Donor Spotlight: Celeste Matesevac and BookEnds Bookstore

At Knitting in Recovery, all of our gracious donors mean the world to us.  They make what we do possible, so we wanted to take the time to highlight them and share our deepest gratitude.

Today we are spotlighting Celeste Matesevac, Marcia Doty, and BookEnds Bookstore.  BookEnds has hosted our Worldwide Knit in Public Day celebrations for several years now and has also hosted a number of community scarf baskets.  We asked Celeste and Marcia to share a little bit about themselves, the shop, and how they got involved with Knitting in Recovery.  Thank you, Celeste, Marcia, and BookEnds, for helping our program succeed in helping other women in our community:

BookEnds Bookstore & Curiosities is located in Meiners Oaks, the unincorporated area just outside of Ojai.  BookEnds is run by Marcia Doty and Celeste Matesevac.  Marcia began selling Antiquarian Spiritual books years ago and always dreamed of having a bookstore in a church.  Celeste had a career of working for non-profits in Ojai until retiring in 2017 from 14 years with the Search Dog Foundation of Santa Paula, CA.  The pair have run several businesses together over the years, but this one is by far their favorite, as they love meeting new people and sharing not only their books but also the town’s incredible history.

BookEnds’ mission is to keep the printed word alive through our “lightly read” treasures of mainly non-fiction books. The bookstore is a literary escapade, as you can browse in the church/bookstore to discover the History of Ideas, Fine Arts, Children’s Literature and especially the Spiritual Traditions.  Or go outside to Addendum 1, a retrofitted 1961 Airstream, to explore Travel, Adventure, the Great Outdoors.  It’s a bookshop on wheels that stays in one place.  Directly behind the Airstream is Addendum 2-Do, a homey hideaway tiny-house shed featuring Crafts, Hobbies, Gardening and inspired Everyday Living.

Addendum 1, located in a refurbished airstream

The shop also features vintage bookends throughout the store, vintage cameras, and has a case of Vaseline Glass for sale.

Vaseline glass on display at BookEnds

Fun fact: BookEnds is located in a 75 year old Church of Christ, built by George Biggers who was Ojai Valley’s bee/honey provider for years. He built the church, became the minister, was the Ojai Valley’s main honey provider, and traveled around becoming “famous” in Ripley’s Believe It or Not as the only person that could make a beard out of bees!

Inside the old church.

Each year the knitting world, internationally, created one “Knit in Public Day” in June.  Lise Solvang had become a good friend of the bookstore, and as Marcia and Celeste got to know her, Lise shared her passion for Knitting in Recovery.  Three years ago, Lise asked if BookEnds outside garden area would host a Knit in Public Day.  BookEnds has hosted every year since.  What began as the only Knit in Public Day in Ventura County with a handful of knitters is now an annual event hosting over 100 people throughout the day.

Worldwide Knit in Public Day!

BookEnds has so many wonderful new friends from that first day that continue to spread the word about the bookstore.

Thank you, BookEnds, for supporting our program!