Capay Valley celebrates almonds
Some folks say there are really two Capay Valley almond festivals.
Many visitors never travel beyond the Almond Festival events in the valley's gateway town of Esparto.
On Sunday morning, hundreds of Harleys roared down the town's main street to the thumping beat of a classic-rock band at Esparto Community Park. A crowd of festivalgoers jammed the sidewalks. Vendors from as far away as Stockton hawked pony rides, corn dogs and souvenirs.
"A lot of people think that's the festival. People in the know come up the valley," said Mike Carson, a local blacksmith.
About 15 miles northwest of Esparto on Highway 16, the bumper-to-bumper traffic died away and the valley opened to a vista of green hills, pink blossoms and quiet farmland, with dark clouds threatening rain.
In the village of Guinda, at the Western Yolo Grange Hall, it was almost possible to imagine it was 1915 – the year the almond festival began.
Outdoors, children sat in a straw-filled enclosure, cuddling lambs and rabbits raised by members of the Esparto-Capay Valley 4-H.
Carson talked to visitors at his booth, where he sold handmade horseshoes and triangles to call family to dinner.
Antique steam engines chugged away nearby.
Inside the Grange Hall, Clarence Van Hook, wearing a cowboy hat, mounted the creaky wooden stage and strummed blues tunes on an acoustic guitar.
Christina Hom offered tastes of almonds and almond butter from Riverdog Farm, one of the valley's noted organic growers.
Vonda Hobbs passed out free hunks of Amish friendship bread, straight from the oven. "Here you go, sweetie," she said, handing a plate to one pleased-looking young man.
At the next table over, Trudie Martin sold plum and apricot pastries she had baked with fruit from her own trees. Proceeds went to the Grange, a community group that supports local farmers.
"This is more the way it's been for 100 years," Martin said. "We try to keep it all as close and local as we can."
The annual festival is a showcase of the produce of the winding rural valley in western Yolo County.
It started 96 years ago as an almond harvest festival in the fall, then moved to February when the trees blossom.
Frequent rain in February persuaded organizers to move the event to March. That didn't entirely avoid the rain this year, but things stayed dry until mid-afternoon.
As drops began to fall in Rumsey, volunteers grilled racks of ribs over an almond wood fire. Funds from the annual rib roast helped restore the historic Rumsey Town Hall. It once leaned precariously but now sits square, with tall windows and shining wood floors.
Indoors, the scent of flowers from Cache Creek Lavender filled the air. Local artists displayed their work on the stage. And former Congressman Pete McCloskey, a Rumsey resident, sat by the front door greeting neighbors.
Nina Andres, of Live Oak Farm, invited strollers to taste oil pressed in December from olives she grows on a two-acre orchard near Rumsey. Andres has been coming to the festival for 15 years. She said it's a time when those who grew up in the Capay Valley and moved away come back to see old friends.
"This is the best of the valley," she said. "Everybody works together."
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