Oakley Almond Festival '99

The Oakley Almond Festival celebrated its 10th anniversary in 1999 and we were there to take part in the festivities. The Sept. 18-19 event at O'Hara Park featured a parade, fun run, carnival games, live musical guests and free birthday cake for those in attendance Saturday evening.

Following are links to photos of some of the highlights. Because most of these jpegged images are around 100K, we decided it would be better to provide descriptions and let visitors select the photos they want rather than forcing you to wait through a lengthy page download.

We hope you enjoy this look at Oakley's premier annual event.

The photos

Parade

Ben Toasted marches behind a sheriff's patrol car and a military color guard to lead the Saturday morning Oakley Almond Parade. Photo by Glenn Gehlke.

Oakley Elementary School shows its pride with a colorful balloon arch. You can see other units in the parade trailing behind along Cypress Road. Photo by Glenn Gehlke.

The cheerleading squad from Freedom High School in Oakley toss their pom-poms. Photo by Glenn Gehlke.

The Freedom High marching band looks sharp wearing their relatively new uniforms. They sound pretty sharp too. Photo by Glenn Gehlke.

Gehringer Elementary School always works hard on its parade entry, and judging from the hard hats these parents, teachers and kids are wearing, this year was no exception. Photo by Glenn Gehlke.

A contingent of horses from the Lazy R Ranch in Oakley adds some equestrian action to the parade. Photo by Glenn Gehlke.

What would a hometown parade be without a little royalty. Here we see Kristin Santos, the 1998 Oakley Almond Festival queen, flashing her smile for the crowd from the back of a blue convertible. Photo by Glenn Gehlke.

At the festival

Festival volunteers serve up almond-topped cake Saturday evening in honor of the festival's 10th anniversary. There was plenty for everyone. Photo by Glenn Gehlke.

Happy crowds check out some of the booths in the family entertainment area. There were game booths, food and dance demonstrations to enjoy. Photo by Roni Gehlke.

A festival visitor climbs his way to the top of the inflatable mountain, one of the popular new attractions at this year's festival. Photo by Roni Gehlke.

Another hit at the festival was this giant slide, which took visitors from top to bottom for $2 a pop. Photo by Glenn Gehlke.

Here is the young winner of the Mr. Handsome contest. Sorry that we don't have his name as of this writing. Photo by Roni Gehlke.

Everyone watches as a new festival queen is crowned. Photo by Roni Gehlke.

The Liberty High School cheerleaders from Brentwood demonstrate a spirit routine for audiences at the community stage. Photo by Roni Gehlke.

In the Oakley Town Center you could find just about anything you might want to know about California's newest city and its dozens of nonprofits and service organizations. There were plenty of free brochures and a chance to pose for a photo atop a real backhoe. Photo by Glenn Gehlke.

The souvenir booth was a happening place, as always, with folks lining up to purchase T-shirts, logo wine glasses, Beany Bens and just about every variety of almond made. To those who say you can't find almonds in Oakley anymore, you need look no further than the Oakley Almond Festival. Photo by Glenn Gehlke.

Etcetera

A determined group of runners pounds the pavement on O'Hara Avenue on Sunday morning at the start of the Love-A-Nut 5K/10K Run and Walk. Photo by Roni Gehlke.

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This page was last updated Thursday, September 23, 1999 at 02:20 hrs.