The Story of the Grape Festival
In 1899, the first Grape Festival, which derived its name from the fact that grapes were at the height of their harvest when the idea originated, was staged on the front veranda of A.W. Foster’s rambling 135 acre hillside estate ”Fairhills” where the residential area of the same name is now located in San Rafael. Foster’s daughter, Mrs. S.L. (Martha) Abbott of Greenbrae, remembers the 1899 Grape Festival as an eight-year-old:

“It was a lovely and exciting day for a child. Booths were set around trees of the lawn,” she recalled in 1974. “We wandered around and I remember a doll—nicely dressed, pretty and dainty—was bought for me.” Although her parents offered the use of their San Rafael estate, her mother didn’t take an active part in the Grape Festival. “My mother was a homebody. She had plenty to do at home.”

Some of the highlights in Grape Festival history:

In 1902, the Marin Journal described the June 1st garden party at Fairhills as “one of the largest attended and most successful society events of the kind ever given in our city. There were several booths selling tea, candy, ice cream and lemonade. There was an oriental booth and a Burns cottage and bagpipes played in the afternoon. The program featured solos and recitations. The day netted $370 for the benefit of the Presbyterian Orphanage.” Important names of the day were on the list of women who helped give that party: Mrs. P.D. Browne, founder and first president, Mrs. Robert Dollar, the second president, whose husband, Captain Robert Dollar, was a great benefactor of the Orphanage, Mrs. John Dollar; Miss Grace and Miss May Dollar; Miss Agnes Menzies; Miss Mabel Dodge; Miss Anna Foster; Miss George Wintringham; and Miss Pomeroy.

In 1903, two Grape Festival traditions were born: staging the festival on the first Saturday of October to coincide with the grape harvest, and holding it on the grounds of the Kent Estate in Kentfield where it continued for 43 years. At the 1903 festival, grapes were sold for a nickel a bunch. Forty-five dollars were raised on grape sales alone!

The Festival quickly became an established social event on the Marin calendar, and by 1905 was relied on as a dependable source of supplementary income for the Orphanage. Its fame spread and drew hundreds of people from the East Bay, San Francisco and the Peninsula, as well as local environs. Many made the long trip by carriage, ferry, train or horseback. One year, Mrs. William Kent recalled, when the Festival was in its infancy, it rained and the booths were assembled on the front porch of the Big House. People drove up in their carriages, made their purchases and drove away. Many just left their money without making purchases, happy in the knowledge they were contributing toward a worthy cause.

In 1929, the Grape Festival raised $9,192.41, “a splendid amount of money.”

Even the depression of the 1930’s could not dampen the spirit of the Grape Festival. Over 6,000 people attended in 1931! In 1932, “Pure Pep for Pale Plants” was a top attraction along with fortune tellers and the stamp booth.

During the 1940’s, the Guilds were being formed and the chief function of each Guild was to finance, stock and merchandise a Grape Festival Booth. By 1947 the Grape Festival had grown too large and too complex for the delightful Kent Estate. After two years at the Marin Art & Garden Center in Ross, the festival moved to the Sunny Hills campus. In 1950, the San Anselmo Guild took over the responsibility of maintaining the Festival grounds. Guild members did a colossal job all year of watering, mowing, planting tress and vines. Major planting was done again in 1957 when 225 grape vines were donated and planted around the posts of the permanent booths.

The Grape Festival continued on for the next several decades, much to the delight of the community. Through its more than 100-year history, the Festival came to enjoy the love and generous support of those who frequented this annual event.

The final Grape Festival event was held in 2006, it will always hold a very special place in the history of Sunny Hills Services.