San Benito County Neighborhoods Digest

On Aug. 13, businesses in San Juan Bautista will break with tradition to reinvent its yearly San Juan Day street fair with pop-up “chicken coop” markets, a flea market at the VFW hall and a citywide garage sale.

Community Vision San Benito County has resumed its work to organize a community-gathering effort to identify both the difficulties and the hopes of county residents.

San Juan Bautista’s First Street roundabout is nearing completion, according to City Manager Don Reynolds. It is intended to help regulate traffic entering and exiting the Meritage Homes Rancho Vista subdivision at Lavagnino Drive.

Mary Morales left behind her longtime home in San Juan Bautista for an assisted living facility in Monterey. But first the 87-year-old got to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for a new park she had been working on for more than 13 years.

The Hollister Independence Rally was postponed for the second year due to concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. But hundreds of bikers came from far and wide on July 3 to celebrate what would have been the rally’s 74th anniversary.

Ever since she was a teenager, Heliena Walton has dreamed of opening a men’s clothing store; now she’s on the verge of succeeding. Notably Noble Co. had a soft opening in San Juan Bautista, where Walton runs two other stores.

A crowd of about 70 came together in front of Hollister City Hall for the first LGBTQ+ Pride Celebration in the city. The community also reenacted raising the LGBTQ flag at City Hall.

Take a peek inside Farmhouse Cafe in Hollister and it’s clear some notable changes were made since it reopened two months ago. Customers will now find books, local art and gifts for sale at the entrance.

The first two scheduled events are a spring picnic in May and the San Benito County Saddle Horse Show & Rodeo on June 26.

Ozeki Sake in Hollister, founded in 1979, is the oldest sake brewery in the United States. It’s also the only one with a rice-polishing machine, assistant manager Seiichi Matsuda says. “It gives us great control over how much the rice is polished.”

The village at the San Benito County Historical Park is open to the public after being shut down more than a year ago. “This is part of the human history of the county,” says park director Anita Kane.