Pioneer Day celebrates 85 years of local tradition

Posted: 5:27 pm, October 11, 2015 by Reporter Jackie Iddings

A “Welcome to Pioneer Day” kicked off the parade. Photos by Jackie Iddings.

– Enthusiastic people with big smiles filled Paso Robles’s Downtown City Park and lined a parade route for the 85th Pioneer Day.

Nancy Fadley, born and raised in the Paso Robles area, arrives early and spends the day downtown. Her favorite part is the parade, “Especially the horses,” she said.

Jeanette Thomas and her family set up their camp stoves and tables in the same spot every year. “It’s a reunion. Our family comes from all over California for this.” Nolan Lube, part of the Thomas party, travels from West Covina. “I lived here most of my life and graduated from Paso Robles High,” he stated.

The Anguay family – Mari Anguay with Mila and Avram.

Mari Anguay said Pioneer Day is a regular event for her family since moving to Paso Robles in 2013. “We moved here from Woodland for my husband’s job in Pismo Beach and discovered Paso Robles. We found a treasure here. The town is so family friendly.” Anguay’s son, Avram, won first place in the four to six-year-old boys group in the Little Cowboy/Cowgirl Contest.

Sixteen-month-old Easton Terra and his dog Buster.

Sixteen-month old Easton Terra and his dog Buster were double winners of the Children’s Pet Show, earning first place for Best Pioneer Pet and Most Unique Pet. Krista Atkins and her Dachshund Ginger were the Best Dressed, and Maya Castelli and her Golden Retriever Bentley were the Best Behaved.

Children’s best dressed and best behaved pets: Krista Atkins and Ginger
and Maya Castelli and Bently

Event judge Sascha Zvolensky , at left, with the Little Cowgirl contestants.

This year’s judges for the Children’s Pet Show and the Little Cowboy/Cowgirl Contest were Dr. Lariann Baretta, DVM of North County Animal Hospital, Ahsia Abdallah-Estrada of North County Animal Hospital, Sascha Zvolensky of Central Coast Landscape Products, and Delanie Villa, the 2015 Creston Classic Rodeo Queen.

Little Cowgirls, 3-years-old and younger winners: Left to right, Allison Werkel, Stella Crouse, and Zoe Peel.

Little Cowboys, 4-to-6-years-old: Zabany Peel, Jackson Cecil, Avran Anguay, Ronny Spann.

The year’s Pioneer Day theme, “The Great Depression of 1931, 85 years later,” recognizes not only how long this celebration has been held but symbolizes one of the many ways the community works together during hard times and good.

The first Pioneer Day, October 12, 1931, was organized by community volunteers to provide a day of community friendship during difficult economic times. The 1930s was a time of deep economic depression that struck people worldwide. Farming and rural communities like Paso Robles suffered as crop prices fell by approximately 60 percent. Today, just as in 1931, there is no charge for any of the Pioneer Day events, no commercial concessions, and lunch is provided at no cost. “Leave your pocketbook at home” is still the motto.

Lunch is the famous Bean Feed that has been prepared by the Paso Robles Lions Club since 1972. Before that the beans were prepared by local merchants. Starting in 1942, Vic Buckley, of Vic’s Cafe helped organize the Bean Feed and created the Secret Spice that is part of the recipe to this day. According to Cheri Eastwood, when her father, Larry Eastwood bought the café 43 years ago, the spice recipe was passed on to him. The ingredients remain a well-guarded family secret states Eastwood, “We keep it in a safe place.”

This year the Lion’s Club volunteers filled 11 huge vats with 1,000 pounds of famous King City pink beans, along with large amounts of onions, bell peppers, and 500 pounds of ground beef. Steam rises from the vats as the cooks stir and occasionally lifting a wooden paddle full of beans to the surface to check on them. When the beans are ready, volunteers from the Paso Robles Fire Department fill the plates, pots, and freezer containers for the public lining up for lunch. Some people come to enjoy lunch; others come with containers to take the tasty beans home for later.

Baile Folklorico dancers in the parade.

Camp Roberts Museum’s parade entry.

The parade represents the many facets of the community. Paso Robles High School was well represented by the marching band and a hay wagon full of high school athletes. Pioneer Day royalty rode in old cars or horse drawn carriages, more horses and mules either ridden or pulling wagons pranced along the parade route. Brightly colored swirling skirts of the Baile Folkorico were followed by vintage military vehicles from the Camp Roberts Historic Museum.

Isaac Lindsey’s tractor is towed in the parade by his brother

A poignant highlight of the parade was Isaac Lindsey’s empty-seated tractor towed by his brother Louis. Lindsey, a Templeton High School football player, sustained a traumatic brain injury during a game on September 18. As of September 27, he is out of the medically-induced coma and his condition has been upgraded from critical to serious. Lindsay’s 1939 Farmall A tractor is the J.B. Dewar’s 2015 Tractor Restoration Program Champion.

Pioneer Day may be only 85 years old but it touches family roots that reach back to the mid-1800s. Butch Heinsen, a Lockwood resident and life-long friend of Parade Marshall Calverne Sayler, said he came out to “support Cal.” Heinsen went on to say, “Our families are some of the earliest homesteaders around here. The Saylers and Heinsens, along with a number of other local families, arrived here in the 1800s from Fohr, an island near Germany.”

Margaret Wick, treasurer of the Pioneer Day Board of Directors said this year’s event has one of the largest turnouts yet. She said the event is organized by the board of directors with the help of approximately 150 volunteers in addition to the Lions Club and Paso Robles Fire Department volunteers who put on the Bean Feed.