It’s rare in 2024 to find somebody living almost off the grid and close to downtown! Gloria Utley lives in a home built in 1890 sitting on an acre of land hidden away over Mitchell Creek that runs along Oak Street in Clayton. She supports the Clayton Valley Gardner’s Club and allows them to occupy a piece of it. Still using well water and a stove that burns pellets, there is no gas, her one modern utility is electricity. Yet this sprightly senior citizen is full of life and has been an anchor in the community for more than fifty years.
In 1972 after she and her husband settled in the area, she opened a craft shop in this sleepy village of 1,700 people. It was from this humble beginning that has now developed the immensely successful, Clayton Valley Arts & Wine festival. It was also the to become the foundation of the Clayton Business & Community Association (CBCA) and she is listed as the Vice Chairman on the constitution documents. The CBCA is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization comprised of dedicated volunteers serving the community. The group donates proceeds from festivals to a variety of causes, organizations and charities benefiting the Clayton community. In 2023, CBCA earmarked $175,000 to donate back to the community.
But 1984 was the landmark year for Gloria. Now a mother, wife and activist, she threw herself into serving the community. She was a principal organizer of the Clayton Roundup, an annual BBQ- Kansas style event that like Topsy seemed to grow and grow. By 1996 more than 1200 people attended. It eventually morphed into what today is the Arts and Wine Festival. This is now a two day juried event with more than one hundred booths and attracting artists from all over California. It is a popular attraction usually taking place in late April, and attended by thousands of people.
But that year she registered at St Mary’s College in Moraga and obtained a bachelor’s degree in management. She also was employed at Adobe Savings and Loans, now Canesa’s Brooklyn Heros Sandwich |Shop. At that time, Clayton still had a country feel to it and the store had a hitching post outside for horses. Most of the area only had dirt roads and there were few vehicles. She became the chair of the newly established Clayton Historical society and later the curator of the little museum. She became a leader of the food section for the 4H group in Morgan Territory, a leader of the whole group, was a juror at the Arts & Wine Festival (for the next forty years), and helped double the CBCA professional membership.
She chuckled, recounting the beginnings of the July 4th committee. “I was now the chair and proposed that we create and hang a huge banner cross Main Street. The idea took off and we excitedly hoisted it up, congratulating ourselves on a job well done. It looked magnificent. But our joy was short lived. Just a short while afterwards a huge truck lumbered down the street taking our banner with it!
For 39 years she was an active member of the Clayton Soroptimist group until its amalgamation in 2023 with another local branch and in 1989 traveled to the international convention in Japan. Even with all her other activities, she became passionate about the issue of Human Trafficking in Oakland and worked tirelessly with fellow members. She also joined in Soropimist efforts in 2003 to support the fledgling and struggling Monument Crisis Center.
Although not her idea, Gloria as officer in the CBCA, supported what has become the premier Oktoberfest in Northern California. The festival set in downtown, aims to recreate a real "Munich Style" Oktoberfest. An authentic German biergarten is created. The heart of the festival, this biergarten features imported wood tables and benches from Munich, Germany, and is where an Oompah band entertains. Guests can enjoy German food and beer. People arrive from all over the Bay Area with women dressed in colorful national costumes, men wearing traditional ‘lederhosen.’ Main Street is lined with vendors selling a variety of German items, including jewelry, hot sauces, and Oktoberfest gear. Downtown Clayton becomes transformed into a full-size carnival with rides, games, and street performers and has become another significant community fundraiser/
Gloria smiles in telling me about the history of how the CBCA has grown and how town had developed. It’s clear it has all been a labor of love. She is still a member and as busy as ever. And this dynamic lady is your neighbor.
Comments