Community Conscience has selected John Bradley and June Glasmeier as King and Queen of the 28th annual Mardi Gras Ball, which will be held the evening of Saturday, February 29 at the Hyatt Regency Westlake Hotel. The Mardi Gras Ball is Community Conscience’s largest fundraiser and this year’s Ball co-chairs are Justin Barkhuff and Susan Kelly. With the proceeds from the Ball and other donations, Community Conscience provides office space rent-free in the Human Services Center to thirteen local non-profits, enabling them to more effectively serve our community.
Each year Community Conscience honors two individuals for their exemplary community service. This year’s honorees have contributed their time, energy, and resources to bettering our community in many ways. As such they have earned the honor to be crowned King and Queen and reign over this year’s Mardi Gras Ball.
King John Bradley has served local non-profits for many years. His interests are broad and are reflected in the scope of organizations for which he has volunteered.
The welfare of our youth is one of John’s primary concerns. He currently serves on the Board of the Discovery Center for Science and Technology and is the current Finance Chair. He has served the Westlakers as Scholarship Chair and Junior Achievement of Southern California as a board member.
John is a board member and current treasurer of the Southeast Ventura County YMCA. In 2018, the YMCA bestowed upon John and his wife Karen the Joel and Frances McCrea Community Service Award for volunteering their time and support on behalf of the Y and the community at large.
John has likewise been active in supporting the local performing arts scene, currently serving on the Thousand Oaks Alliance for the Arts Executive Committee and as its treasurer. He was previously Vice Chair of the City’s Cultural Affairs Commission. Organizations representing the business community have also drawn on John’s abilities, including prior service with the Cal State Channel Island Business Advisory
Council and he has been a member of the Board of Governors of Valley Industry Commerce Association (VICA).
In his “spare time,” John has applied his professional abilities to helping the less fortunate through the IRS’ Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program which provides free tax return preparation services to lower-income individuals, and by serving for 42 years as volunteer legal and tax advisor to the Conejo Free Clinic. He has been an active member of the Thousand Oaks Rotary Club since 2010. During that span he has served on the Board of Directors and as treasurer. He has also just been chosen as the club’s 2020-2021 President-Elect.
John retired from Rocketdyne as Vice President of Finance/Chief Financial Officer and is currently a local attorney and business consultant. He and his wife Karen, a retired special education teacher, have lived in the Conejo Valley since 1974, and have two adult sons and five grandchildren.
Queen June Glasmeier has volunteered with many organizations in the Conejo Valley for more than thirty-five years. She has been a generous, tireless, and constant worker for many causes in our community and she continues her work today.
June retired from the Community Conscience Board of Trustees in December 2019 after serving on its board for more than twenty years. She has held various positions with Community Conscience, including president, secretary, and a member of the Mardi Gras Ball planning committee where she has served as its co-chair.
June served as a board member for the Stagecoach Inn Museum Foundation (SIMF) and was a member of the SIMF committee that planned the Foundation’s fund- raisers. She was also a board member of the Conejo Valley Historical Society, as well as serving as secretary on its Executive Board, and on the Triunfo Ball Planning Committee.
June served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Conejo/Las Virgenes Future Foundation from 2003 through 2015. She was the founding chair of its Senior Congress, chaired the Congress for five years, and continues to serve on the planning committee today. Her work on senior citizen issues also includes serving as an Assembly Member of the California Senior Legislature where she authored a bill that made notaries mandated reporters of elder financial abuse. She has also been a member of the Conejo Senior Volunteer Program Advisory Board, Thousand Oaks Council on Aging, the Ventura County Area Agency on Aging Advisory Council, and the Senior Adult Master Plan Advisory Committee, helping lead those organizations in their activities to benefit seniors.
In addition to the activities described above, June served as a member of the Oakleaf Music Festival where she held many positions including president. June has also been a board member of the Community Leaders Association for California Lutheran University.
In recognition for her dedication to our community, June was named Doña Triunfo of the Conejo Valley Historical Society’s La Fiesta del Triunfo in 2008 and was recognized by the Ventura County Star in its inaugural recognition of “Fifty over Fifty” Ventura County volunteer leaders. She also received the Hamm Award from the Community Leaders Association at California Lutheran University for her volunteer work and was named Senior of the Year by the City of Thousand Oaks Council on Aging.
The 2020 Mardi Gras Ball will begin with a champagne reception and entertainment by the Riverboat Dixieland Jazz Band. A feast fit for a King, Queen, and their guests will follow, with dancing to the music of Fifth Avenue Entertainment. There will be both silent and live auctions packed with many desirable items. To join the fun on February 29 at the Hyatt Regency Westlake, contact Community Conscience at (805) 494-3543 or visit communityconscience.org/mgb.