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in Clovis and Central California
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Clovis Fest 2010 -- An Exciting, Colorful and Fun-filled
Experience in the Central Valley of California |
Story, Photos & Slide Shows by JoAnne
Green
October 23, 2010
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Clovis is known as a city of festivals.
There are always festivals and events going
on in Clovis throughout the year. In the
month of September, Clovis Fest is one of
the biggest attractions in the Central
Valley of California. Traditionally, Clovis
Fest is held on the third or fourth weekend
of September of each year. It is free to the
public. Clovis Fest draws fair goers and
vendors not only from the local community
but from throughout California and beyond.
One vendor, this year, came from a far away
as Texas.
This year, Clovis Fest brought a perfect
combination of hues, excitement, and lots of
fun and wholesome activities to celebrate
the approach of Autumn.
The most unique and exciting feature of
Clovis Fest is seeing many colorful hot air
balloons lifting off and floating across the
sky in the Valley in the early morning of
Saturday and Sunday during the festival.
Getting up early and driving to Clovis Rodeo
Grounds before dawn probably isn't something you
would normally do if you weren't a hot air
balloon enthusiast. But Central California
clearly has many hot air balloon enthusiast.
Getting up early is a must-do tradition for
those of us who love watching hot air
balloons lift off. By six o'clock on
Saturday morning, Clovis Rodeo Grounds was
full of hot air balloon lovers of all ages.
The weather was predicted to be fair with a
nice wind current on the mornings of
Saturday and Sunday, September 18th and 19th. It was an ideal condition
for launching and flying hot air balloons.
The following photos illustrate in detail
the activities and interactions among the
hot air balloon crews and their
fans from the beginning of preparation for
the lift off through the time the balloon
actually took off.
Story continued
below.
To
hear the music with the slide show, please turn on your
speaker.
Each morning at dawn during Clovis Fest, there was an
interesting blend of excitement bursting in
almost every corner of Clovis Rodeo Grounds. Children
and their moms and dads excitedly squealed
or whooped and roared every time one of the
wicker balloon baskets sat upright and the
balloons swayed as the burners (the engines
of hot air balloons) got lit up. One of the
most amazing sensations for the fans of hot
air balloon is standing close to one of the
baskets when the pilot of the balloon fires
up the burner and it sends toward the sky a
powerful roaring flame that gives off an incredible
stream of heat.
You can see this amazing experience through
pictures 3, 5, and 6.
Another unique feature of Clovis Fest is the
wonderfully sweet and cinnamony aroma of
freshly baked cinnamon rolls that floats in
the crisp early morning air around Clovis
Rodeo Grounds. Country Fair Cinnamon Rolls
are one of the most popular food items at
Clovis Fest. Every year, many fairgoers
arrive at the peak of dawn and form a
long line in front of the trailer of Country
Fair Cinnamon Rolls waiting for the freshly baked sweet
and gooey bread. The
line at trailer of the Country Fair Cinnamon
Rolls often gets very long even before the hot air
balloon teams arrive at dawn to prepare for the
lift off.
Here are photos of some Country Fair
Cinnamon Rolls lovers.
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Georgia & Brittany York, mother
and daughter, of Fresno
Tom Conley of
Clovis
Gilbert Soto
and his son, Cruz (age 8) of Fresno
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Once the balloons lifted off around seven
o'clock and floated skyward, they caught a
good breeze which carried them off quite
rapidly to the south-southeast. As the ground crews moved their
vehicles out of Clovis Rodeo Grounds, fairgoers
started walking toward Old Town Clovis, which
is about two blocks away, for an array of
exciting and fun experiences.
By eight o'clock, all vendors in Old Town
Clovis had their
booths set up and their wares displayed to
entice fairgoers of all ages. There were
over 150 booths with arts and
crafts, clothing, food and beverages, and
other merchandise. There were also educational
booths promoting various organizations,
causes, and interest groups.
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I had a chance to talk to Tammi
Walton who is Events Director
from Clovis Chamber of Commerce
about the variety of vendors who
participated in Clovis Fest 2010. |
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According to Ms. Walton,
the vendors were selected to
participate in Clovis Fest based
on their unique merchandise and
presentation of their booth as
well as their overall public-friendly image. |
The following photos feature some of the
vendors and their booths on Fifth Street
in Old Town Clovis during Clovis Fest
2010:
Story continued
below.
