Moonlight at the Ranch IV: ‘The Roaring 20’s!’ plans underway
June 23, 2010
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula City Council
Moonlight at the Ranch IV: “The Roaring 20’s!” is shaping up to be another talk of the county Santa Paula fundraiser, the City Council learned at a recent meeting.
Fire Chief Rick Araiza told the council the annual event - to be held September 18 at historic Limoneira Ranch - benefits the Santa Paula Police & Fire Foundation and the Chamber of Commerce.
“We work with a committee that has been working hard since the last Moonlight” was held in August 2009. No sooner had Moonlight III ended than the committee started planning for the next event, a celebration that has become Ventura County’s signature event.
“As a chief I get to work with a lot of committees; they work for virtually no pay... Santa Paula is such a giving community.” Araiza said the only goal of the Moonlight committee “is to make the city of Santa Paula better, make our police and fire better, and better our community overall.”
Araiza described the wide appeal of Moonlight at the Ranch and noted, “People as far north as Santa Ynez attend. I have family in Gilroy that won’t miss it.”
Araiza said Police Chief Steve MacKinnon, chairman of Moonlight IV, is “the brains behind this thing.”
MacKinnon said, “After we caught our breath” following the last Moonlight, the committee started concentrating on the next celebration, including its theme. “It’s such a popular event that right after we have it people approach committee members and ask what’s going to be the theme of the next Moonlight. We work hard,” said MacKinnon, “but it’s a labor of love.”
Limoneira Ranch will be transformed into a Roaring 20’s atmosphere to reflect the decade MacKinnon said is about more than gangsters and flappers. “Lindbergh became the first to fly solo across the Atlantic, baseball’s Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat, Howard Carter discovered King Tut’s tomb, there was Rudolph Valentino, Clara Bow, marathon dancing, flagpole sitting... we don’t want to give everything away,” as, MacKinnon said, part of the fun of Moonlight is to see the delighted faces of guests when they see what was planned for them.
After 90 minutes of socializing and glasses of fine wines at reasonable prices, “We’re going to move you further into the era of the speakeasy,” when guests will be able to say the password “Joe sent me” and enter The Eclipse Club. There fun reigns, and guests will get “a real feel of what the era was all about.”
Men on the Moon will again entertain, and MacKinnon noted the popular band said that last year’s Moonlight “was one of the best events” they played at. “Last year we had Buzz Aldrin,” the famous astronaut, as honorary chairman of Moonlight at the Ranch III: “Out of This World!” which had a science fiction/outer space theme.
The Honorary Chairman for Moonlight at the Ranch IV, said MacKinnon, is acclaimed actor and Academy Award winning director Kevin Costner. “I’m sure a lot of people know he has ties to this community,” and Costner, a former elementary school classmate of Araiza, “also has a very strong sense of public safety; he was one that strongly supported the foundation” initially.
MacKinnon said it is not guaranteed Costner will be able to attend Moonlight, as he had film obligations, but he has stated he will try.
At Moonlight IV “There will be a lot of interesting things going on, a lot of surprises, a lot of fun and excitement,” as well as prizes, tastings from dozens of the region’s finest restaurants and no-host bars, all in a fabulous Jazz Age setting. “The main thing is we want people to come have a good time and,” noted MacKinnon, “add to the reputation of Santa Paula that this is the partying place.”
For more information, visit www.moonlightattheranch.com.
