”
Through the generosity and public spirit of Mrs. Julia Bolado
Davis and her family, Bolado Park is today the property of San
Benito County.
”
– May 10, 1938, the Hollister Evening Free Lance.
“Through the generosity and public spirit of Mrs. Julia Bolado Davis and her family, Bolado Park is today the property of San Benito County.” – May 10, 1938, the Hollister Evening Free Lance.
Tucked away just seven miles south of Hollister, where the San Juan Valley narrows, sits Davis’ gift. For more than eight decades, Bolado Park has played host to the county’s largest events.
Both the San Benito County Fair and the San Benito County Saddle Horse Show and Rodeo have been held there since the 1920s. Weddings, dances and dinners have also been held since the park was founded. More recently, the park has hosted quinceañeras, dog shows, family reunions and bike rallies.
More than 100,000 people attend events at Bolado Park each year, said Kelly Ferreira, the park’s general manager. The San Benito County Fair alone draws 20,000 people on the last weekend in September.
And whether it’s weddings, dog shows, company picnics, RV rallies, family reunions, barbecues or crab feeds, the park is constantly busy, Ferreira said.
“We have events every weekend and we already have events booked into next year,” Ferreira said.
The first county fair was held in 1923 after Davis gave the San Benito County Farm Bureau a free lease. In 1938, Davis donated the park’s buildings and the 53-acre parcel on which they sit to the 33rd District Agricultural Association of California.
The county fair has competitions for every walk of life, including arts and crafts, cooking, a junior livestock auction and a demolition derby.
Peggy Bettencourt, who has been the head of the floriculture department for nearly 25 years, has been participating in the fair in some capacity all of her life.
As a young girl, Bettencourt was a 4-H participant. Later, she began competing in the sewing and cooking competitions.
Bolado Park brings the community together year after year, Bettencourt said.
“It’s important,” she said. “Because it’s not only the old timers who come down and keep the fair going, but it encourages people new to the county to participate.”
The Bettencourt family practically lives at the fair for a week in late September. The fair is an opportunity for young adults who’ve left the area to return home and act as mentors and leaders for a younger generation, Bettencourt said.
“It’s quite a neat social nostalgic thing,” Bettencourt said.
Barbara Miller, an 83-year-old Paicines resident, began entering baked goods in the 1950s when her children took up 4-H. Miller said she loved baking cookies and cakes, winning many fair contests in nearly 50 years of competition.
“Once I got started, everybody wanted me to keep going,” Miller said.
But Miller stopped competing several years ago, she said. Once her children left and grandchildren grew too old to be hanging around the house, Miller lacks an excuse to bake as she once did.
“It’s harder to get rid of,” Miller said.
Miller said she hopes the tradition of the fair continues for many generations to come.
“I hope it keeps on existing,” Miller said. “So many things change. I think it’s good for people to know about agriculture.”
Just four years after the first fair, the Saddle Horse Association was founded and built the grandstand in 1927. The county’s first Saddle Horse Show and Rodeo was held in conjunction with the San Benito County Fair in September 1929.
Fulton “Bumpy” Picetti, a 90-year-old Hollister resident, was involved with the Saddle Horse Show and Rodeo for 60 years.
“I spent a lot of time up there over the years,” Picetti said.
Picetti began volunteering as a grandstand usher when he got out of the military in 1946. In just five years, Picetti was the director of the show, a position he held for 55 years. After six decades of service, Picetti decided to hang it up in September.
“I do have a tendency to have a little longevity when I get working on something,” Picetti said.
Picetti has outlasted six presidents of the Saddle Horse Association and has seen the event change through the years.
“I’ve seen a lot of personalities go through that board,” Picetti said.
Throughout the years, Picetti has seen fewer participants in the bronco and bull riding competitions, although he said the rodeo still features young quality riders.
Picetti said he thinks Bolado Park and the airport are two of the county’s most important assets.
The horse show and rodeo is a unique event featuring local people, Picetti said.
“Family and friends are naturally going to return year after year,” Picetti said. “I’d call it an alumni gathering. That’s a day when they can meet a lot of their classmates.”
And the Saddle Horse Show and Rodeo has something to draw people from adjacent counties.
“Those people naturally who’re interested in seeing the fine quality of horses we have,” Picetti said.
Edward Kutz began bull riding as a 16-year-old in the Saddle Horse Show. Eventually, Kutz, now 59 and living in Arroyo Grande, Calif., worked his way up to bronco riding and eventually became the rodeo announcer.
Fairgoers can still hear Kutz announcing the riders. He said county residents always look forward to the event.
“It was the social event of the year,” Kutz said.
Throughout the years, the Saddle Horse Association has passed the torch to a new generation.
Sheriff Curtis Hill, who serves on the Saddle Horse Association board, was an usher at the show for 14 years before being invited to participate as a board member. Hill said the board is working to make the show accessible to all ages.
“The idea is to maintain the historical heritage of the event, maintain the history of our county, but put on an exciting event for this generation,” Hill said.
In addition to the rodeo, the Saddle Horse Show and Rodeo also crowns a queen, has a cowboy and rodeo museum, a vendor’s tent, a family barbecue and a live auction.
Years ago, Bolado Park was also home to motorcycle endurance races. The American Motorcycle Association held its first Gypsy Tour race in 1935. The event was held in June, and featured a 60-lap race on a one-mile track.
A motorcycle tradition continued, with much of the Hollister Independence Bike Rally being held at Bolado Park in recent years.
Despite the rally’s focal point shifting to downtown in the late 1990s, Bolado Park’s other events maintain its important place as a county gathering point.
And in case of a natural disaster, Bolado Park could serve an emergency relief center, Ferreira said.
The park is always being upgraded and improved, Ferreira said. A recent $50,000 grant for power upgrades will help the park generate more revenue, he said.
“The dust doesn’t settle,” he said. “We’re always working on improvements for the facilities.”
However, one problem may be out of reach for the 33rd District Agricultural Association.
“The problem we have right now is the fair is growing, but we don’t have enough property on site to expand,” Ferreira said.
