Notes from the editors

To & From The Editors

Photo of Teona and Wolcott Schley
by daughter, Jessica Schley.

We frequently get letters or calls from people who have saved copies of our magazine and would like one or more copies of the current issue to plan a new trip to the Santa Ynez Valley. Others live here or in surrounding communities and want to plan a trip to the Valley for visiting friends or relatives. Of course we oblige all the above requests, and here is a sample reply:

Dear Editors,
Just thought that you would like to know that the magazine you sent us is very helpful in planning our next vacation to the Valley. We talked to our friends in Washington and we are all planning to return in April of this year. We had you send them a copy of your magazine, too, and we are all using it to plan our visit there together.

Jerry Hayes
Santa Clara, UT

Farewell Fess
Santa Ynez Valley resident, actor, developer and vintner, Fess Parker. passed away on March 18th. He was 85 years old. He was born and raised in Texas, served in the U.S. Navy during WWII, graduated from U. of Texas-Austin in 1950. He moved to California in the early 1950s, where he starred in “Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier” and many other movies. In the 1970s he moved his family to Santa Barbara, where he built the Fess Parker Doubletree Resort, which opened in 1985.

   In 1989 Fess and his family turned their interest in fine wine into the development and construction of the Fess Parker Winery in Foxen Canyon in the Santa Ynez Valley.
He also purchased and renovated the Grand Hotel in Los Olivos, renaming it the Fess Parker Wine Country Inn and Spa.
  He often visited Los Olivos, where he greeted fans and happily signed autographs. Our Publisher’s mother, Viola T. Hansen, frequently lunched at the Inn’s restaurant and if Fess were there, he would greet her by name and personally bring over a delicious dessert for her. She was an avid fan and was so thrilled each time she saw him. He was a true gentleman.
  The editors and staff of this magazine wish to express our condolences to the Parker family, and in particular to his widow, Marcella Parker.
Wolcott & Teona Schley