A Lovely Day for the San Benito Olive Festival

The San Benito Olive Festival was this past Saturday. It was a gorgeous day, and the setting—the San Benito County Historical Park—was a perfect fit for the celebration of agricultural harvest and culinary delights. So much fun!!!  Here's what I ended up doing on my checklist!

• Check!  Make an olive wreath.
• Try a fresh fruit juice concoction by Gaspachos.
• Check!    Paint rocks with ARTI-culture.
• Check!   Take the walk and geology talk with Jim Ostdick, who walked across the United States earlier this year to raise funds and awareness for the R.E.A.C.H. Foundation.  (I'm darn tootin' proud of myself for climbing up and down the slope with the help of my cane and the Husband.)

 

 

• Check!  Sample wine from Bonny Doon Vineyard, DeRose Winery, Morgan Winery, or  other wineries. I sampled wines from Guglielmo Winery, Kori Wines, and Divum Wines.
• Build a scarecrow that I can take home!
• Taste olive oil produced by such award-winning producers as Oils of Paicines and MoonShadow Grove. 
• Check!  Paint and Plant with The Garden Mart. 
• Watch Chef Carlos Pineda, the 2017 Gilroy Garlic Festival Showdown champion on the Cooking Demo Stage.
• Check!  Learn how to create a Fall flower bouquet. 
• Check! but it was to Mr. O's Jazz Band. Tap my feet to the sound of the Mariachi Juvenil Alma de Mexico.

• Check!  Sip a microbrew from Grillin & Chillin Alehouse.
• Check out the Venetian masks at the Gioia Italian Art & Products booth.
• Check!  No dancing though. Dance with the Husband to Absurdum. 
• Eat some tapas made by Farmhouse Cafe.

The Husband, our Friends, and I criss-crossed the park several times and still didn't experience all of the festival, particularly the cooking demonstrations, the merchants' booths, the nonprofit groups' displays, and all of the historical village's buildings and exhibits. Did you know there's an indoor model train display at the village? The Husband and I will visit the park throughout the year to see what we missed during the festival. For everything else, we shall wait patiently for next year!

I don't think it's well known that the San Benito Olive Festival is a non-profit organization. The organization, and festival, exists on the generosity of many, many volunteers and donors. All of the net proceeds the San Benito Olive Festival earns go back into the community. Thus far, it has donated to more than 20 local nonprofit organizations.

For more photos of the festival, check out the album at Take 25's Facebook page.