The scent of lavender wafted through downtown Kingsburg as the town prepared to welcome the start of the Fruit Trail season.

The opening of the fourth annual Fresno County Fruit Trail took place in Kingsburg this year for the first time.

"I was very pleased with it," said Jess Chambers, executive director of the Kingsburg Chamber of Commerce, which hosted the opening ceremony on Thursday. "It [the fruit trail] is a great way to attract people to Kingsburg. So we feel pretty good about it."

The Fruit Trail is self-guided tour, with a trail map provided by the Fresno County Office of Tourism. Participants drive up and down the Valley to experience fresh apples, herbs, berries, nuts and attractions.

"This is a perfect time of year to enjoy what we dreamed about on the Blossom Trail, to come out now and taste the fresh flavors," Rosemary Nachtigall, who owns Squaw Valley Herb Gardens, said.

Nachtigall's business includes 80 varieties of herbs and a hillside of lavender. She gives tours of the farm and teaches visitors how to use lavender in satchels or for therapeutic purposes.

"As a grower, we always look for ways to get the word out to city folk to what they can go out and experience in the country," Nachtigall said. "The Fruit Trail is a wonderful way to get word out on where these unique family farms are located and what their hours are."

Fruit Trail participants were available before and after the ceremony to answer questions and display their wares.

Silva Esajian, co-owner of Luke's Almond Acres, said the Fruit Trail is a good way to spread the word about the business. Visitors taste and buy almonds and walnuts, and if they have a positive experience they tell their friends.

"It's more person-to-person than coming to the store," she said. "That's the best kind of advertisement."

Kristi Johnson, tourism coordinator for the Fresno County Office of Tourism, said the ceremony was mostly for the participants and planners to celebrate their hard work coming to fruition in the form of the Fruit Trail.

Fresno County Supervisor Judy Case appeared at the event, as did Gigi Gibbs, director of Tourism for the Fresno County Office of Tourism; the Kingsburg District Chamber of Commerce; Kingsburg Mayor Leland Bergstrom; Kingsburg Councilman Dave Karstetter; Kevin Shakespeare, representing Congressman Devin Nunes; Dan Spears, director of the Sanger Chamber of Commerce; and Glenda Hill, Orange Cove City Council member.

The event, said Johnson, benefits the whole county.

"This is a way to preserve our local heritage," Johnson said. "When people outside the area come and tell us how much they enjoy [our] agriculture, it gives us community pride and county pride, that we have such a unique area that provides all these world-class offerings. We think [they are] the best in the world."

May 23, 2007