God, I love Aromas Day! I usually have to show San Benito County
residents a map before they’ll believe Aromas actually is part of
San Benito County. Well part of it is anyway
– most people think our county ends at Highway 101.
When Jim announced at a Saturday night party in Hollister that
it was Aromas Day Eve, all he got was a room full of blank stares.
It should be noted there is no paid staff to organize Aromas Day,
not even the same group of volunteers every year, which keeps this
event from being stagnant.
God, I love Aromas Day! I usually have to show San Benito County residents a map before they’ll believe Aromas actually is part of San Benito County. Well part of it is anyway – most people think our county ends at Highway 101.
When Jim announced at a Saturday night party in Hollister that it was Aromas Day Eve, all he got was a room full of blank stares. It should be noted there is no paid staff to organize Aromas Day, not even the same group of volunteers every year, which keeps this event from being stagnant.
Aromas Day is uniquely homemade. It doesn’t have the professionalism of a County Fair, Hollister’s biker weekend or one of San Juan Bautista’s craft fairs. Yet, that’s what I love about it.
Aromas is a little bit San Benito, a little bit Monterey and a little bit Santa Cruz. And if that wasn’t enough, the town is less than five miles to Santa Clara County. We truly are a no-mans land and I think that’s why us locals work so hard to make Aromas Day a success.
Usually I spend Aromas Day wandering among the crowd, talking to people and looking at all the crapola I would love to own, but this year I had to pretty much stay put and watch the action around me, which was quite entertaining.
The goats from the 4-H club were eating the exhibits, grandma’s and grandpa’s were dancing with grandchildren to the sound of bluegrass music, a few parade floats were out of order, but that really didn’t matter much since the parade was only one block long.
What I would like to know is why Aptos is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the shortest parade in the world. As an Aromite, I challenge that record.
Aromas Day is the most attended community social event we have all year and all the people involved in the planning of this event are passionate and dedicated to bring us Aromites together for one day to celebrate our town.
And what is Aromas Day without breakfast at the Aromas Grange and a parade, but just another garage sale event. Aromas may not have a city hall, or even a Laundromat, but we do have the Aromas Grange, which attracts politicians from San Benito and Monterey Counties. For some reason, Santa Cruz County ignores us, but I hope that changes.
We may be a community of trailers and mansions, but we still vote and need basic services. We can’t do it all, but on Aromas Day we believe we can.
Linda Lee King is a Free Lance correspondent. She can be reached at wi*******@**no.com
