The Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce and the California Lemon Festival celebrated Goleta’s largest and longest-running community event with the Lemon Launch on Wednesday night at Glen Annie Golf Club, 405 Glen Annie Road.
“Twenty years ago, members of that Chamber of Commerce got together and said, ‘We want to revive our community festival into something really fantastic and make it a signature annual event for the Goleta Valley. We want it to celebrate the heritage and history of our businesses here,’” said Kristen Amyx, GVCC president and CEO.
The annual celebration traces its roots to 1890 at Sherman Stow’s 600 acres of lemon orchards. This year’s community event will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 15 and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 16 at Girsh Park. Click here for more information.
“This is really what is so wonderful about being in this community. You are all out here celebrating and supporting business in Goleta, and that’s what it’s all about,” said Janet Garufis, president and CEO of Montecito Bank & Trust. “The Lemon Festival is an amazing 20-year tradition in the Goleta community.”
Nearly 30,000 people ate 1,830 lemon bars and drank 105 gallons of lemon ale at last year’s festival.
Goleta Mayor Margaret Connell said there needs to be more events like the Lemon Festival to bring the community together.
“It’s a great way to bring people together, share a sense of community and think of each other as Goletans,” she said.
This year there will be a host of food booths, pie-eating contests, craft tables, miniature golf and bounce houses. Local music groups and dancers will provide entertainment along with the Fall Classic Car and Street Rod Show. Admission is free.
“My only job is to make sure we sell a lot of lemon-flavored beer and make sure it doesn’t rain,” GVCC Board Chairman Steve Fedde said.
Sponsors of the Lemon Launch are the Glen Annie Golf Club, Montecito Bank & Trust and Jordano’s.
MarBorg Industries is the presenting sponsor for the California Lemon Festival. Venoco Inc. is the co-sponsor. Cox is the media sponsor.
The Santa Ynez Band of the Chumash Indians, ParentClick.com and the Santa Barbara Daily Sound are the Sunshine Sponsors. Community West Bank, Montecito Bank & Trust and The Towbes Group are the Growers Sponsors.
Other sponsors include AMS Entertainment, ATK Space Systems, Ameravant, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Citrix Online, DSR Audio, FLIR Commercial Vision Systems, the Foundation for Girsh Park, the Goleta Sanitary District, the Goleta Water District, Hollister Brewing Co., Jordano’s, Latitude 34˚ Technologies, Linda Blue Photography, Maravilla, Marmalade Café, Media 27, RCI Builders, Ramada Limited, Raytheon, the Santa Barbara Airport, Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, the Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District, Santa Barbara Signs & Graphics, Southern California Edison, Tri-Valley Trophies, Wilson Printing and Woodstock’s Pizza.
Media sponsors include Noozhawk, 92.9 KJEE, Central Coast CW-5, Edhat.com, Epicure SB, Family Life Magazine, KDB 93.7, KEYT, K-Lite 101.7, KRAZY Country 105.9, Kruz 97.5, KSBY-TV 6, KTYD 99.9, Magic 106.3, Radio Bronco 107.7, SBClick.com and Univision.
— Noozhawk business writer Alex Kacik can be reached at akacik@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.