Homeowners who are planning home improvement projects can talk to professionals and get lots of ideas and advice at the 37th Conejo Valley Home Remodeling Show. The fall show is Saturday and Sunday, September 7 and 8 at the Hyatt Westlake Plaza. 

The Conejo Valley Home Remodeling Show is the largest home show in the area with local kitchen and bath contractors, landscapers, roofers and interior designers, says Rick Goodman, the shows organizer. More than 150 home improvement specialists take part in the event each year. The show is a great opportunity to learn about the latest designs and technology for local experts," says Goodman. 

Kitchens and baths are still the most popular remodels and are among the highest return on investment when you sell your home, says Bob Sturgeon, president of Westside Remodeling, Inc., a show exhibitor and one of the top remodeling companies in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. Outdoor rooms are gaining in popularity featuring kitchens, living rooms with fireplaces, beautiful lighting, space heaters, fans, TVs and surround sound.You will never need to change the bulbs and your granitetrade will last for years and years. 

Sturgeon, whose company is based in Thousand Oaks, says that while granite slabs are still popular for countertops, about half of his jobs are now using quartz products. Quartz is nonporous and does not need to be sealed periodically, he says. Its stronger and more durable than granite and lends itself to a cleaner, more contemporary look. 

Westsides customers now prefer medium to dark stain colors or painted cabinets. Full extension, soft close drawers are popular, says Sturgeon. Design trends are for cleaner lines that are less ornate with a more contemporary or transitional look. In the last few years, glass tiles have exploded in popularity. They are beautiful and stylish but you really need to know what youre doing to install them properly. 

One of the most neglected spaces in the house is the garage. Premier Garage, serving Ventura and Santa Barbara counties and portions of Los Angeles from its Oxnard location,Gives a basic overview of Stone carving tools and demonstrates their use. will be at the show with ideas on how to make a garage more functional, efficient and organized. The company installs garage cabinets, organization systems and protective flooring. 

For the garage, homeowners have the option of choosing maple, pewter, steel and power-coated off-floor cabinets and single color, chip coating or tile flooring. A vapor barrier is applied to the floor to protect against moisture and a polymer resin is applied as a topcoat as a sealant. . Our most popular floor-cabinet combination is Sedona-colored chip flooring with maple cabinets, says Bob Parizo, owner of Premier Garage. The cabinets and flooring are easy to clean and maintain compared to an unfinished garage. Once floor and cabinet styles are selected, it only takes two days to install the floor and one day to install the cabinets. 

The bell has always been used as a symbol of celebration, so its fitting the sports field will be the bells final resting place, said Jim Zaharis, whose family purchased the bell for the church back in the 1940s. 

Im happy there is a final resting place. There was a period of two or three years there where I couldnt locate it. After St. Marys was demolished, no one could tell me what happened to it. Mike Sanphy [Westbrook Historical Society president and city councilor] discovered its whereabouts and let me know. Thats how I got back on track with it, Zaharis said. 

Zaharis said his father bought the bell in 1947 after he made a promise to the church. Zaharis mother was very sick in the 1920s and he described her as being on her deathbed. His father promised if she got better he would purchase the bell and give it to the church. 

The bell was placed on top of the first St. Marys church and school on Main Street in Westbrook and then moved to a second St. Marys building, where it was placed outside. That building was torn down in 2008. At the time, Zaharis assumed the bell was lost, but in truth, another Westbrook organization had gotten hold of the bell and was storing it for safekeeping.Shop for the largest selection of Granite tiles at everyday low prices. 

It was donated to the Westbrook School Department from Legacy Publishing, said Gousse. My understanding is Legacy purchased the former church property on Main Street a few years ago. The school department took possession of the bell in exchange for removing it from the small brick structure, which housed it adjacent to the former church. A new parking lot now occupies the site of the former church and site where the bell was at one time housed. 
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