Kudos to the Ventura Chamber of Commerce for the return of its TASTE of Ventura event. We had a blast at the Oct. 13 evening affair at the Museum of Ventura County.

The chamber partnered with local restaurants, wineries, breweries and others to offer a great night of food and drink tasting, with Harrison offering food waste recycling. The setting was fantastic, too, with live music in the museum’s courtyard.

“Thank you so much to everyone who came out to TASTE of Ventura ... It was such a fantastic turnout,” the chamber posted on its Facebook page.

We can see why it’s one of the chamber’s most popular events. Harrison was honored to sponsor such a fun gathering.

The California Avocado Festival returned Oct. 1-2 to downtown Carpinteria after a two-year pandemic absence and scored a big comeback.

The 36th annual event “was truly one for the record books,” Carpinteria Mayor Wade Nomura wrote in a column for CoastalView.com. “Throughout the three days of ‘peace, love and guacamole,’ I was approached by dozens of people who told me how thrilled they were to be back at Avofest and how its absence made them appreciate it even more.”

The mayor put attendance at 64,000 and gave big thanks to the festival board of directors, all the volunteers, the Sheriff’s Office and firefighters/EMTs, and the city’s Public Works Department. We’d add Donald Sealund and the rest of his Harrison team to that list, for all the recycling success they annually accomplish at the festival!

Pier Under the Stars returned the evening of Saturday, Oct. 1, to the Ventura Pier, and it once again was a wonderful fundraiser for this historic landmark.

Presented by Pier Into the Future, a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving and maintaining the Ventura Pier, the beachfront event featured an array of food, wine and beer samples to taste. The happy crowd, encouraged to wear Hawaiian attire, also danced to music from the band Mid Life Crisis and joined the bidding during a silent auction.

Originally built in 1872, the Ventura Pier was renovated in 1993. It’s one of the longest wooden piers in California, and maintenance is not cheap. E.J. Harrison & Sons is a longtime supporter of the pier, and we encourage you to help, too. For more information, visit pierintothefuture.org.

The Ojai Day festival returned to downtown Ojai this month, and we were excited to have a joint booth with Agromin and give away residential food waste pails for the kitchen counter and bags of potting mix to all the folks who visited us during this special community event.

Held on Saturday, Oct. 15, at Libbey Park, the day featured 75 vendors — most of them local. They offered arts and crafts, food, demonstrations, games, educational booths and other activities. Donald Sealund manned our booth, and it was a great day.

The traditional painted mandala was unveiled at Libbey Fountain, dancers took to the stage and the Ojai Valley Youth Foundation’s Youth Singers performed. The day then turned into Ojai Night, with a free concert at Libbey Bowl and a free community party hosted by the Ojai Valley News.

This is truly the kind of authentic local event that we at Harrison are always grateful to be a part of – connecting with the community we serve and treasure. Well done, Ojai!

Ventura Mayor Sofia Rubalcava gave the annual State of the City address at a Sept. 22 morning event hosted by the Ventura Chamber of Commerce. E.J. Harrison & Sons was proud to be a sponsor and have a full table of representatives there – Ralph, Jim, Myron, George, Lynn, Donnie and Danny Harrison, Bill Camarillo and me – to support important longtime partners like the city and chamber.

Speaking in the ballroom of the Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach hotel, the mayor highlighted topics including the city budget, results of a community survey this year, economic development, the city’s General Plan Update, and projects and accomplishments of various city departments. She also gave the address at the Oct. 10 Ventura City Council meeting.

It was great to see the wide range of local businesses represented by those who attended the Chamber of Commerce gathering. You can watch a video of the event at youtube.com/watch?v=r_nkV7fxnV0.

Congratulations to Girls Inc. of Carpinteria for another successful fundraiser. “An Evening in Bloom: Bloomington 2022” was held Saturday, Sept. 24, at the Girls Inc. campus. 

The annual event featured live and silent auctions, a gourmet dinner, and a tribute to longtime supporter Kevin Baird. It was a Jane Austen-era affair, and “community members were draped in elegance,” the Montecito Journal reported.

E.J. Harrison & Sons was a proud sponsor of the event, which raised funds for Girls Inc.’s mission to “inspire girls to be strong, smart and bold.” To learn more about this worthy group, visit girlsinc-carp.org.

The weather was hot, hot, hot at the fourth annual Taste of Local Festival on Sept. 11 in Ventura, but that didn’t stop our Jim Harrison and crew from having a good time while encouraging folks to sort their trash and recyclables.

The wine and brew festival was presented by Totally Local VC, which is dedicated to educating everyone about the importance of our local agriculture and business community.

The festival is about “bringing together our local farmers, chefs, purveyors, wine makers and breweries with our community to celebrate our local harvest and the diversity of great food we have right here in Ventura County,” the group’s website says. 

The event was held on the lawn of Ventura County Credit Union corporate offices, with more than 50 local chefs, farmers, wineries, breweries and distilleries displaying their wares. Proceeds went to the Totally Local VC Agricultural Education Foundation.