T
he historic Red Barn on the grounds of Los Osos Community Park stores many memories from concerts to weddings to celebration of life events.
The Barn was built about 100 years ago, but an archeologist would be forgiven for thinking the current chairs used for event rentals are even older than the building.
The barn, a County facility, seats about 100 people with standing room for more. The chairs are dented, rusted, scratched and mismatched causing some renters of the venue to temporarily remove them and procure replacements from a rental business.
Celebrate Los Osos (CLO), a volunteer beautification non-profit, wants to change that. They need the community’s help raising funds to replace the chairs of yore with 100 new high-strength, steel, stain resistant, easy to clean, superior strength folding chairs that have wide seats with tall backs and can hold up to 500 pounds. The goal is to have the chairs ready to go this August.
“It would be wonderful to get new chairs for the Red Barn in time for all of the scheduled weddings and events scheduled this summer and fall,” says CLO President Pandora Nash-Karner. “The old chairs are such an eye sore – they’ve just got to go!”
Why are community members being asked to fund the chairs in a County-run facility?
“The county doesn’t have the budget to replace the chairs,” says Nash-Karner, who has sat on the SLO County Park Commission for 34 years. “You’d think that something as simple as chairs would be easy for the county to fund, unfortunately, they aren’t.
“There are millions of dollars of deferred maintenance items, things that have to do with health and safety way ahead of chairs. During the last several years when the rains caused such damage to county property, county parks had problems with roads washing out, emergency supplies having to be boated into homes of full time residents at Lake Nacimiento, there was severe damage to county-owned swimming pools, construction at Cayucos Vets Hall, and repairs to beaches, equipment, and the Cayucos pier as well as an on-going electrical issue at one of our South County parks. All of these items, plus many more, come before chairs.”
CLO recently submitted a grant application to District 2 Supervisor Bruce Gibson for $1000, but the price tag to replace the chairs while meeting County specifications is $4078.13.
Donations are off to a good start so far, but the planned for deadline in August is approaching.
“Over the years we have had nearly 500 people volunteer for our projects and hundreds of people donate money,” says Nash-Karner. “People love their community, and they love to be part of the solutions to make it a better place to live. Within 48 hours of announcing our campaign to replace the chairs at the Red Barn we are at 84% of the goal! Why? Because people can relate to the Red Barn. It’s a part of the fabric of our community and people want to help.”
If CLO reaches the goal within the next week, they will order two chair carts to store the seat-holders when they are not in use. The carts are $333 each, plus tax. Excess funds raised will be used for on-going projects.
The Red Barn is small but the talent that has performed on its carpeted stage is not, Grammy Award nominees and local well-known singers or songwriters with big followings have entertained the community since the 1990s when the Community Park came into existence. Art shows, memorials, barbeques, and family reunions have also taken place in the rustic setting.
“We’ve had to endure sitting in those chairs for years,” says Peggy Zatt, member of the South Bay Women’s Network and a CLO volunteer. “It’s not that they’re just ugly and old, but it’s hard to prepare for a lovely event and use those old, crummy chairs. We hope everyone pitches in the amount for one or two chairs and the next time they go to a concert or a wedding or a celebration of life event at the Red Barn, they can look on with pride and know they had a hand in ensuring the chairs made a better presentation making it a comfortable one!”
The existing folding chairs used for events at the Red Barn in Los Osos have seen better days. Photo submitted
Readers can send a donation to Celebrate Los Osos, 501 (c)(3) non-profit corporation, designated for Red Barn Chairs. Prices are:
1 chair = $37.50 plus tax of 7.25% or $40.22
2 chairs = $75 plus tax of 7.25% or $80.44
3 chairs = $112.50 plus tax of 7.25% or $120.66
The new chairs that will be purchased for use at events at the
Red Barn. Photo submitted
Make a tax-deductible donation by check or money order and mail it to:
Celebrate Los Osos, 350 Mitchell Drive, Los Osos, CA 93402
In 2023, with the help of the community and a small grant from District 2 Supervisor Bruce Gibson, Celebrate Los Osos was able to raise enough money to replace the nine, 8-foot banquet tables.
Pricing for rental of the Red Barn from April – September is $160 daily Sunday – Thursday; $185 daily on weekends Friday and Saturday; and $220 daily for holidays. During the October – March, rental is $140 daily Sunday – Thursday; $160 daily on weekends Friday and Saturday; and $185 on holidays.
The Red Barn is located at 2180 Palisades Ave. in Los Osos. Anyone interested in renting the Red Barn can call County Parks at 805-781-4386 to reserve the space.
Celebrate Los Osos has more projects in the works including: the annual Tag the “bad boats” at Cuesta Inlet as well as restoring the “Welcome to Los Osos” redwood sign along South Bay Boulevard and restoring at least one of the Bridge bears if not both. They continue to pay for the monthly maintenance and water bill (even though it is recycled water) on the Los Osos Valley Road median near Ralph’s
To volunteer, send an email to: info@CelebrateLosOsos.org and check them out on Facebook.
