F is for . . .

Festivals, fairs, and fiestas! Olé!

Come summer and fall, we can look forward to the various festivals, fairs, and fiestas that take place in Hollister and other parts of our county. These are just a few of the big ones. 

Annual Old Mission San Juan Bautista Fiesta

About seven miles to the west of Hollister is San Juan Bautista, named after Mission San Juan Bautista, which was established in 1797. For many decades, the mission city has held an annual fiesta to celebrate St. John the Baptist, the patron saint of the Old Mission. This year, the event will take place on Sunday, June 28. Admission is free.

The celebration starts with a procession from the mission through the city and back up to the olive grove next to the mission. For more details, check out this link.

Annual Downtown Hollister Street Festival, Car Show, and Swap Meet

On July 18, 2015, San Benito Street and the side streets, between Fourth and South Streets, close  for the 29th annual Downtown Hollister  Street Festival, Car Show, and Swap Meet.  The free event is sponsored by the Downtown Hollister Association. For more details about the free event, check out this link.

San Benito County Fair

Cowboy Boots & Local Roots is the theme of this year's San Benito County Fair at Bolado Park, about eight miles south of Hollister. Livestock exhibits. Live music. Flower, food, art, and quilt competitions. Business and nonprofit group displays. Carnival rides. Truck pulls. And much more. If you've never experienced an old-fashioned county fair, ours is the one to check out.

This year, the fair will be four days long, from Thursday, October 1 to Sunday, October 4, 2015. For more information, visit the fair's website.

San Benito Olive Festival

The third annual San Benito Olive Festival will take place on October 17, 2015. The location to be announced soon. This foodie fair celebrates the agricultural heritage and bounty, as well as the artisanal foodmakers, in our area. Some of the products from here are olive oils, chocolates, wines, Blenheim apricots,  cherries, lettuce, asparagus, greens, free-range chickens and eggs, free-range grass-fed beef, and more.

The San Benito Olive Festival, a nonprofit group, donates all of its net proceeds from the annual event back to other nonprofit groups in the community. For more details, visit its website.

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E is for. . .

Eric Tognazzini!

In his later years, Eric buzzed up and down the sidewalks of Downtown Hollister on an electric wheelchair. Before that, he rode his tricycle. Eric was constantly stopping to talk with friends and acquaintances, some of whom crossed the streets or popped out of the shops and restaurants to say hello and chat with him for awhile.

I never knew what Eric's physical disability was. I just knew that he did not stick to the shadows because of it. He had a charming personality that disarmed people so that they didn't feel uncomfortable being around him.

Eric died in May, 2011 at the age of 64. Immediately, his friends started a memorial fund to build a statue of Eric, so that we may all remember and be inspired by Eric's amazing joyful spirit. Last month, the statue was installed and unveiled in front of the Briggs Building on the corner of San Benito and Fourth Streets.

To Eric!

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The West Side of the Anza Trail

Last week, the Husband and I went up the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail via the Salinas entrance. I read that the west entrance is a few hundred feet higher than the east entrance. That may be why the hike up to the summit is easier. It's also nearer—about 1.5 miles from the gate, as opposed to about 2.5 miles from the San Juan gate.

Looking east towards San Benito County from the summit.

Looking west towards Monterey Bay from the summit.

There is quite a difference in terrain between the two sides. On the east side, you steadily traverse upward on the trail. At one point, it seems like you could walk right into the sky. On the west side, the climb is gradual. Your attention is diverted by the meadow along the start of the trail, then the rounded hills on the north, and the now and then pass through overhanging oak branches.

How to Get to the West Entrance
Via San Juan Grade Road: At the intersection of San Juan Grade Road and Crazy Horse Canyon Road, turn left. At the end of the road, turn left. You're on Stage Coach Road. Drive a few miles to the end of that road.

Via South on Highway 101: Take the Crazy Horse Canyon/Echo Valley Road exit. Go to the left for Crazy Horse Canyon Road, and continue for several minutes until the road dead ends at Stage Coach Road. Turn left and drive to the end of the road.

The west entrance of the Anza Trail

D is for . . .

Looking North on San Benito Street

Drag. As in the main drag.

In Hollister, that's the main street which is called San Benito Street. I was an adult before it dawned on me that the main street in Downtown Hollister was not called Main Street.

Looking south on San Benito Street

D is also for dragging. As in cruising the main drag.

Remember the movie American Graffiti? Teenagers in a small town dragged the main street all night long in their cars or their parents' cars. That was Hollister way back when. After school and on weekends, teenagers slowly dragged the main street from one end to the other, and back again. I recall a guy sitting in a nice comfy chair on a corner of the main street, as if he was king of all the cruisers.

Today, Hollister's main drag gets closed for the Farmers Market every Wednesday afternoon, between May and September.

In July, it's shut down for the Hollister Motorcycle Rally around July 4th, and then again for the Downtown Hollister Street Festival and Car Show later in the month.

And, let me not forget that the street also closes for the various annual parades that take place throughout the year, such as the San Benito County Saddle Horse Show & Rodeo Parade, Veterans Day Parade, and Lights on Celebration Parade.

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C is for. . .

County seat.

Hollister is the county seat of San Benito County, which is part of the California Central Coast. Wait, now. Don't jump to the conclusion that my city is the one being blasted on the expensive tee-shirts people buy in that big box store I shall not name. The tee-shirt is all about a fictional beach town in Southern California. This Hollister, the real city, is about a 40 minute, more or less, drive away from the coast.

When California was established as a state in 1850, Monterey County ruled the area. Due to political this's and that's, a big interior chunk of Monterey became San Benito County in 1874. Hollister was made the county seat, rather than San Juan Bautista, which was a bustling mission town and had been for many years back then. Hollister was only incorporated in 1869. No doubt it helped that the Southern Pacific Railroad built a station there.

The former courthouse that now houses many county offices.

The new county courthouse

The county library

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