I was getting ready to go to the Merchant's Association meeting. My husband, Roger, keeps calling it the Merchants Guild. It must be reminiscent from his D&D days. The memo said we were to come up with ideas that we would like to see implemented in the City of Guadalupe. CALIFORNIA, people--not Mexico. I didn't think there was a city called Guadalupe in California, but I was mistaken. Now I live here--and I so love it! (Side note: No there are no houses for sale. There is a screening process that is being put in place before you can move here. We have happy cows and insist on having happy people. If you are grumpy, move to Nevada.)
Back to the looming meeting...so my husband and I were talking about the different things we would like to see happen. I thought the town needed a good festival (who doesn't love a good party?), and since we are surrounded by agriculture, we should have a Salad Bowl Festival. Roger liked the idea, so I made him go buy the domain names. YOOHOO! They were available! It was a miracle. We bought the names and headed out to the meeting.
At the meeting: We met the movers and shakers of Guadalupe. Well, at least we met people who want to see improvement. We all went around the table and shared our ideas. People seemed to like the idea of the Salad Bowl Festival. We all felt good about our sharing in the circle, and went home.
A few weeks later I receive the new memo for the Merchants Association meeting. The only thing on there to be discussed were the ideas Roger and I shared. Uh-oh! So now what do I do? I go to my friend, Google. "How to put on a festival." Fortunately for me, there is a lot of information. I wasn't too concerned about planning as I have planned conferences, parties, etc., but nothing outdoors for a community I don't really know yet.
Next meeting...The Merchants Association is all over the Salad Bowl Festival. It seems some other residents thought of this idea about eight years ago. They are on board. We have a new city manager, Regan Candelario, who says, "Make it work." He also says a lot of other things which totally crack me up, but I can't print them here. You would have to get to know him, and go to the meetings.
So the Salad Bowl Festival has its own meeting times now. People are on board. The Kiwanis are donating the sound system, the fire department offered to police the alcohol tent (I think I need to get the police department to police the fire department), dignitaries are going to judge the salad dressing competition, local growers are donating produce, we are actively seeking great food and entertainment. The Guadalupe Sports Hall of Fame is hosting the 1/2 Marathon and 5K Run/Walk. I am thinking of fun things to do with veggies--like cabbage bowling. No, I haven't tried it yet. I will work on that this weekend.
My favorite part of planning the festival--the businesses and citizens who are excited to see it happen and donate cash, ideas, and resources. We grow the green stuff and we need the green stuff. Here are some of our donors so far:
Santa Maria Fairpark
We have more donors committed and their names will be posted when we receive their information. Let me know if you have any good ideas for games with produce. Maybe we should do a sculpture contest with vegetables. Hmmm...I will have to think about this one. Now you see how my brain works, one thing after another. I will stop the writing now and give my brain a rest.
Greens to you!
Veronica Forest
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