50 Golden Years of CV’s Fall Festival
The year was 1972. Nixon visited China, “The Godfather” debuted, and we were all dancing to the “Crocodile Rock.” It was also the first year a band of dedicated Castro Valley business owners joined together as the Chamber of Commerce to host their first ever Fall Festival.
First held in the Castro Village Shopping Center, the Chamber voted to provide a showcase for Castro Valley businesses and artisans while showing off Castro Valley as the "Heart of Good Living." The event offered attendees a wine-tasting, fashion show, and art exhibit. The success of that first year prompted a second event in 1973, which the Chamber officially named the Fall Festival.
“A community and cultural event in Castro Valley has long seemed an impossible dream, but this year of 1973 presented the magic momentum where a few inspired people saw a likely possibility in a small largely unheralded event sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce,” wrote Wayne Starkweather president of the Fall Festival who managed the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant when it was located on Redwood Road.
We know more about the 1973 event because it was the first to include a special handout with all the names of the participants, coordinators, and sponsors. The mustard-yellow brochure can be seen at the Chamber of Commerce kiosk in a renovated telephone booth located at Lab 200 upstairs at the Castro Valley Marketplace.
Dwight Perry of Perry's Creative Promotions (previously Creative Printing) paid for an advertisement in that 1973 brochure. The Castro Valley Rotary past president and Chamber member said the Fall Festival was the event you wanted to participate in.
“It was a fun, fun project to work on,” Perry told the Forum. “I remember Rotary had a beer booth and we did really well with it. It was a party atmosphere. We had no problem getting volunteers to help out with the beer booth.”
The Fall Festival 1973 event included a raffle for a 25-inch Magnavox color television set courtesy of Castro Valley Radio, TV, and Stereo.
The Chamber created a Treasure Map within the brochure where visitors could "Discover the hidden treasures in Castro Valley" and the "Little shops filled with golden values." Treasure spots included In Grandma's Day, which sold art needlework quilting, Wedding & Custom Cakes by Muriel, and Decor Factors, which were located on Castro Valley Boulevard near Anita Avenue, and the Slim Cheese House, which sold imported and domestic cheese on Center Street, the current site of a pet grooming shop.
The Fall Festival’s wine tasting included an array of varietals including champagne supplied by Paul Eaton’s Liquor Center on Center Street. Those partaking in the tasting received commemorative 8 1/2-inch wine goblets embossed with the year. A scant 1,250 first edition glasses were handed out in 1973.
The art exhibit in 1973 was sponsored by the AAUW (American Association of University Women) with artworks such as pottery, stained glass, and paintings ready for purchase. Their special guest that year was O. Lawrence Hansen who was known for his landscapes, portraits, and florals. The Minnesota native also owned the Gallery de Oro on Redwood Road.
The Fall Festival fashion show included women's and men's fashions. The event was hosted by master of ceremonies, Ed Hennessy who was advertised as a man, “with a flair for pleasing people, calming nerves and chasing away the blues.”
Models paraded down the runway with frocks from Allu's, Cahn's, Daughtrey's, House of Mumus, The Frances Shop, Kay's Bridal Shop, and Grutman's.
Fall Festival president Starkweather was joined in leadership by first vice president Jack Harrison, second vice president Betty Annable, treasurer Richard Kraft, past president Paul Eaton, and Board reps Ben Gurule and George Hartmann.
In his note to attendees and the Chamber, Starkweather expressed his gratitude to the community and predicted good things for the future of the event.
“With resounding public and civic approval and cooperation, it is the founders’ deepest design to make it a total community involvement and that the Fall Festival becomes an annual Castro Valley cultural experience,” Starkweather wrote.
Fifty years later, the community is again gathering this September to celebrate good food, artwork, music, and even a little fashion.
This year’s Fall Festival will take place on Saturday and Sunday, September 10-11 on Castro Valley Boulevard between Redwood Rd & Santa Maria Ave. Visit the Chamber website for more details at Edenareachamber.com.