Father Larry Gosselin, associate pastor at the Santa Barbara Mission, snaps a photo of the 2017 Old Spanish Days Fiesta Flower Girls on Saturday. 
The Fiesta Flower Girls class of 2017. The ambassadors have been an Old Spanish Days tradition since 1948. 
Father Larry Gosselin gets his photo opportunity with this year’s Fiesta Flower Girls. 
Proud parents and family members were on hand for photo ops of their own.
Amid a sea of smiles and excited shouts of “Viva la Fiesta,” more than 140 Old Spanish Days Fiesta Flower Girls stood side-by-side for a group photo on the steps of the Santa Barbara Mission on Saturday morning.
Ever since the first Fiesta Flower Girls were presented in 1948, the prelude to the annual summer festival has helped bring Santa Barbara history to life.
This year is no exception.
The girls, ages 6 to 17, represent Santa Barbara and serve as the official Old Spanish Days ambassadors.
“The girls are important because they are the face of Fiesta, they can go places where it might not be feasible for larger groups to go,” said Franchine Mackey, chairwoman of the Old Spanish Days Fiesta Flower Girls.
“They bring a little bit of happiness or bring back a memory of Fiesta to someone who can no longer participate, making their day a little brighter.”
Flower Girl Sophia Senn’s skirt was adorned with five colorful ribbons, which symbolizes each year the 10 year old has participated in Fiesta.
The Our Lady of Guadalupe School student said she looks forward to spreading cheer to residents of 20 Santa Barbara nursing homes and showering attendees with an assortment of flowers as they walk to their La Fiesta Pequeña seating at the mission.
She also enjoys participating in all the iconic Fiesta activity, including El Desfile Histórico (Historical Parade) and El Desfile De Los Niños (Children’s Parade) in downtown Santa Barbara.
Sophia said events are a great way to make new friends and she described the festivities as “fun and a great experience.”
The Flower Girls will attend about a dozen events prior and during the week-long festival, which is being celebrated Aug. 2-6.
Other responsibilities the girls hold include greeting guests at the Santa Barbara Airport and Amtrak station, visiting police and fire departments and appearances at the Goleta and Santa Barbara city council meetings.
Of the girls who come from Santa Barbara County, a number are carrying on a family tradition with a mother or older sibling who participated as a Flower Girl, said Rhonda Henderson, Fiesta’s La Presidenta.
“It truly is a community program and wonderful to have young girls involved in volunteer work,” she said. “It’s one of the programs I’m most proud of at OSD.”
Mesa Lane Partners and Truly Great Homes are sponsors of this year’s Fiesta Flower Girls.
Click here for a complete schedule of Fiesta events.
— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.