July 16 - Aug 5, 2019
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‘We the People’ pack streets for July 4 parade Solvang abruptly Fun, food and fireworks fill up Independence Day celebration By Raiza Giorgi
publisher@santaynezvalleystar.com
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owntown Solvang became a sea of red, white and blue on the Fourth of July as people dressed in America’s colors and waving flags lined the streets to watch the annual Independence Day parade. Spectators cheered and stood for the color guard from American Legion Post No. 160 as it began its march down Mission Drive. Next came the American Legion riders on motorcycles, honking and waving to the crowd. “This was one of the biggest crowds we’ve had for a while in Solvang, and it was a wonderful day to see friends on the floats and make new friends with whomever sat next to you,” said Tracy Farhad, executive director of the Solvang Conference and Visitor’s Bureau. “Solvang Rotary did a great job organizing the parade.” This year’s parade, with the theme “We the People,” had 76 entries that included Grand Marshals Rutledge “Putty” Mills and his wife Carol. Putty Mills was directly involved with NASA’s Apollo missions, training astronauts after building the prototype of the Lunar Rover for the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. This year is the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission that first landed on the moon, when astronaut Neil Armstrong said those famous words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” One of the two prototypes Mills built is stored in the barn at his home in Santa Ynez, and it rode on a trailer in the July 4 parade. Other popular entries in the parade included the many equestrians with the Los Charros group, including one of their riders FOURTH OF JULY CONTINUED ON PAGE 28
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cuts funds for tourism, business groups By Raiza Giorgi
publisher@santaynezvalleystar.com
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he Solvang City Council abruptly cut off all city funding and canceled contracts on July 8 with the two local agencies that promote tourism and local businesses. After recent indications that the council was dissatisfied with both arrangements, representatives of the Solvang Conference and Visitors Bureau and the Solvang Chamber of Commerce had presentations scheduled on the meeting’s agenda. However, council members emerged from a closed session just before the public meeting and announced that both contracts had been canceled, giving 30 days’ notice, and said they would not hear the scheduled presentations. The announcement stunned and angered supporters of the two organizations who were in the audience, and both Executive Director Tracy Farhad of the Visitors Bureau and Executive Director Tracey Beard of the chamber left the meeting with looks of astonishment. Neither was available for comment after the meeting. The contracts with both groups had been approved just two weeks earlier, on June 24, with significant reductions in funding for 2019-20. That night the CVB was funded at $600,000 and the chamber was funded at $150,000, with Councilmembers Chris Djernaes and Daniel Johnson dissenting. City officials indicated July 8 that they SOLVANG CITY CONTINUED TO PAGE 4
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