Lompoc Valley Flower Festival 2018

Lompoc Valley

FLOWER FESTIVAL

2018

 The annual Flower Festival parade will kick off at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 23, at the corner of North H Street and East College Avenue. Page 6

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 The six young ladies vying to become this year’s Lompoc Valley Flower Festival Queen were introduced to the community during a first-of-itskind Queen Premiere. Page 4

Lee Central Coast Newspapers | Sunday, June 17, 2018 |

INSIDE

 “Space: The Final Frontier” is the theme for this year’s event, which honors its parade grand marshal: 26-year U.S. Air Force veteran Lee Wise.

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66th Flower Festival opens Wednesday with food, fun and flowers for all

Air Force veteran Lee Wise will serve as grand marshal Jennifer Best CO N TRI B U T I NG WRI T E R‌

‌W

hy mess with a good thing? It’s a question organizers of the 66th Annual Lompoc Valley Flower Festival have embraced as they bring back the popular blend of parade, food vendors, arts and crafts booths, carnival and live music for the June 20-24 event.

“People count on this tradition. They build high school class reunions around it, family reunions. Flower Festival weekend is the kickoff for lots of things.

They meet in the park, go to the parade, then carry on with other get togethers,” said Patti Shiflet, Flower Festival spokesperson.

“Space: The Final Frontier” is the theme for this year’s event which honors its parade grand marshal, Lee Wise.

The 26-year U.S. Air Force veteran did

six tours in the Pacific theater. The charter member of American Legion Vandenberg Post 125 has served as its commander, helped refurbish Lompoc’s Veterans Memorial Building, and introduced to the valley the annual Memorial Day tradition of placing flags throughout the cemetery.

The festival kicks off Wednesday with Community Appreciation Day. Admission to the festival grounds at Ryon Park is free all day, all ages. Booths full of food, arts, crafts and commercial vendors open at 11 a.m. Butler Amusement carnival rides will take flight at noon, and Limerick will warm up the live music stage beginning at 2 p.m.

“We have some great live acts lined up this year. Molly Ringwald Project (Friday) is very popular, and China Grove, a Doobie Brothers tribute band should be fun. Sunday afternoon is traditionally a celebration of our Hispanic community.

We’ll have 805 Cali Tejana, Mariachi (Autlense) and Kombinado,” Shiflet said.

The official festival opening takes place at 6 p.m. Wednesday evening, led

by the 2018 Flower Festival queen and her court. This year’s candidates include Esther Alvarez (Lompoc Valley Master Chorale), Kaitlyn Chui (Kiwanis Club of Lompoc), Sara Michels (Lompoc Rotary Club), Jillien Smith (Elks Lodge #2274), Cassandra Wilkins (American Legion Post 125), and Jessica Wilson (Lompoc Pops Orchestra).

“The girls have been feverishly selling tickets. Our printer says it’s the biggest

queen contest we’ve had in years,” Shiflet said.

For Parade Chairman Juan Esquivas, all the excitement comes to a head Saturday morning at 10 a.m. when floats, bands, equestrian units and dance teams head down H Street from East College Avenue to Ocean Avenue.

PLEASE SEE FESTIVAL, Page A3

A2 | Sunday, June 17, 2018 | Lee Central Coast Newspapers

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An equestrian in the 2017 Lompoc Flower Festival parade.

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Santa Maria Elks officers ride during the 2017 Lompoc Flower Festival parade.

Festival From A2

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Familia de Dios, pansit and lumpia

by Lompoc Filipino American Club, smoothies, gyros, rootbeer floats and more.

The $20 carnival wristbands that provide unlimited ride access are also available in advance from the festival office.

The popular flower contest has been dropped this year.

“It’s all about manpower, just like any other organization. We just didn’t have enough volunteers to keep the flower contest going,” Shiflet said.

The festival’s office welcomes volunteers for this year’s event, and for its ongoing festival committees.

“There’s always lots of prep work. We have a core of less than 10 people who manage to get that park ready, hang the signs, bring in all the trailers. It’s a lot of running around, and it’s a big park once you start walking it,” Shiflet said.

They also need volunteers to work in ticket booths, the beer garden, food booths, along the parade route and, in advance, in the festival office.

