Avocado Festival powered by key individuals, agencies

It takes a tremendous effort to plan and present the Avocado Festival, and the people behind the scenes are to be commended for their worthwhile work each and every year. The festival, which began 22 years ago, is always well-attended and has typically drawn crowds of 70,000 or so.

“We anticipate a similar crowd as we have had in the past,” said Bob Leonard, executive director of the Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce.

The core group of planners meets approximately six times before the actual event to work out details under the watchful eye of George Archibald, chair of the festival. “We have a group now that knows what we have to do and we do it,” said Carol Eastman, events coordinator for the Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce.

Eastman would never admit it, but she plays a key role in keeping the entire event on an even keel. Some call her the “Mother of the Avocado Festival,” because she developed the idea for today’s festival.

Twenty-two years ago Eastman was working at Del Rey Avocado when the idea came to her. She wanted to bring a street fair to Fallbrook because she had seen the success of those kinds of events in Oceanside and Carlsbad. She got the idea to celebrate the avocado because she was around them all day.

Eastman learned the value of the avocado early in life. As a child in Milwaukee, her mother would put an avocado in a salad on special occasions. The avocado was so special and so important to the town of Fallbrook that Eastman thought that it would be a good theme for our community fair.

Cathie Ginther heads up the culinary contest and is pleased that Japanese chef Yujiro Masuda of Sushi no Hanayoshi restaurant in Japan will again make his California roll at the festival. Ginther takes care of setting up the culinary contests and demonstrations. She asks people to judge and invites special guests. The culinary events begin at 9 a.m. This year the contest categories for both professionals and amateurs are: Best Guacamole and Most Creative Avocado Dish.

Alan Walbridge of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department gives valuable input in the planning meetings and takes care of getting his crew ready. There will be a helicopter doing aerial surveillance as always and the department will have extra deputies on duty, explained Sergeant Theresa Adams-Hydar, also of the Sheriff’s Department.

Manny Ortega and his crew of senior volunteers for the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department play a huge role in the festival. Ortega himself has been working at the festival for 10 years. He said he does it because even though “it’s a lot of work, it’s fun.”

In addition to Fallbrook’s own senior volunteers, who will number about 30, there will be visiting sheriff volunteers from other communities. Approximately 25 volunteers will come from as near as Vista and San Marcos and as far away as Santee and Imperial Beach.

The Senior Sheriff Volunteers all carry radios and their job is to “observe and report,” according to Ortega. They also operate a Lost and Found near Wells Fargo, where parents are reunited with their children and misplaced items are returned to their owners. The number for the Lost and Found will be (760) 271-2427.

The North County Fire Department will have one fire truck and one ambulance designated for the festival, explained John Buchanan, North County Fire’s public information officer. Sid Morel also mentioned that Fire Station Number 1 will be the backup. Morel noted that it is the department’s goal “to keep the people safe.”

Buchanan mentioned that in past years heat-related problems have been evident. He said that people might not realize that even if it isn’t an extremely hot day, thousands of people in such a small area without much wind will generate more heat. He urges all festival visitors to “use common sense and remember to drink plenty of water.”

Eric Newbury and Scott Payson are the California Highway Patrol officers involved in the festival planning. They mentioned that the CHP will have five officer positions for six hours in addition to the regular beat officers. They also mentioned that the Explorer Scouts will be selling hot dogs at El Toro Market, but the hot dogs are donated by Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club.

The Avocado Festival crew’s day begins about 4 or 4:30 the morning of the festival. There are 300 volunteers who perform various duties throughout the day, from marking the streets for the vendor booths to cleaning up afterward. “The streets are always cleaner than they were before,” commented George Archibald.

More than 40 nonprofit organizations set up booths at the festival. It also helps generate business for the community. “The restaurants are full; the hotels are full,” Archibald noted.

Also keeping things going behind the scenes are Ron Patten, Bigs Parker and a crew of 26 volunteers from the Amateur Radio Club. There are many others involved as well and one thing is certain: the volunteers and others work hard to make the festival a success, and they succeed every year!