For the moment, one of Chula Vista’s historical figures may be stuck in the musty pocket of forgotten space. They are not alone, sadly, but it would be satisfying to see them make an escape, settling into their place in the sun once again, if only for another fleeting moment.
In the May 3, 1997 edition of The Star-News a small community news item appeared on the front page:
Star-News, Lemon Festival Baking Contest Opens
If the current math is right—given that this year marks the 25th anniversary of the downtown Chula Vista street fair—then that blurb would have been the introductory paragraph into a quarter century story, paving the way for a character of historical significance to emerge.
The Star-News will sponsor a baking contest June 1 at the Chula Vista Third Avenue Lemon Festival.
Entrants can compete in two categories: cakes and pies; or pastries, breads and muffins, for prizes.
Bakers can also be part of the 1998 Lemon Festival Cookbook with a lemon recipe in any category.
Slightly more than a month later, in the June 7 Star on page 3, two festival-related photos ran: one featured the local cover band The Mar Dels and the other focussed on Tyler Colton as he sat atop a llama. There is no mention of a baking contest. Or a winner (or the requisite losers).
What happened?
Did the first ever festival’s baking contest fall flatter than a startled soufflé? Were there no entrants or, even worse, were all the contestants declared the winner and sent home with a ribbon and a title?
Perhaps there were sour grapes and the contest was voided after the winning entry was determined to be an apple pie, given that the contest rules did not stipulate the entries must contain lemon.
Who won the first ever Star-News Lemon Festival Baking Contest and what was their winning entry? Did that victory spur them onto opening a chain of bakeries and early retirement or was the once-in-a-lifetime accomplishment enough for them to hang their apron on?
It’s a tart little mystery to consider in the waning days of summer.
