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Community, class integrate

Jill Coppler

(Updated: Friday, April 17, 2009, 1:03 PM)

They’re large, blue, posted all around town and announcing the upcoming Elegant Auction to benefit the Oakhurst Community Park. That’s all obvious.

But look a little closer at the name at the bottom right corner — there’s an extra little story there, the kind that are found in every nook a cranny up here.

The name is Victoria Fielder, she’s a 17-year-old senior at Yosemite High School and the design on the poster is her creative interpretation of the auction’s theme ‘Celebrating the Spirit of Community.’ Her version of the poster won the fancy of the auction committee for its embodiment of the auction’s theme, said Rhonda Salisbury, co-chair of the park’s volunteer committee.

The poster was a class assignment for Bob Collins’ multimedia class.

‘We do as many projects as we can that are practical,’ he said. ‘I jump on an opportunity I have for integrative projects.’

So that’s what he did when committee co-chair Susan Macaulay proposed partnering with the high school for publicity.

Fielder said she was glad to do something that not only got her a good grade, but benefitted the community.

It’s another example of how the community gives to the park and the park gives to the community.

The Community Park is as Oakhurst as just about anything around. With the vision of a few tenacious residents and the ever-generous Harry Baker, the park became a reality in 1981.

Yet, less than a decade into its land lease, a government grant supplement was running low, and the park’s survival was in jeopardy. A fancy idea and a little boost from a $150 jar of horse radish, however, and the park is still the pulse of the community with eight main community events held there annually and smaller events held nearly every weekend over the summer. From weddings to concerts, egg hunts and picnics, if the park could talk, it would be sure to have more than a few tall tales.

The annual Elegant Auction is the sole funding source to keep the park in place and it’s become a hallmark of springtime in the community — how often do the folks up here get invited to a black-tie-donning, champagne-toasting, hors d'oeuvre-gormandizing soiree? Well, at least every April.

The auction has sold everything from gift certificates to vacations, and even a horse (and the horse radish mentioned above).

This year’s auction will be held at the Pines Resort Lakeside Room Saturday, April 25 and tickets are $40. The silent auction begins at 5 p.m. and the live auction at 8. For more information, contact Macaulay at (559) 683-4494 or Salisbury at (559) 683-7162.