For Fruit Lovers, It’s the Berries

A red and green hat shaped like a giant strawberry teeters on her head. A snakelike necklace adorned with ceramic and wood strawberries wraps around her neck. And depictions of the sweet red fruit cover her white dress.

There is no doubting Oxnard resident Connie Stallone-Kornstein’s passion. She is a strawberry lover.

On Saturday, she was one of thousands who made the pilgrimage to College Park in Oxnard to celebrate the 18th annual California Strawberry Festival.

Organizers expect to top last year’s total of nearly 80,000 people for the two-day event, which celebrates Ventura County’s biggest cash crop--worth $221 million.

At least 10,000 trays of the berries will be sold at the festival, said Ron Kato, general manager of Oxnard-based Nakamura Farms.

Business was steady all day at his College Park booth as people lined up to buy the glistening red fruit, large and ripe, in 12-pint crates.

“This is great for the industry,” Kato said. “It’s important to remember we’re now one of the top three agricultural industries in the state.”

Kato and his staff operated one of the dozens of portable strawberry stands set up across the festival grounds. Nearby a grass walkway allowed visitors to roam a food court where the main course was--what else?--strawberries.

Strawberry kebabs were selling fast, as were whipped cream and shortcake combinations. Egg rolls with strawberry sauce were a big hit. Even something called the Joey Dog, a hot dog with sizzling strawberry sauce poured across the top, was selling at a brisk clip.

Oxnard resident Marie Briggs settled for strawberry pizza.

“It’s not really pizza crust. It’s more like a pastry,” Briggs said between bites of the thick soupy concoction resting precariously on a soggy paper plate. “I’ll probably have three or four more.”

At about the same time Briggs was finishing her pizza, Camarillo resident Gary Barrett, 65, was on the other side of the park prepping his grandson Keenan, 13, for the strawberry relay.

Lined up next to others in the two-member teams, Barrett raced to a table with shortcake in one hand. He then filled it with whipped cream and a gooey strawberry mix and raced to the other end of an obstacle course. Keenan carried the mix to the finish line, where he scarfed down the red and white mess.

It was a game effort from the retired state worker and his grandson, but they finished out of the running for the T-shirt and hat emblazoned with the festival logo.

“I am among the generationally challenged,” Barrett said with a laugh after the race. “I like to do things with the kids, although we didn’t do too good.”

Still wearing his youth league baseball uniform from a game earlier in the day, Keenan was less forgiving about just missing the chance to take home the T-shirt or hat.

“Grandma, did you see? The judges didn’t do the scores right,” Keenan said, his face dripping with whipped cream and strawberry goo.

“Oh, now be a good sport and just say you tried hard and didn’t win,” said his grandmother, Mary Barrett.

“OK, grandma,” Keenan said.