Article Launched: 08/17/2006 12:00:00 AM PDT

By HEATHER HACKING - Staff Writer
Chico Enterprise-Record

An elaborate display at the California State Fair in Sacramento highlights the bounty and beauty of the land in Butte County, encouraging visitors to zip onto the highway and check us out.

The display won a gold ribbon for the creators and hopefully could lead to money coming into the county as sightseers decide to see the county first-hand.

Artist Richard Bay builds theater sets for Sacramento State University and was in charge of the work.

Roger Landerman painted the backdrop.

In the center of the display is a miniature red convertible with two characters with bobble heads. In front of them is an open road cruising through the Northern Sacramento Valley and up through the foothills of Butte County.

In the background is a stylized landscape showing orchards, rice fields and country roads.

There's a certain Disneyland feel to the display. The car lumbers back and forth. Part of the mural is painted to look like Lake Oroville and two boats spin across the painted water. Other rotating cutouts include a bird watcher, an olive producer and rice plants that appear to grow.

Locally-produced products are displayed throughout the piece, including Lundberg rice, Maisie Jane almond gifts, Mooney Farms tomato products, wine, olive products and apples.

Butte County Cultural Tourism Director Debra Lucero explained that the goal of the display is to get people to come up to Butte County for tourism. This area really has a lot to offer people, she said, and it's somewhat undiscovered by tourists.

California is the most visited state in the nation. People from all over the world come here to visit San Francisco, Los Angeles and Tahoe. The Northern Sacramento Valley can be just as big of a draw for people who like fishing, mountain biking, bird watching and visiting farms. Historical houses dot the landscape, and we have two award- winning breweries.

The foothills have a growing wine industry and olive oil tasting rooms have popped up.

The state fair gets about 1 million visitors a year, and the publicity from the display has huge potential, she said. The publishers of the booklet "101 Things To Do in Butte County" offered the booklet to visitors at the fair, just in case people didn't get the idea from the display.

Lucero said the organizers of the event were pleased that the judges picked Butte as one of several gold ribbon winners. That's a big deal when you consider the artist only had $5,000 to work with, plus donations.

Some counties, such as Solano County, spent up to $180,000 on their showcase.

Lucero said several locals have been going to the fair to pass out information and talk to people about our region. She said its fun to chat with people. Invariably, people will share that they used to go to Chico State University or came up here to visit at one point in their lives.

The timing of the fair is good for an upcoming event called the Sierra Oro Farm Trail passport weekend. The farm trail is promoted by a foldable pamphlet about the size of a map. It highlights different farms, wineries and tasting rooms that are open to visitors who want to experience rural production. The map also has local restaurants and lodging listed that visitors might want to patronize.

The map was the brainchild of Heather Quilici, whose family makes wine, and Jamie Johansson, of Lodestar Farms.

The group is hosting the passport weekend Sept. 30-Oct 1. For $20, tourists, or locals, can visit all of the stops on the map.

For the display at the fair, the farm trail is featured prominently with a big banner on one side. The brochures are available at local chambers of commerce. (www.sierraoro.org). The passports go on sale Friday.

Staff writer Heather Hacking can be reached at 896-7758 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .