A new family-operated catering business, Rent-A-Chef by Dille, was launched in Oxnard about 18 months ago. It's owned and operated by Myrna Dille and her daughter, Elizabeth Marie Dille. Most of their customers come from points within the Oxnard area.

Myrna Dille has been a professional cook for nearly 50 years, following the professional life of her mother. Her father worked as supervisor for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and often was asked to host dinners for political and government leaders, including presidents and senators.

"Those meals had to be perfect in every way, and my mother made sure they were," Myrna Dille said.

Before moving to Oxnard, Dille operated a catering business in Bishop while working as a counselor at a local high school. After Myrna Dille's husband died eight years ago, Elizabeth persuaded her to move to her home in Oxnard.

Elizabeth worked as a backcountry chef for about 12 years before moving to Oxnard. She took groups into the High Sierra out of Bishop, working for pack companies and preparing meals for the groups.

Since moving to Oxnard, Elizabeth has been working as a police officer for Ventura County Community Colleges, assigned to the Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura college campuses. As she was given more and more overtime duty because of a shortage of officers, her son, Brandon, 14, complained that she didn't spend enough time with him at home.

The boy suggested that his mother and grandmother use their extensive cooking experience and set up their own catering business in Oxnard. They discussed it and decided the idea was too good to pass up.

Brandon is actively involved in the operation, helping to set up meals at parties and other events, along with a variety of other helpful activities. Elizabeth's older son, Scott, recently joined the family business. Their number of catering assignments is steadily increasing.

Myrna Dille, who turned 69 on Sept. 9, also teaches at cooking classes held in individual homes. The fee for a two-hour class is about $100. In the near future when she has access to a commercial kitchen, she plans to establish a more formal schedule of cooking classes.

For more information about the catering firm of Rent-A-Chef by Dille, phone 760-793-3337.

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Tinkering can be a career-building activity.

Helping today's young people develop careers as inventors, engineers, repairmen and other skilled workers is a passion for actor John Ratzenberger, who played the mailman Cliff in CBS' popular "Cheers" series.

In August 2006, Ratzenberger and partner Lindsay McGrail founded an educational organization in Westlake Village.

McGrail said the headquarters office soon will move from Westlake Village to Chicago, but still will provide services in Ventura County.

The organization has the unique but very descriptive title of Nuts, Bolts and Thingamajigs Foundation. It plans and produces camps and workshops for children 12 to 16, teaching them how to use their hands and brains in creative "blue collar" products and pursuits.

"Through mentoring programs, education and media awareness, we introduce young people to the pleasures of tinkering," Ratzenberger said.

During the past summer, the group produced 20 camps nationwide, with about 540 teens attending. Next summer, 100 camps are planned.

Each participant pays a fee of $35 to $80, depending on the camp's duration and what is offered, according to McGrail, who serves as artistic director. Before working full time with the foundation, McGrail was a movie and theatrical producer.

The foundation is funded by tuition fees, grants and donations, she said. It works closely with several other organizations, such as the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association Foundation.

A special John Ratzenberger's Tinkering Day event took place at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme on Sept. 15 — the third event on the schedule at this club.

"From Franklin to Edison and Ford, all great inventors have shared one thing in common: As children, they had all been inveterate tinkers," Ratzenberger said. "They fiddled with things, took them apart, put them back together, wondered how everything fit together, and tried to make something new out of what they'd learned by doing. This has been the history of American business.

"We owe our collective greatness to the greatness of individuals whose curiosities compelled them to imagine and then build what had never been imagined and built. They became capable to achieve greatness because of the seeds planted by their own hands as young tinkers. Thus, we are now helping little hands build big dreams and productive careers."

For more information, visit the group's Web site, www.nutsandboltsfoundation.org, or phone 494-5200.

— Star columnist Jim Woodard, a Ventura resident, is a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist. Fax him at 644-0790 or e-mail him at Storyjim@aol.com.