveloped. The city's plans for Grant Park have languished for years and now in these fiscally conservative times have been put off indefinitely.

But if the volunteers of the Ventura Botanical Garden, Inc. get their wish, Grant Park could be a showplace. The group, which has 200 charter members, has spent the last few years getting their 501 (c) 3 non-profit status together and shopping for a site. They settled on 10 acres of Grant Park just recently, said the group's spokesperson Midge Stork.

"It's going to be a showplace for Ventura if we really get it right," she said.

The project is just in its conceptual infancy, Stork said, but the plan is to lease the land from the city and build it in phases. The garden could eventually include redwoods, native and exotic species, a tram, gift shop, amphitheater and a site for weddings.

"These things aren't going to happen overnight but they are on our dream list," Stork said.

The new botanical garden will tie into the beautification effort already planned by the non-profit Serra Cross Conservancy, which maintains the acre of land surrounding the Cross. An ambitious project is already planned for that spot with a scenic walking and strolling area and a tree-shaded seating area with a fountain.

BOTH PROJECTS WILL NEED eager private benefactors. And both will feature numerous naming opportunities with plaques and other memorials. The next step will be to come up with conceptual drawings and present the plans to the various city commissions and eventually the City Council. Nearby neighbors will also be consulted, Stork said. "It's better to be proactive."

In the mean time, the group has a smaller project in mind: the seeding of an area above City Hall late this month to encourage a carpet of wildflowers in the spring. Donors to that project are being sought.

These public-private partnerships with volunteer elbow grease may be the best way to tackle underfunded civic projects in a down economy. Luckily Ventura has no shortage of enthusiastic volunteers.

Note: If anybody would like to donate to or volunteer for the Botanical Garden effort, send an email to my address at top and I will forward your contact information to the group.