For more information about the festival, including entertainment lineup, daily schedules and flower festival rules, visit https://sites.google.com/ lompocvalleyfestivals.com/lvfa/ or call 735-8511.

Lee Central Coast Newspapers | Sunday, June 17, 2018 | A3

“We’re an award-winning parade.

Three drill teams and drum squads are coming, which has been a big hit, and the Compton Sounders are back by popular demand,” Esquivas said.

Vandenberg Air Force Base Color Guard is set to lead the parade, then close it with a 21-gun salute in honor of fallen soldiers.

While front-row seats along the curbs and sidewalks of the parade

route remain free of admission, the gate fee for this year’s Flower Festival has increased to $5 per person per day.

Children 12 and younger still get in free. Pre-sale tickets available from the Lompoc Valley Festivals office, 414 W. Ocean Ave. in Lompoc, cut the entry fee to for $4 per day or $15 for a fourpunch pass.

“It’s still a great deal. For five bucks, you get all this free entertainment,” Shiflet said.

Plus, access to a variety of food vendors including AYSO’s jambalaya, strawberry shortcake from Cornerstone Church, papusas by Iglesia Bautista

Len Wood, Staff‌

2017 Lompoc Flower Festival parade entry.

Queen candidates introduced STA FF RE P ORT

A4 | Sunday, June 17, 2018 | Lee Central Coast Newspapers

‌T

he six young ladies vying to become this year’s Lompoc Valley Flower Festival Queen were introduced to the community in April during a first-of-its-kind Queen Premiere.

The candidates took to the main stage at Ryon Park for the first premiere to be held during the annual SpringFest celebration.

This year’s group of candidates includes five Cabrillo High School students and one Cabrillo alumna who is now taking courses at Hancock College.

Here is some information about each (along with their respective sponsor organization), listed alphabetically: Esther Alvarez (Lompoc Valley Master Chorale): A 17-year-old senior at Cabrillo High, Alvarez plans to attend a four-year university for a degree in chemistry and then go after a master’s degree in pharmacology. She lists video games, particularly Nintendo, among her interests. She said she loves to visit her family in Korea and is “super excited to meet new people and use this experience (of running for Flower Festival Queen) to step out of my comfort zone.”

Kaitlyn Chui (Kiwanis Club of Lompoc): The 17-year-old Cabrillo High senior has gained acclaim locally as a singer and performer. She lists her hobbies as singing and playing the guitar and piano. She has her sights on studying classical voice performance at a four-year university before moving on to become a professional singer. If she could meet anyone from the past or present, she said it would be Etta James “because she was so influential in music and she inspires me.” She said she is motivated by always striving to improve herself. On what excites her most about running for Flower Festival Queen: PLEASE SEE QUEEN, Page A5

Frank Cowan, Contributor‌

Lompoc Flower Festival Queen candidates are presented April 21 at the annual Springfest at Ryon Park. From left are Cassandra Wilkins, Esther Alvarez, Jessica Wilson, Sara Michels, Jillien Smith and Kaitlyn Chui.

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Flower Festiv Festival

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Flower Festival Queen candidate Kaitlyn Chui speaks to the Springfest crowd at Ryon Park as current Queen Ciarra Blow looks on.

Queen From A4

would choose Beyoncé and Justin Beiber if she could meet anyone. One of her favorite hangouts when she is stressed is South Side Coffee Co., and she said she is excited to run for Flower Festival Queen “to be able to be a role model in our community, for the children and for future candidates.”

Cassandra Wilkins (American Legion Post 125): The 17-year-old Cabrillo High School senior plans to attend Santa Barbara City College and UCSB to study business. She likes to listen to music and be around her friends to unwind and said she is motivated by her grandmother “because I want to do all that I can to make her proud with the time that I have left with her.” Cheerleading and working in the Cabrillo High aquarium are among her hobbies, and she said she would choose Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. if she could meet anyone “because they stood up for what they believe in.”

Jessica Wilson (Lompoc Pops Orchestra): A member of the 2017 graduating class at Cabrillo High School, the 19-year-old Wilson is currently taking classes at Hancock College. She said she

plans to work for the FBI after graduation from college. She described herself as a “huge book nerd,” and said she likes to play the piano and sing to unwind.

She said she’d like to meet singer Charlie Puth and is most excited about running for Flower Festival Queen for “the life lessons, getting to meet new people and possibly changing lives.”

