VENTURA : Founder Family Shares Tradition of Old Adobe

For 81-year-old Robert J. Olivas, the best thing about Sunday’s Old Adobe Day celebration at the Olivas Adobe wasn’t the delicious Mexican food, traditional dances or the original crafts.

The best part of the annual event, said Olivas--the great-great-grandson of adobe founder Don Olivas--was sharing the 147-year-old ranch house as a symbol of early California history and Latino culture.

“It is very satisfying to me to see people come and learn about who was here working the land,” Olivas said. “It’s nice to know that people are still curious.”

About 1,000 people--many in period costume--crowded the adobe’s courtyard,taking in displays of traditional early California life, crafts, dance and music.

Throughout the day, guided tours of the 12-room ranch house on Olivas Park Drive and adjoining museum were given as child and adult members of the Ballet Folklorico Regional Dancers presented traditional dances and Los Bandoleros Mariachis performed songs.

The dancers and mariachis performed in traditional garb--vibrantly colored dresses for the girls and women and black-and-white suits with black cowboy boots for the boys and men.

Richard Senate, the adobe’s resident historian, said the event isn’t so much a fund-raiser as it is an “awareness-raiser,” although half of any proceeds will go toward the adobe’s restoration efforts, he said.

“This place gives people a taste of what early California was like,” Senate said. “It gives them a sense of our rich Latino culture.”

Away from the dance stage, leather workers, quilters and other artisans displayed the fruits of their labors as the smell of fresh tortillas wafted through the air. Outside the adobe’s courtyard, families enjoyed the sunny weather with picnics and lawn games.

Bob Greavs, 42, of Oxnard, brought his two children so they could experience authentic Latino culture and the early history of the state.

“I thought it would be a fun way for the kids to see something different and perhaps learn something at the same time,” Greavs said. “It’s been an enjoyable day.”