Fiesta to Festival

There will be a potentially fascinating function Saturday at the Olivas Adobe, the house that Raymundo Olivas began building in 1847, long before the arrival of the current neighbors at the golf course and Ventura Harbor.

This will be the inaugural of the Cowboys, Heroes & Outlaws Festival, a retooling of the Olivas Adobe Fiesta. The subjects in question will be represented by skillful living historians.

According to Georgeanne Lees, one of the event coordinators who did their homework at L. A.’s Autry Museum of Western Heritage, “We just sort of sat around a table and came up with a list. We’ll have Abraham Lincoln, Gen. U. S. Grant, Mark Twain, Annie Oakley and many others, plus a number of frontier gunmen.”

For Civil War buffs, this will be pretty much an all-Union affair except for that rebel bushwhacker Jesse James, who later got his. Not only will the Great Emancipator (and his wife, Mary) be on hand, but Mr. Lincoln will be bringing along his favorite lieutenant general. It was Grant who was finally able to subdue Bobby Lee and his hard-fighting Army of Northern Virginia, effectively ending the Civil War in April 1865.

And in the Little-Known Facts Department: Abe Lincoln is a local. Don Ancell, who ably portrays Honest Abe not only at this event but at Civil War reenactments all over Southern California, has lived in Fillmore for many years. Ancell, who has been known to pass out fake $5 bills with his own picture on them, is a graduate of Oxnard High.

The gunfighters are always entertaining, but you can’t really take them anywhere. They seem to end up talking trash to one another, which ends in an inevitable barrage of gunfire. But this event will offer a lot more than reenactors shooting each other.

In addition to all the food and crafts booths, kids will be able to attend a fun summer school class at the Cowboy College, where they can earn a degree with less effort than some college football players.

“Cowboy College will be a special place where kids can learn about weaving, leather working, spinning and making bread outside,” Lees said. “They can try on cowboy gear and pose for portraits. We will have a vaquero coming in who will show them how to rope and brand a cow. We’ll have a storyteller on hand to tell some tall tales of the Wild West. And at the end of the day, we’ll give the kids a special Cowboy Diploma. I think it’s going to be really fun.”

The soundtrack for this event will be varied. Ballet Folklorico Regional will strut its stuff as Mariachi de Mi Tierra plays its favorite songs. The Santa Clara Square Dancers will do their thing, and the Blue Latitude String Quartet will do its. Of particular interest is an appearance by Mark Insley, purveyor of “good country junk.” Not only does he play a lot of original country rock songs, but he has a lot of entertaining friends and has been known to bring guitar gods of the stature of Albert Lee and Tony Gilkyson to his gigs.

In addition to all this activity, the site itself has plenty of interesting history, and docents will lead tours of the two-story ranch house, a prime example of the Monterey style. The dwelling and an adjacent structure are full of artifacts and period furnishings from the California rancho days.

Since the site is near the coast, it won’t be as hot as inland areas, plus there are plenty of shade trees, including giant eucalyptus, California peppers, olives and a magnolia tree in the backyard. The frontyard has a large grape arbor and a few blooming hydrangea bushes.

Of particular note are a few fuchsias that are more than 100 years old, planted by the former lady of the house, Rebecca Olivas de la Riva. Fuchsias continue to be a mind bender for nonnatives. House plants almost everywhere, fuchsias thrive outside in Zone 24 coastal regions of Southern California.

Also worthy of note is a substantial rose garden, so large that it has its own map. The Garden Club of San Buenaventura wants the curious to be able to tell a floribunda from a grandiflora from a hybrid tea rose. And right now, the garden is in spectacular bloom.

“While this is our first time with this event, we think this will be something that becomes more popular every year,” Lees said.

DETAILS

Cowboys, Heroes & Outlaws Festival at the Olivas Adobe, 4200 Olivas Park Road, Ventura; Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; $5 adults, $3 seniors and kids under 12; 658-4706.

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Bill Locey can be reached by e-mail at blocey@pacbell.net.