A Message from the President

Dear Friends, Supporters and Members,

Welcome to the holiday season! I don’t need to say that being in the month of October seems impossible, but I am shouting IMPOSSIBLE!!!

To those of you who attended The Great Kearney BBQ Smoke Out last Saturday, we all hope you had a tasty time. With a few tweaks next year, this will most certainly be one of the premier happenings in the Valley. Even in year one, we were the largest inaugural Kansas City BBQ Society event in their history with 47 teams competing. And yes, we will make sure to explain the Tasting portion better! In some cases, we didn’t know what we didn’t know. Thank you for your tremendous support.

An element of the Smoke Out that did not get the attention we think it deserved was our banner exhibit – Fields of Fresno: A Century in the Soil. So, we thought we would share the images and descriptions here with you in The Grapevine. Certainly, the effect is not the same as these were all 96” tall and up to 154” in length. Talk about the Roots of the Valley!!!

We will be installing them in the back garden of the Mansion when we open the indoor Fields of Fresno installation next week so try to visit before mid-November when we switch over to Christmas at Kearney – Timeless Toys.

For now, let’s hope Fall arrives soon. We hope to see you at Mr. Kearney’s Mansion this month.

Oh, and if you are considering gifts already, perhaps a membership to the Fresno County Historical Society would be an excellent option. Learn more right here valleyhistory.org/membership!

Best wishes to all,

Elizabeth Laval

President, Fresno County Historical Society

THE GREAT KEARNEY BBQ SMOKE OUT

A day of winning BBQ and Family Fun

The smell of barbecue and grilling was everywhere on Saturday, September 24, 2022.

The Fresno County Historical Society has a motto: Making History Every Day and The Great Kearney BBQ Smoke Out was no exception.

For the first time in Central Valley history, Fresno County saw the FCHS host a Kansas City Barbecue Society competition. We saw record crowds and provided a full day of live music entertainment, not just one but several competitions, including a Sides & Desserts contest. In partnership with Firestone Walker Brewing Company, the brew was flowing, and food trucks and craftspeople booths saw a constant flow of visitors. The end of the night was epic with the first drone light show in the county. From the artisans selling their wares, to BBQ competitors and food trucks alike offering yummy barbecue tastes, 18 options in all - it was an event that will provide a path to future generations of grillers from the Fresno County area.

The competition brought BBQ aficionados from all over the nation and provided Fresno County with an opportunity never seen before.

Congratulations to the Grand Champion, B’Mackin BBQ who also won first place in Chicken and Pork Ribs, Reserve Grand Champion, Cynical BBQ, the People’s Choice winner, Fresno's own The Meat Market, Smokin' Bliss BBQ who took first place in Pork and Simply Marvelous who captured gold in Beef Brisket.

Our Sides and Desserts Competition was no exception! The competition was stiff but we had a multi-champion in Delcinya Myles!

The winning continued with all of the following teams placing in one of four categories: Chicken, Pork, Pork Ribs and Brisket.

Bull Market BBQ
RBQ
Mya & DJ’s BBQ
OM BBQ
Meat Candy Q
Smokey Boys BBQ
Little Tree BBQ
PorkChop & Bubba’s BBQ
Big Cat BBQ
NutIn2ItBut2QIt
Grillin’ the Shed
Lady of Q
Jack9 BB-CA
Cherry Anchor BBQ
Oak and Smoke
7 Sins BBQ
Big Poppa Smokers

Congratulations to all! It was a day not to be forgotten anytime soon.

Special thanks to our celebrity judges: AJ Fox, Emily Erwin, Jeff and Jill Aiello, Chef Matt Moore, Randy Perry and William Broomfield.

FROM THE ARCHIVES:
Fresno County on the Vine
By Cami Cipolla

Hello Friends of the Archives!

This past month, we have been researching Fresno County’s agricultural roots and heritage in preparation for our Fields of Fresno Agricultural Exhibit. As we dove into the Archives to find items related to our installation, we found some amazing ephemera to share! One of the crops that flourished in the Valley was grapes, of course!

The establishment of commercial vineyards in Fresno County is credited to two Swedish brothers, Francis T. Eisen and Dr. Gustav Eisen. In 1873, F.T. Eisen began planting grape vines while Dr. Eisen experimented over the next decade on improving the production of wine, raisin and table grapes.

It was in 1875 when the Central California Colony began selling lots promoting fertile land for vineyards that many of the new landowners began planting grapes on their twenty-acre parcels. As other Colonies developed around the Central Valley, vineyards began to appear with increasing frequency and they flourished. Though M. Theo Kearney’s Fruit Vale Estate in west Fresno was one of the largest grape producers in Fresno County, many smaller vineyards found success due to the combination of good stock, expert cultivation and irrigation.

Fun fact: Fresno County’s raisin industry began as a mistake! The summer of 1875 was scorchingly hot.  It was so hot, that some of the Muscat grapes in the Eisen Vineyard had dried on the vines. F.T. Eisen had the idea to stem the grapes and send them to San Francisco anyway. He marketed and sold them as “Peruvian Importations” to many of the expensive grocers in the City who put them on display. A gentleman by the name of Hickson saw the displayed grapes and discovered that they were from the Eisen Vineyard, of which he was familiar, and began to share with the dried fruit dealers in the area that the best raisins came from Fresno County. Thus the began of one of the County’s most profitable agricultural industries.

FIELDS OF FRESNO AG TOUR
October 15th

by Candice Hill

How could Spanish Basque relate to our Fields of Fresno Ag Tour?

Come find out on our final Ag tour this year on Saturday, October 15th.

Shep’s Club was known as Shepherds Inn which historically recruited shepherds all the way from Spain to come to Fresno to herd sheep.

Our Ag tour will end with lunch at Sheps Club to enjoy either their “559” lunch, the Fresmenian (veggie) or their Wandering Moses (my favorite) special.

At their outside stage area, we will enjoy wine tasting from Center Cork Wines, a local vintage by our very own Fresno State Alumnus, Demetrius Porter. You will love his One & Done!

But, before we get too excited about how the Ag tour will end, let us go over the beginning. Upon check-in, at 7:15AM you will get to enjoy the Mansion as we get started with our welcome and guided tour at 7:45AM.

We will hop onto the spacious motor coach bus to visit Belmont Nursery: first to be greeted by their Marketing Manager, Robin, who will guide us through their 10-acre land. Be ready to shop if you would like.

Our second stop is The Vineyard, one of Fresno greatest and oldest Farmer Markets. It is one of the few places where I can find green tomatoes.

Then we will end at Shep’s Club for Spanish Basque history, lunch and wine tasting.  

Reserve your seats today as October 15th is right around the corner.

TICKETS

Join the Fresno County Historical Society in solving another murder mystery! Guests are invited to bring their sleuthing skills to dine at the Kearney Mansion for a special and immersive experience. Six opportunities to attend are available over five nights from October 27 through 31, 2022. Capacity is limited to only 35 ticket holders for each performance.

This special event is a multiple-room mystery where guests will play detective and work to solve the murder of Al Dente during the grand opening of his new restaurant and boutique hotel located in the Kearney Mansion.

Guests will move through the Mansion in small, socially distanced groups of six to eight, interviewing suspects, hunting for clues and enjoying a feast of delicious courses served at several tasty stations along with specialty cocktails to sharpen the senses. Everyone will visit the crime scene and submit their solutions to the case before our Detective arrives on the scene.

Many thanks to our partner in this event, UR Here. Tickets are limited and selling fast.

TICKETS