Festival in the Park

Hellyer County Park

June 25, 2011

The Santa Clara County Parks held their fifth annual Festival in the Park at Hellyer County Park on June 25, 2011. The purpose of the festival was to inspire and educate visitors on health and wellness in a fun atmosphere. There were about 165 exhibitors and activities. An estimated 9,000 people attended the festival. This year's event included a new theme, Healthy Environment, focusing on information about food safety, energy and water conservation, urban greening, solar energy, household hazardous waste, recycling, zero waste, pest management, sustainable landscaping, and pollution prevention. Here are some pictures from the event, roughly in chronological order, with a small sample of the many exhibitors:

Volunteer sign-in booth

Volunteers help direct traffic. Exhibitors and volunteers parked in the park. Visitors parked at the Silver Creek Sportsplex and took shuttle buses to Hellyer.

Ranger Aniko Millan (left), volunteer coordinator John George (center).

Exhibitor sign-in booth

Exhibitor breakfast table

Volunteers Robbie Lamons and Kitty Monahan at the County Parks volunteers booth.

Santa Clara County Animal Shelter

Custom bicycles by Holy Ryders

Colorful balloons by the empty picnic area await the crowds

FOSTP president and volunteer Mike Boulland helps direct visitors at one of the information booths

Volunteer Program Manager Gloria Gill and John George at the volunteer's breakfast booth

Metka Vahl (center) with helpers at the raffle booth

Exhibit on electric vehicle conversion

Santa Clara County Weights and Measures booth, with gasoline test truck

Volunteers help setup a shade for an exhibitor

Santa Clara County Vector Control's booth

Western Exterminator's booth and model

Girl Scouts

Bay Area Ridge Trail

On the Main Stage, Outdoor Recreation Program Manager Kathleen Hooper welcomes guests to Festival in the Park and invites them to watch the Tutti Fruity Fun Walk, starting at the Mini Stage at the other end of the park

Kids get ready for the Tutti Fruity Fun Walk

The Tutti Fruity Fun Walk heads along the shores of Cottonwood Lake

The Fun Walk passes the kayaks that will be launched on the lake

The Fun Walk passes the bus bringing guests from the Silver Creek Sportsplex.

Balloons and mental health information

Solar power display by Realgoods Solar. The panel in the background is powering the stage.

County Parks Acting Director Julie Mark welcomes guests to the event and introduces the MC's.

MC's Angelica Castellanos and Greg Price. Greg gave the announcements in English, while Angelica gave them in Spanish.

California K-9 Solutions gave a demonstration of dog training

San Jose Public Library's mascot, Conroy Cougar, posed for pictures

511.org had information about transportation

Asian Americans for Community Involvement had health information for Asians

Balance Yoga Center

Alzheimer's Association

American Diabetes Association

Dagorhir Mallenorod gave demonstrations of medieval combat using foam weapons

Bay Dental

Instant winners of a new bicycle at the raffle booth

Committee to Promote Square Dancing

Dahn Yoga

The California Department of Health's Champions for Change booth, promoting healthy habits

One of the free drinking water stations

Greg Price holds up a model of 5 lbs of fat, representing the average weight gained by drinking soda for a year. The bottle held by one of the exhibitors from the County Public Health Department represents the amount of sugar in a year's worth of soda.

County Supervisor Mike Wasserman, representing District 1, greets the crowd.

Mike Wasserman with healthy fruits and vegetables

Mike Wasserman awards a bike to the raffle winners

Santa Clara County Public Health Department

El Observador

EMQ Families First

Kids doing exercises in a demo by Dahn Yoga.

Home Composting Education Program

CareMore

Santa Clara County Open Space Authority

Games at the Open Space Authority's booth

Second Harvest Food Bank

San Jose District 2 Councilmember Ash Kalra greets the crowd and awards a bike to another raffle winner. The neighborhoods around Hellyer Park south of Hellyer Avenue are in District 2.

Dagorhir Mallenorod's booth has their weapons on display, used for mock medieval combat

Kaiser Permanente's Teddy Bear Clinic, giving health advice to families

Our City Forest

Volunteers at the County Parks information booth hand out carrying bags

Free kayak rides, provided by the Los Gatos-Saratoga Recreation District, which runs the boat concession at Vasona Lake

Kaiser Permanente and the Children's Discovery Museum's booth on healthy eating

Free popsicles being handed out by County Parks staff and volunteers

Game where players stand on pedestals and try to force each other off with inflated bumpers

The festival had recycling bins to separate recyclables, compostables, and trash. Volunteers serving as "Zero Waste Ambassadors" advised people on what items went into what bin.