The queen was crowned during a coronation ceremony Saturday, June

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16. The 66th annual Lompoc Valley Flower Festival kicks off June 20 and runs through June 24. The theme for this year’s Flower Festival is “Space, The Final Frontier.”

The Flower Festival and SpringFest celebrations are coordinated by the Lompoc Valley Festival Association.

This report was prepared by Willis Jacobson. He can be reached at wjacobson@leecentralcoastnews.com.

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“Getting to know my community and becoming even more involved as an ambassador for Lompoc.”

Sara Michels (Lompoc Rotary Club): An 18-year-old senior at Cabrillo High School, Michels said her future goals include attending Fresno State and law school at USC, after which she hopes to work as an attorney for Disney. In addition to her love of Disney and Disneyland, she also has an interest in World War II history and said she is motivated by competition. Among the reasons she said she is excited to run for Flower Festival Queen is so that she can serve as a “role model for little girls in town.”

Jillien Smith (Lompoc Elks Lodge): The Cabrillo High School senior, 17, said she plans to attend a four-year university and work in the medical field while also traveling the world to quench her thirst for adventure and exploration.

The left-hander played five sports during her high school years and said she

Frank Cowan, Contributor‌

Lompoc Flower Festival Queen candidates are presented April 21 at the annual Springfest at Ryon Park.

Len Wood, Staff‌

Tractors drive down the route during the 2017 Lompoc Flower Festival parade.

Len Wood, Staff‌

Chief Master Sgt. Diena Mosley waves from a vehicle in the 2017 Lompoc Flower Festival parade.

Len Wood, Staff‌

Making music during the 2017 Lompoc Flower Festival parade.

A6 | Sunday, June 17, 2018 | Lee Central Coast Newspapers

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Parade will take over Lompoc streets Saturday Willis Jacobson W JACO BSO N@ LE EC E N T R A LCOASTN EWS.CO M‌

‌Although the 66th annual Lompoc Valley Flower Festival begins on Wednesday, one of the most anticipated aspects of the event will occur Saturday morning.

The annual Flower Festival parade will kick off at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 23, at the corner of North H Street and East College Avenue. The traveling spectacle will move south on H Street and then turn west on Ocean Avenue toward O Street, where it will end in front of Ryon Park, the home base for the festival.

Juan Esquivias, parade chair for the Lompoc Valley Festival Association, said that 50 entrants had signed up for

the parade as of June 13, but that the organizers would continue accepting applications through June 20, the opening day of the festival.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Esquivias said. “People are really excited about the parade this year, and a lot of people seem to be looking forward to seeing the drill teams and drum squads that come in from the Los Angeles and Bakersfield areas.”

The theme for this year’s Flower Festival is “Space: The Final Frontier.”

Esquivias said that parade entrants seem to be embracing the nod to the local space community.

PLEASE SEE PARADE, Page A7

Len Wood, Staff‌

An entrant in the 2017 Lompoc Flower Festival parade.

Len Wood, Staff‌

Performers in the 2017 Lompoc Flower Festival parade.

Parade From A6

“Everything that has to do with space and military, they seem to be very open about that,” he said.

The parade will be led by the Vandenberg Air Force Base honor guard. It will also include equestrian units, the aforementioned drill and drum squads, local school bands, clowns, local civic leaders, and several returning floats.

All floats, according to the Lompoc Valley Festival Association, will have been designed and constructed by local organizations.

In the past, the Queens Float, which carries the Flower Festival Queen and her court, was built by inmates from

the Lompoc federal prison. This year, the Lompoc Valley Festival Association reported, the float was built by Lompoc community members on a volunteer basis.

Motorists on Saturday should prepare for road closures and detours along the parade route.

Esquivias encouraged anyone interested in participating in next year’s parade to contact the Lompoc Valley Festival Association at 805-735-8511.

For more information on the parade and/or festival, visit sites.google.com/ lompocvalleyfestivals.com/lvfa/flowerfestival.

Willis Jacobson covers the city of Lompoc for Lee Central Coast Newspapers. Follow him on Twitter @WJacobsonLR.

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Crowds line the street for the 2017 Lompoc Flower Festival parade.

A8 | Sunday, June 17, 2018 | Lee Central Coast Newspapers

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