Come see fields of roses in our own backyard
| Wednesday, Sep 09 2009 04:38 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Sep 10 2009 04:01 PM
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Wasco Festival of Roses
2009 theme: "Rhythm of the Rose." Tickets may be purchased at events that require them, or at the festival office, 700 G St. in Wasco. Call 758-2616 for more information.
Today
Early evening: tennis tournament at Wasco High School
6 p.m.: Rose Queen Pageant, Wasco High School Auditorium
Friday
Early Evening: Tennis tournament
7 to 10 p.m.: Honored guest reception/Evening of Wine and Roses. Best Western Inn and Suites.
Saturday
7:30 to 9 a.m.: Pancake breakfast, First United Methodist Church and Seventh Street and Birch Avenue. Sponsored by Salvation Army.
Morning: Tennis tournament continues
10 a.m.: Rose festival parade, D and Seventh streets to Poplar Avenue to Barker Park, corner of Poplar Avenue and Poso Drive
11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Pit barbecue lunch, Barker Park, south end
11 a.m. to 7 p.m.: Art show and faire; indoor gallery show -- Veterans Memorial Building; outdoor art faire -- Barker Park
Noon: Rose show official opening, Veterans Memorial Building
Noon: Parade awards ceremony, Barker Park, south end
Noon to 4 p.m.: Rose show, open to public, Veterans Memorial Building
Noon to 4 p.m.: Rose field tours; tours leave from southwest corner of Barker Park
1 to 4 p.m.: Wasco Historical Museum, open to public, 918 Sixth St.
Sunday
Morning: Tennis tournament continues
Source: Festival website, www.ci.wasco.ca.us.
Those of us who spend a lot of time in the office tend to forget the agricultural roots of our community.
Sure, we watch for the latest annual Kern County Agricultural Crop Report to find out the most valuable commodities. We keep an eye out for any major layoffs in the farming industry or big disagreements about water.
At least you do if you're in the news business.
So it's nice to get out of the office and see a small part of ag at work -- rose growing.
Every year the weekend after Labor Day, the Wasco Festival of Roses gives city dwellers like me a chance to see the massive rose-growing operations in our backyard up close and personal.
Or at least from a big yellow school bus meandering through the fields on the outskirts of Wasco.
For just $2, you can board a bus at the south side of Barker Park in Wasco for an hourlong tour of several fields, narrated by teens who competed in the Rose Queen/ Miss Wasco pageant.
The small fee is just to cover the cost of gas, or diesel, as the case may be, said festival manager Vickie Hight.
Last year two men on the bus -- who clearly knew much more about agricultural operations than I ever will -- discussed irrigation practices.
They'd traveled from Northern California and while they held a serious conversation about what they saw in the fields, their families seemed to delight in the sight and smell of the flowers.
As did I. Rows and rows of small roses, big roses, red roses, pink roses, you-name-it roses. Festival organizers say about 55 percent of the roses in the United States come from Wasco and the surrounding areas.
At $27.4 million, roses were the 20th most valuable commodity in Kern County in 2008, according to the 2008 Kern County Agricultural Crop Report. That year, more than 9.3 million plants were harvested from 1,130 acres.
You'll get just a glimpse of all that production on the bus tour, which I've taken a few times since I came to Kern County 12-and-a-half years ago.
If you can't handle the slightly dusty bus ride, there are plenty of other activities at the festival. I also like the art show and the rose show sponsored by the Wasco Rose Society. Members will answer your every question about roses. And you can also see the really cute artwork incorporating roses that's created by children.
All the activities aside, Wasco's rose festival is a good reminder for people like me that we do live in a rich agricultural area.
Maybe I'll see you there.
-- Christine L. Peterson is The Californian's business editor. These are her opinions, not necessarily those of The Californian. Write to her at cpeterson@bakersfield.com.
