"Prosperity Grows Here"

I came across this video a few months ago at the Web site called San Benito Now. I think it is part of the local government's efforts to bring companies into the county. What do you think? Will it do the job?

Eat Locally: Best of Times Cafe

The Best of Times Cafe is on the east side of San Benito Street, between 6th and 7th Streets. It opened in 1996 as the Hard Times Cafe. The owner changed it in 1999 because a chili restaurant franchise on the east coast has a trademark on the name. Want to know more? Read "It's the Best of Times for the former Hard Times Cafe", by Kollin Kosmicki in The Weekend Pinnacle Online.

The cafe recently received second place in the Best Diner category of The 2010 Pinnacle Awards. For customer reviews, check out Yelp.  I'm not a minestrone fan, but at Best of Times Cafe, I'll order it!.

Vegetable Fields

San Juan Valley, a few miles northeast of the mission city.

My dad was an irrigator for various farmers in San Benito County for almost 30 years. When I was a child, my dad and the fields were my babysitters. I loved going with him every day to the best play grounds around. I still have a thing for fields.  

Shop Locally: Holiday Marketplace

Are you looking for homemade crafts and food products to give as gifts this year? Especially items made by local craftspersons and foodies?

Check out the Holiday Market Place on the corner of San Benito and South Streets. Local artisans will be selling their wares to the public at the site every Friday, until Christmas.

This lovely quilt is by Juli Ann/Snuggly Babies.
Her work is also available at The Market Place
and the Last Stitch in San Juan Bautista.

The joint was open after the Lights On Celebration parade last weekend. It was jumping! Quilts, jams, chocolates, purses, jewelry, and knit scarves were among the various items that were on sale.

What items will be on sale each Friday will depend on the vendors. If their is a positive response to the venue, it may also be open on Saturdays. So, spread the word, folks!

For those of you who can't make it down to the Holiday Market Place, here are a few local businesses to check out for local goods:

• Bertuccio's (food items)
• DeBrito Chocolate Factory
• Marich Confectionery
• The Market Place in San Juan Bautista
• Vista Notes

You might also visit these web sites for more information about local businesses:

• Hollister Downtown Association
• Friends of Vista Notes
• San Benito County Chamber of Commerce 

Signs around Town

Nothing more to add. 

P.S.(several hours later) Uhm, would you say it's ironic that half way down the block on Seventh Street is a mortuary?