Hallie Greene knows what it takes to bring a community together. From her work as the district manager of the Boulder Creek Recreation and Park District to helping create the Santa Cruz Long Term Recovery Group (SCLTRG), Greene is looked upon as a leader in the San Lorenzo Valley. She’s at the helm of another community event—the Redwood Mountain Faire, returning to Roaring Camp in Felton on Saturday, June 4, and Sunday, June 5 (11am-7pm).
The Faire has been a local staple since it was reimagined—and relocated to Felton—in 2010 (the event was previously held at Highlands Park in Ben Lomond.) The Redwood Mountain Faire has become an annual highlight, an amalgam of local bands, artisans, and food vendors.
“We’d been on a roll for several years, but we had to cancel the 2020 and 2021 events due to the pandemic,” said Greene. “I’ve directed the last three events, but there is a core group of five who are all interested in raising money for local nonprofits.”
The pandemic forced the fair to cancel the last few years, but Greene said 18 of the regular nonprofit groups that contribute to and benefit from the event are returning this year.
“The hours their volunteers work translates into a split of the profits for the organization they’re representing,” she said. “It’s an interesting way to run things, but it’s been effective. Since we have different sized volunteer opportunities for various sized agencies, there’s an opportunity for many groups to benefit. The return of the nonprofits signals success for all involved.”
In 2019, the committee distributed $55,000 to the 18 nonprofits. Some groups have been involved since the Faire began in Ben Lomond; Greene points to San Lorenzo Valley Rotary as a club that invests heavily in the event.
“They manage our roads and parking, so we really count on them for those services,” she explained. “We do make an effort each year to add new nonprofits to the roster if we can; we’ve added three new groups this year that haven’t ever participated before.”
In terms of vendors, Greene says that about 75% of this year’s roster are returning participants.
“We tend to gravitate towards our local and handmade art and have tried to broaden the offerings by inviting unique local artisans to participate. We try to provide a mixture of clothing and jewelry vendors, but our focus this year is on expanding the kids’ area,” Greene, a mother of two, said. “Since kids are admitted free, we always have a children’s craft table for little ones to participate. Kids are incorporated into the overall event, so while the adults are adulting, the little ones are safe and corralled.”
Greene says that hitting $50k in profit is how she measures the Faire’s success. “This year, I was worried about the cost overruns from the economy impacting our bottom line, but I’m pleased with how things are going. Our ticket sales have been pretty strong thus far; a lot of people will wait to see what the weather forecast is before purchasing their tickets, but we always seem to end up with about 3,000 people each day of the Faire.”
While all the vendor slots are filled for 2022, Greene says folks still have opportunities to participate.
“We’re always looking for volunteers, so if someone wants to attend for free, they just need to register for a volunteer shift. It really is the more, the merrier,” Greene said.
Tickets, volunteer info and more: redwoodmountainfaire.com.
