A tradition of doing what needs to be done "by ourselves" came to Creston through our pioneer ancesters. From building a School House in the 1880's, a community swimming pool in the early 1960's, a Volunteer Fire House in the 1980's, and more recently, the Volunteer Community Demonstration Garden in the early 1990's, these are a few examples of Creston's pride in "getting the job done" in the true tradition of our pioneers founders. Creston was founded in 1884 ( the brief history of Creston is elsewhere on this web site ).
        During the 1970's and 1980's, many avenues were explored, looking for a way to provide a real community building and a recreational area in Creston.  Creston has been growing, so we need one that is large enough for full use.
       In 1993, all of the active community organizations in Creston joined together in this common purpose, and established the CATCH Fund, which is a trust fund to build this community center. CATCH stands for Creston Activities Town Center Helping-hands. Shortly thereafter, Creston "took the bull by the horns" and created an annual fund raiser: The Creston Classic Rodeo.
      In 1995, the "CCR" became a reality, as well as the major source of income for the CATCH Fund, which holds all the money "in trust" toward our community goal.  The following service organizations support CATCH: The CCR, the Creston Garden Club, The Men's Club, the Volunteer Fire Department, and the Creston Women's Club. In February of 2006,  San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Jim Patterson announced that an agreement between SLO county and the Algee Family Trust has secured a small parcel of land for the goal of a community center. Creston can now, finally, see the light at the end of the tunnel!
     A community Swap Meet/Flea Market was held in October of 2005 to benefit the CATCH fund, with nearly $1000 being raised. Other fund raisers are being planned. The Creston Classic Rodeo is held in the middle of September at the "Rodeo
Grounds" on the corner of Highway 229 ( also known as Webster Road ) and Swayze Street, downtown. The rodeo has grown so much over the years, thanks to our loyal sponsors and community volunteers.
            As  of the end of October of 2007, this fund has grown to about $90,000. Our County Supervisor, Jim Patterson, is hard at work trying to locate a suitable site for the new  CAL FIRE station. The process ran into some unexpected setbacks this past September, 2007. There is still the remote chance that the existing volunteer Fire Station will someday be converted into the Creston Community Center. I would hope that more residents will get involved in the fundraising efforts as we get closer to CATCHING  THE  DREAM of our Center.
      In October, 2008, the Rodeo Board donated $7500, Rodeo Queen Brittany Voss $500, and the Creston 4H $350, to bring the new balance in the Trust Fund to just over $100,000. Hopefully, someone (Rosie?) will update the huge wood Thermometer Billboard on the edge of town. The SLO County Board of Supervisors approved the location of the new CAL FIRE station along Hwy 229 at it's Oct 7th meeting. Jim Patterson
 supports the idea of creating a Community Center where the current Volunteer Fire Station sits.
    In October of 2009, the Rodeo Board hosted a wonderful "Wrap-Up" party in the VIP Corral. A fabulous plaque was presented to George Hearst for his generous donation of new, code-compliant steel bleachers in the Grand Stands of the Rodeo Grounds. Linda Rohrer and Tom Hansen presented Rosie  with a donation check of $5000 for the CATCH fund. The little girls and boys of the Creston 4H club donated $300 to the Catch Fund. At least 6 new "cattle brands" were burned into the wall behind the wood bar. Great food, lots of wine, and just another great party for all of the hard-working volunteers. The Ryan family was the Grand Marshall family this year, which was wonderful. As you remember, the rodeo as a fund raiser for CATCH was Nancy's idea back in 1994/1995. We now have somewhere around $106,000 in the fund as of Nov. 2009.
   The 15th Ever Creston Classic Rodeo was a huge success, with many new sponsors donating CASH to help to update the grounds. New footing was installed at the Field Kitchen/ VIP Corral and a donation to the CATCH fund will be announced at the October 28th, 2010, wrap-up Party, held at that kitchen.
   The donation made by the Rodeo for 2010 was a wonderful  $10,000. On December 19, 2010, Eagle Castle Winery - along with the Volunteer Fire Dept of Creston, hosted a fantastic Cowboy Christmas Dinner Dance, which was sold out with over 200 people, plus a very amazing Silent Auction off over 25 valuable items. The desserts were home made by the Women's club and garden club members. It was such a huge success that we hope this will be the first of many more wonderful events to benefit the CATCH fund.
     The CAL  FIRE  station  ground-breaking ceremony took place on  April 20th 2011 at  4 PM at the Rodeo Grounds.  Light refreshments were served and there were speakers talking about plans for the old Volunteer Fire Station. The construction contract was awarded to local SLO company,  Rarig, and construction is humming along during  May 2011, with the building expected to be available for move-in by the Spring of 2012.
     During the spring of 2011, a survey was sent to each group organization that represent the CATCH Board, and the survey wanted to know about designs for the new  Community Building.  A meeting is being held in June of 2011  to discuss the results and plan the layout and the amenities of the new building. This is a very exciting time for the CATCH  fund  board.  Rosie and her board members have been fund raising since  1992 !  That is about 20 years as of  this writing  ( June 2011 ). Many of us have a vision of what this Center should look like.  If you have any ideas,  please contact Rosie at  238-1662.
   posted on Sept. 8, 2011:
        Finally,  there is a web site dedicated to keeping our community informed on what's going on with the development of our soon-to-be-reality  Community Center !  Please bookmark this web page right now so that you can keep up-to-date on  where we are at in this process, which has been twenty years in the making as of today:     www.crestonroundup.wordpress.com/
      I am delighted that Mike Barrett has created this forum for input, comments, and ideas all about our proposed Community Center, to be located in the space where the Company 43 Volunteer Fire Station has been since 1984.    C H E C K      I T     O U T  !
  Nov. 2011:  The CATCH  Board will once again be hosting a Christmas Dinner Fund Raiser at Eagle Castle Winery off of Hwy 46 West.  Details will be posted on the home page of this site as they become available. The rodeo board hosted their annual  "Rodeo Wrap-Up" party on Oct. 27th and presented the new Queens and presented a donation of a check to the CATCH  FUND.  Finally, there is light at the end of the tunnel. To keep up to date with what's happening with the soon-to-be-reality  Community Center, be sure to check out the relatively new  www.CrestonRoundup.wordpress.com
    Nov. 16, 2011:   Architect Nick Gilman ( who helped with the original  1984  Pole Barn ) has generously donated his time to create a few  different floor plans for our community to check out at the above-mentioned web site.  VOTE  your  choice about the  location of the kitchen.  Our community is so blessed to have the tireless support of so many residents,  especially Mike Barrett, whose new mission in life is to head up the committee that has been researching our sewer, electrical, etc.  options.  So many details to decide. If you see Mike,  please thank him.  Our big fund raiser  Dinner Dance will be held on Dec. 11th at Eagle Castle Winery.  We will need a  lot more funds to make this center happen, and to build the kitchen, and the bathrooms, etc.