Richard Travis, one of the founders of the Santa Cruz County Fair Foundation, and his wife Mary, head of the Education Department at the county fair for 35 years, are the winners of the 2022 “Al Smith Friend of Agriculture” award.
They received the award March 16 at the National Agriculture Day luncheon, hosted by the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau and Agri-Culture, which sold 200 tickets.
The couple married right out of high school while Richard was a volunteer firefighter. After Richard served two years in the Army in Vietnam, he started volunteering by coaching youth baseball. Mary was scorekeeper and announcer at games.
Their daughter, Cynthia, was interested in horses, so they bought a ranch in Watsonville.
Richard became president of the California Horseman’s Association. Mary was secretary.
For many years, Richard was president of the American Quarter Horse Breeders. Mary was secretary.
Together, they help put on an annual horse show at the County Fairgrounds.
For 31 years, Mary did school tours for the Agricultural History Project. She creates the champion blankets for the Junior Livestock Auction at the county fair.
Richard and Mary Travis accept the Al Smith Friend of Agriculture Award.
For the past 10 years, she managed the 28 department heads at the County Fair to help them set up for the event.
Richard does all alcohol sale events at the County Fair. He also volunteers to do maintenance at the fairgrounds.
Together, they sponsor the Heritage Hog Scholarship, 4-H Scholarships and awards. They volunteer at Farm Bureau and Agri-Culture events.
Their pride and joy are their grandsons Garrett and Russell.
For 34 years, Mary worked as a preschool teacher for local private schools. Richard worked as a firefighter for 35 years. They are now both retired, which gives them more time to volunteer.
The award was presented by Dr. Nan Mickiewicz, president/CEO, Dignity Health Dominican Hospital, who received the award in 2021.
Each year, the award is presented to an individual, business or organization not involved in production agriculture but one who has done much for the industry.
The award is named for Al Smith, founder of Orchard Supply Hardware who donated 3,000 acres (Swanton Pacific Ranch) to Cal Poly. The ranch, which burned in the 2020 CZU wildfire, has row crops, timber and a one-third-scale railroad, which was Al’s hobby.
Farm Bureau President Arnett Young was the emcee.
Susan True, CEO, of Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, spoke on “Influencing Agriculture’s Future .”
The winners of the four Agri-Culture scholarships were announced:
- 2022 Jimmie Cox Memorial Scholarship: Crystal Salazar
- 2022 Jeannie Witmer Memorial Scholarship: McKenna Wood
- 2022 JJ Crosetti, Jr. Memorial Scholarship: Miguel Sanchez-Ramirez
- 2022 Laura Brown Memorial Scholarship: Colby Galassi
Notables in attendance include Watsonville councilmembers Jimmy Dutra, Lowell Hurst and Eduardo Montesino; Pajaro Valley Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Michelle Rodriguez; CASA of Santa Cruz Executive Director Lynne Petrovic; Cabrillo College President Matthew Wetstein, and community leaders Bud Colligan & Ceil Cirillo.