Suzi Osborn, owner of Treasures from
Bali in Fresno, presents unique
items that she brought back from her
trips to Bali, such as jewelry, wood
sculptures, sarongs, scarves,
shawls, and more.
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These beautiful dresses were
imported from Jamaica, according to
Trevor Levy, owner of Mystik Vybz
Roots. Mr. Levy works and lives in
San Diego. This is his first time
participating in Clovis Fest.
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Cindy Rowland, independent
consultant of Usborne Books & More,
presents a variety of popular
children books.
Marissa Hanlon
(age 7) and Lauryn Hanlon (age 8)
and their mother Paula Hanlon are
book lovers and regular customers of
Usborne Books. |
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Heber Guaran, owner of Ixchel
Designs, presents colorful
merchandise from his home country of
Guatemala. |
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Redels
Roasted Almonds are unique as they
are roasted with no oil and no
butter, but with water.
Roger & Linda Redel said their
almonds are also roasted with
cinnamon, sugar, and pure vanilla.
This is their first year at Clovis
Fest. |
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Tami Tana, owner of Pink Rose in
Fresno, presents assorted unique cookies.
Pink Rose cookies come in a variety
of different flavors, such as
Blueberry Lavender, Cherry Rosemary,
Pineapple Coconut Macaroonies,
Vanilla Pansies, and more. |
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Bill Scoffield presents assorted
softie pumpkins for the first time
at Clovis Fest. His wife, Cherie
Scoffield, is the owner of Pumpkins
with Personality in Fresno. Her fun
looking softie pumpkins were custom
made. They attract children and
adults alike.
Andrew Hicks
(age 6), Vinny Botelho (age 4) and
Nolan Hicks (age 3) also are first
timers at Clovis Fest. They are having a
good time. |
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Fruity'n Exotica offers tantalizing
and refreshing drinks made of fresh
fruit in unique glasses.
The Aragon Family
of Clovis has been at Clovis Fest
more than five years. Ariel, Marco,
Faviola, and Catalina enjoy their
drinks.
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Many fairgoers agree that garlic
bread from Clovis America Legion is
the winner. Each year the veterans
of Post 147 use the winning Gilroy
recipe to make their garlic bread
with chopped garlic that has been
donated by Christopher
Ranch of Gilroy. Yummm! |
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Young children enjoy Clovis Fest
because of their favorite rides in
the carnival section. Seeing balloons
deftly twisted and tied into shapes
of various animals is exciting for
the children, and being handed one
of the balloon animals is guarantee
to put broad smiles on their faces.
The pony ride is also a
favorite children's activity at Clovis Fest.
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Another special feature at Clovis Fest
is the Classic Car Show. Classic car owners
and automotive enthusiasts enjoy sharing
their interests as well as displaying
their beautiful classic car models
during the festival. Many fairgoers
feel that it is a real treat to have
Classic Car Show in conjunction with
Clovis Fest.
Story continued
below.
Having been a fan of Clovis Fest for a
long time, each year I continue to look for
the newest and most uniquely exciting displays
during the festival. There was a huge crowd
surrounding a large booth on Fifth Street.
Everyone had their eyes on two magnificent
blue and yellow macaws that perched
confidently on the arms of two ladies at the
booth, Gail Munguia and Janet Boothe.
ExperienceClovis.com would like to give
special recognition to The Exotic Animal
Foundation for being among the newest and
one of the most unique features of Clovis
Fest 2010.
Story continued
below.
Clovis Fest 2010 successfully provided a
two-day weekend packed with an array of
exciting and fun-filled activities for
people of all ages, right in the center
of the City of Clovis. It was another
splendid celebration of the
Clovis Way of Life! I hope to see
you all at Clovis Fest 2011.
Source:
www.ExperienceClovis.com
Copyright © 2010 JoAnne Green.
Do
not republish or repost photos or text without written permission.
Do
not extract quotes without proper credit.
Plagiarism is a crime.
Have an Awesome Day & Experience in
Clovis and Central California!
Clovis is what every
small town aspires to be
when it grows up!SM
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Editor &
Publisher
Clovis
resident for 30 years
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