BUMPER CROP: It’s only fitting that Moorpark,...

BUMPER CROP: It’s only fitting that Moorpark, the city named after an apricot, is enjoying a bumper crop this year as it celebrates its 10th anniversary. “Everybody I know is giving them away,” said former Councilwoman Eloise Brown. . . . But apricots are no longer grown commercially in town, she said, and the Moorpark Apricot--an English variety--never did do well there. Another misnomer: Most of Moorpark’s back-yard apricot trees are in the Peach Hill area.

ROCK STAR: At 12.3 pounds, it’s too big for a ring, a necklace, or even a crown. So the world’s biggest topaz will just sit there this weekend when the California Federation of Mineralogical Societies holds a rock and gem show at the Ventura County Fairgrounds. The 22,892-carat rock, discovered in Brazil, is on loan from the Smithsonian Institution. . . . Also featured: California’s state rock (serpentine), state mineral (gold), and state gem (benitoite). You won’t see much from Ventura County, spokeswoman Ele Dulaney said. “There’s not a lot in terms of exciting minerals here.”

ON THE MAP: GTE California last week announced plans to build an $80-million “information superhighway” electronically linking 16 Southern California communities. Conspicuously absent from the network: Thousand Oaks--GTE’s headquarters--and other Ventura County cities. Now GTE says it will probably extend the system to its home base in 1994 (Valley Business, Page 16). The network will deliver video information and entertainment.

FLAB FACTOR: Feeling flabby after that first trip to the beach this summer? Two new devices can measure just how much of you is fat (E2). . . . “People want to do it more this time of year,” said Suzie Garrett, a fitness consultant at Body Focus in Thousand Oaks. Up to 15 people a week use the spa’s infrared fat meter. Why bother? “People overemphasize weight loss,” Garrett said. “You want to lose fat, not muscle.” Just ask anyone at the beach.

Name That Town

Some former names of Ventura County cities: Camarillo: Calleguas Fillmore: Santa Clara Moorpark: Fremontville Ojai: Nordhoff Oxnard: Pleasant Valley Port Hueneme: Point Conversion Santa Paula: Mupu Simi Valley: Simiopolis Thousand Oaks: Conejo Ventura: Sisoiop Source: Ventura County and Coast Almanac