Wednesday, May 14, 2014
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Have Fun, Go Nuts
Welcome To The 2014 Oakdale Chocolate Festival
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n behalf of the Oakdale Chamber of Commerce, Board of Directors and staff, I would like to thank you for attending our 22nd Annual Oakdale Chocolate Festival. We are grateful to the founders of the fesMARY GUARDIOLA tival whose goals, visions and commitment were instrumental in creating an event to be enjoyed by the entire family. As Oakdale Chamber CEO I want to thank and acknowledge the Chocolate Festival Committee members and volunteers who donate their time and energy to produce our successful event. This year we are celebrating agriculture and the nut production our area is so rich in. We have chocolate dipped in just about any type of nut you can think of, which is why we are offering our new theme for the year: Chocolates Gone Nuts. Thank you for attending, I hope you and your family will enjoy the many activities at our 2014 Oakdale Chocolate Festival this weekend. Enjoy!
- Mary Guardiola, Oakdale Chamber of Commerce CEO
Femme Bricoleuse French: (Bric-ol-euse: Handywoman)
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150 East E Street • Oakdale 840-2586 • Open Wed.-Fri. 10am-5pm
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New Year, New Theme
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By DAWN M. HENLEY
he Oakdale Chocolate Festival took some inspiration from a local commodity to kick off a new theme this year: “Chocolates Gone Nuts.” Oakdale Chamber of Commerce CEO Mary Guardiola reported that nuts are the number two crop in Stanislaus County, behind dairy, and in Oakdale alone, millions of new nut trees have been planted. “We, as a community – the nut industry means a lot to us economic development wise,” she said, adding that there are growers, packers, shippers, lenders, insurance, and more in the job industry as a result of tree nut production, all of which means a lot to Oakdale. “We looked at it from the economic development standpoint. It’s good for our community and that’s why we’re highlighting it,” she said. Guardiola reported that the chamber’s board of directors usually comes up with the theme each year. She said that in crafting a theme, they talk about what’s hot now and what’s fun. “It’s a fun topic, this one particularly. It works perfect with chocolate,”
she said of the Chocolates Gone Nuts theme. “We may expand on this one in years to come – such as highlighting specific nuts. “We were looking for something different this year that we could highlight and this is a good one,” she added. Guardiola noted that a lot of nuts are used in various chocolate treats. She referred to local candy company, Sconza, that makes a lot of chocolatecovered nut products including walnuts, almonds, and pistachios as an example of how well chocolate and nuts go together. She reported that there are also two new nut vendors who will be at the Chocolate Festival this year, and they only sell roasted nuts. Guardiola said that sometimes the event themes carry over from year to year. After Hershey’s left town, she recalled, the theme was “The Tradition Continues.” Later on, “Cowboys and Chocolate” was done for four or five years. And, there have also been times when the theme was changed every year. A few others over the life of the festival have included “Chocolate Frontier,” “Cruzin’ For Chocolate” and “Chocolate Paradise.”
Fruit Pies • Dumplings Chicken Pot Pies Cookies • Kitchenware at Bloomingcamp Ranch Gourmet Items Gourmet Dog Treats Pie Shop Just North of Chocolate Festival on Hwy 120 10528 Hwy 120 • Oakdale • 847-PIES (7437) • Fri-Sun 9am-5pm