HOLLISTER • SAN BENITO COUNTY
A New SV Media publication
Friday, September 22, 2017
sanbenito.com • Vol. 144, No. 38 • $1
LOCAL SCENE Girl Scouts
This is not your mother’s Girl Scouts. Girl Scouts of California’s Central Coast is gearing up for another phenomenal year and they want you to know all about it. The Girl Scouts is hosting a free event in Hollister on Thursday, October 5 at Ladd Lane Elementary, 161 Ladd Lane, from 6 p.m.–7:30 pm. Discover all that Girl Scouts has to offer, from STEM education to the great outdoors, life skills to entrepreneurship and much more. Visit girlscoutsccc.org/ join for more information.
Gilroy garlic festival recipe Home chefs can bring home the flavor of the Gilroy Garlic Festival by preparing the winning dish from this year’s Great Garlic Cook-Off, one of the nation’s most prestigious amateur cooking contests. This year’s winner, Naylet LaRochelle, travelled from Miami, Florida to dazzle the panel of judges with her original recipe for “Smoky Salsa Roja Shrimp and Roasted Garlic Cotija Grits.” LaRochelle beat out seven other finalists from all across the country to claim the $5,000 prize and coveted garlic crown. Get the recipe at sanbenito.com/2017/09/19/ garlic-festival-winning-recipe
Olive festival
JOLLY TIME Performers at the Northern California Renaissance Faire put on stage shows for families and adults-only
at the landmark event at Casa de Fruta in Hollister. The Faire runs each weekend until October 15.
The faire queen awaits
THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF SAN BENITO COUNTY
SEPTEMBER 22, 2017
THOUSANDS HEAD TO RENAISSANCE FAIRE OPENING DAY
OU T & AB OU T CA LE ND EV EN AR OF TS
Deep Fried Spam
Roseann Hernandez Cattani
LION RANCH WINERY P10 | WINTER GARDEN PREP P17 | CAR SHOW P20
Editor
Inside this issue: Tutu and Pa’s Hawaiian BBQ
Reporter
City leaders certified the petition to reconsider development of the vacant 400 block of San Benito Street on Monday. No decision was made on whether to take the issue to Hollister voters, leaving the future of the cityowned parcel in limbo.
said Jim Brumfield, whose 14-acre horse ranch on San Juan Highway is a short walk from the site of the planned bridge. The riverbed crossing will be funded completely with federal money from the Federal Highway Administration's Toll Credit Highway Bridge Program, with construction slated for the spring of 2017. “The key to a better transportation
PAID
HOLLISTER CA. PERMIT #48
2017 SAN BENITO FOOTBALL PREVIEW
TURN TO PIZZA • A8
Nicholas Preciado
“I think that’s disappointing,” said Hollister Mayor Ignacio Velazquez, who led the petition drive and recused himself from all council actions and discussions on the 400 block because he owns the neighboring Vault. “The attitude is ‘yes, they got the signatures, but we’re going to find a way to void this whole referendum.’ I don’t think the voters will be happy
about that. I think [the council] needs to listen to the voters and go from there, rather than try to cancel them out.” Because the petition reached its signature goal, the city council could have decided to rescind their previous plan to sell the parcel. Alternatively, they could have taken steps to hold an election.
make his pizzas. In starting the business, he is also bringing a taste of his family’s home country to his family’s hometown in Hollister. The Felice family is from the Calabria part of Italy and has deep roots in San Benito County as well. With the opening of Forno, meanwhile, Hollister will once again
****ECRWSS**** Residential Customer
➝ Ren Faire, 4
Cake, anyone?
with his friend, James Williams. “This is a pleasure faire so you can let loose,” said Held, who has been attending the Renaissance Faire at Casa de Fruta since 2003. “Unlike an SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) event where you are this role and you have to stay in character. Here you get to relax. It’s a nice escape and good to get away and do something different
The San Benito County chapter of the national nonprofit organization Birthday Cakes 4 Free started last spring and group members have been bringing cakes, cupcakes and muffins to low-income seniors and children ever since then. Since the group started in June, its members have delivered about five cakes a month to the Emmaus House, Chamberlain's Children Center and the assisted living facility Whispering Pines Inn. Now they're looking to expand to individual homes in the county. A2
Solar revisions
of a stack of petitions he collected to halt the 400 block sale.
CONTINUES TO DELAY DECISION ON VOTE
Nick Preciado
San Juan resident: ‘Like our own
Project planned for Y Road
KATIE HELLAND •REPORTER khelland@freelancenews.com
HOLLISTER
A $16 million bridge stretching 900 feet across the San Benito River is planned to connect Y Road and San Juan Bautista. But in this rural area, the number of people it will serve is small. “It's like our own bridge to nowhere,”
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trying to convert you to their beliefs—lots of different people,” said Geleynse. “Willingtown is a small village and we are honored to have the queen coming.” Many of the morning’s spectators are in full period dress or like Glade, depicting a fantasy. And if they did not arrive that way, there are costumes to rent and buy inside. “He’s an Italian tradesman,” said Dave Held, a San Jose resident who ventured to the Faire
City certifies petition
CHECK MATE Mayor Ignacio Velazquez in July in front
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everything that is going on. There is always such hustle and bustle in the village while the Queen is visiting.” The village of Willingtown, which is under the rule of Queen Elizabeth I, the English monarch behind such hits as the Spanish Armada and the execution of her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots, is a maze of vendors, performance venues, food stalls and period games. “There are mongers selling food, puritans
The company vying to build a 247-megawatt solar farm in Panoche submitted a draft supplemental environmental impact report addressing plans to examine impacts under a revised, reduced proposal. PV2 Energy filed the supplemental draft EIR on Dec. 23. The prior company overseeing the project, Solargen Energy, had an initial EIR approved by the county board in late 2010. A5
SPORTS
Tudor so they have King Henry.” It was the first day of the five-weekend affair and people were ready. “It does embody me, I am this creature,” said Glade, a woodland creature of the forest as he stood picturesquely, strumming his lyre, a hoard of noblemen, peasants, knights, wenches and fair ladies moving past him. “There are always such joyous people wandering about in festive spirits. I like to see
Soph surge
Crowds of spectators lined the entrance to the Northern California Renaissance Faire at Casa de Fruta Saturday as a parade of costumed players announced the coming of the queen. “We are Elizabethan so we have a queen,” said Anita Geleynse, in full period dress. “Others are
A year ago, Brad Sparrer was the No. 5 player in the lineup on San Benito High’s golf team. But entering the 2015 season—practice starts on Feb. 1—the 5-foot-8, 140pound sophomore will likely be the Haybalers’ No. 1 player. Sparrer’s meteoric rise came the good old-fashioned way: hard work. B1
PRSRT STD US POSTAGE
A section of the Hollister Free Lance
Tutu Pa’s makes Hawaiian-style fries in Hollister
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Roseann Hernandez Cattani
San Benito Olive Festival will launch its fourth annual fresh culinary event at the San Benito County Historical Park in Tres Pinos on Saturday, October 14. Tickets can be purchased in Hollister at Postal Graphics, 1760 Airline Highway, and San Benito Bene, 615-B San Benito Street, as well as online at Eventbrite–San Benito Olive Festival.
➝ 400 Block, 4
TURN TO BRIDGE • A8
LOOK FOR IT ON THE WEB
An advocacy organization that re college instructors across Califo symbolically walk out of the clas what they call a significant pay d