March – May 2015 Annual Events in San Benito County

Who else wants to know when the annual events are happening in Hollister, San Juan Bautista, Aromas, and other places in San Benito County? Yup, me, too. Over the next few days, I'll post dates for upcoming events in 2015.  Today, check out what will be up in March, April and May. Click the following links to find out about events in other months:
•  June - July 2015
•  August - October 2015
•  November - December 2015

MARCH 2015

March 20: Champagne Tea and Treasure Fundraiser for the Women's Club and Friends of the Library 

March 28 - 29: Annual San Juan Spring Arts and Crafts Festival  

March 29: Top Hatters BBQ and Blessing of the Bikes 

APRIL 2015

April 3 - 5: 25th Annual Arts, Crafts and Music Festival at Casa de Fruta

April 11: Walk a Mile in Her Shoes

April 18: Hollister Downtown Association Plant Sale and Garden Expo 

April 18 - 19: Annual Cactus and Succulent Spring Show and Sale in San Juan Bautista, sponsored by the Monterey Bay Cactus & Succulent Society of America

April 25 - 26: Open Studios Art Tour throughout San Benito County

MAY 2015

May 2: Downtown Wine and Beer Stroll 

May 2 - 3: 31st Annual California Indian Market & Peace Pow Wow

May 6 - September 30: Certified Farmers' Market — every Wednesday, from 3 to 7:30 p.m., in Downtown Hollister

May 16 - 17:  Annual San Juan Bautista Rib Cook-Off

A Sunday Flashback: The Mission Bells

NOT Mission San Juan Bautista in April, 2006,
but Mission San Antonio de Padua

Dear Readers, I'm introducing a new weekly feature called A Sunday Flashback today. Last week, I needed to go through my photo archive for Take 25 to Hollister and I was quite overwhelmed by the number of photos, as well as amazed at how some things around the county have changed just within the past 10 years.

Mission San Juan Bautista, for instance. Who remembers the bells being out in front of the church entrance? I don't, even while I look at the photo I took in 2006.

So, when did the change take place? In 2010, the mission went through another restoration and a bell wall was added to the church.

FLASH UPDATE: The husband has just informed me that the above photo is not of Mission San Juan Bautista, but of Mission San Antonio de Padua! He said that he'd always seen Mission San Juan Bautista as painted white, so he started looking back at all the missions we have visited. Thank you, Husband!

No wonder I couldn't recall Mission San Juan Bautista looking that way before 2010. So much for the the first Sunday Flashback. LOL!

This is definitely Mission San Juan Bautista!

Enjoy the View

Have you checked out the view as you wait for the traffic lights to turn green at the corner of Highway 25 (aka Airline Highway) and Union Road?

Rain Clouds over Downtown Hollister

The weather has been beautiful the last several days that if it weren't for this photo I would've forgotten that we did have a few days of rain. Were the rain clouds gathering or breaking over Downtown Hollister? I can't recall. Hopefully, we'll have a lot more early spring rains to lessen the drought.

Today I'm hooking up with Skywatch Friday. Click here to check out the skies around the world.

A Neighborhood Walk -- Seventh Street

One gorgeous afternoon, the Husband and I had eaten a tummy full of yummy burgers and fries at Third Base Burger Bar on San Benito Street. Afterwards, we chose not to get back into our car but ramble down Seventh Street to the end and back. The walk did us well. These photos show a few of the delightful sights that we saw. Did you know there are redwood trees on Seventh Street?