The third annual VinoJazz festival would have taken place last Sunday but was cancelled in August because ticket sales were slow and showed no sign of coming close to the 750 sold last year.

The festival, a major fundraiser for the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center, netted the nonprofit organization $30,000 last year. Money raised by the festival would have gone to support the center’s art programs for children and its policy of giving free tickets to senior citizen organizations and those that help at-risk youth and impoverished families.

“I’m always disappointed when you cancel a major fundraiser,” said Barbra Williamson, city council member and a longtime supporter of the center. “And I blame myself.”

Williamson said she usually helps promote the festival, but this year a lot of other commitments left her with little time for getting the word out.

“We’re vibrant; we’ll make it up,” said Williamson.

Executive Director Ray Cruz attributed low ticket sales to bad timing. People who would have purchased tickets likely were sending donations to the victims of the tsunami and Hurricane Katrina.

However, many people who did purchase festival tickets and some of the festival’s corporate sponsors told Cruz to keep their money as a contribution to the center. Now the center has to make up only $12,000 to $15,000.

“It’s very doable,” Cruz said.

He plans to bring in the needed money by adding a wine and cheese fundraiser to the Sept. 24 kickoff of the center’s 10th anniversary celebration. The center will honor its Galaxy of Friends, a group of steady supporters, and the evening will include the West Coast premiere of the play “Songs from the Tall Grass” and a chance to meet the cast afterward. The public is invited. Ticket prices are $18 for adults, $15 for students and seniors, and include all of the evening’s events.

The Dec. 14 performance by the San Fernando Male Chorus now is scheduled to include a fundraiser that will celebrate the cultural arts center’s 150 volunteers. Tickets cost $15.

And to coincide with Thanksgiving, the center will send out its annual letter requesting contributions. Cruz said they’ll acknowledge in the letter the need to give to victims of the recent natural disasters but then ask patrons not to forget about supporting the children’s programs at the center.

Through watching performances, participating in them or working behind the scenes, about 1,500 children have had their lives enhanced by the center this year, Cruz said.

For more information about the events, call the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center box office at (805) 583-7900.