The Creston History Books in the San Luis Obispo County Library System have a lot of info about all of the clubs and school and the Church in Creston. Here is a brief summary:

If you ever go to the post office, please notice the large cedar tree next to the bulletin board. It was planted in the early 90's (my best guess) to honor the memory of long time Post Mistress Connie Smith. I am talking to the former post mistress,  Julie McCullough, to get a plaque made for that tree.
 
    The Creston Thursday Gardener's Club began on May 19, 1960. Today, the name is simply the Creston Garden Club. It still meets on the third Thursday of the month, often with expert speakers on all kinds of topics. The Garden Club helps to maintain the Volunteer community garden, which is located right next to the Fire station on Swayze St. The club hosts a wonderful plant and bake sale every April, and planted the garden in the front of the new Library, which opened in 2003. Membership is growing annually, as more folks move here. I have more history of the Volunteer Garden on my History page, added in March 2009.
 As you have no doubt noticed,  the birch trees inside the huge planter are surrounded by Memorial Bricks and bricks honoring local residents.  If you would like to purchase a brick ( they are $75 ) then please call Judy Blankenship at  226-9489 and she will send or  email you the correct form.

    The Creston Women's Club began in 1939 as the Creston Community Club with the purpose of getting together in a social way to meet their neighbors, old and new, and to share items of community interest. Today, the Women's club meets the first Monday of the month, except in July and August, and organizes fundraisers for the Scholarship Program, wich provides cash awards to anyone living in the Creston Area attending any type of formal learning, such as college, trade school, flight school, nursing school, farrier school, whatever. During the 1950's and 1960's, according to the Creston History Books, there was actually a real club house.  During the 1980's and 1990's, the meetings were held in what was called the "Community Room", which was located just behind the elementary school office. After the Multi-purpose room was built in the early 2000's, meetings were held there. The old community room was condemned and was finally torn down somewhere around 2007, if memory serves me. The janitor used to let us into the school on the first Monday of each month. However, in September of 2009, the janitor began working two different schools, so the Women's club began meeting in the volunteer garden in the fall, and then moved to the Church children's classrooms in January of 2010. Currently,  there are four major fundraisers for the Woman's Club: The International dinner held around late February, the Spaghetti Feed, which is held to feed the bicycle riders doing the Wildflower Ride, held the last Friday in April,  the Bingo Bash, held the first weekend in June, held at the Volunteer Garden,  and then the Chili Cook Off, held in the fall at the Rodeo Grounds.
      The Creston community swimming pool was built in the spring of 1960 through the efforts of dozens of volunteer residents and local businesses. It officially opened on July 16, 1960, according to photos and information provided by Ruth Hord. Sadly, the 100 year Floods of 1969 undermined the pool and part of it washed out in the river. Federal money came through and the pool was rebuilt. In 1978,Eve Bundy and a small group of concerned citizens got together to raise the funds needed to keep the pool free to everyone. The Creston Pool Fund Barbeque and Barn Dance was started and continued through 2004. The mission of the Creston Community Association is to put on fundraisers to maintain, insure, staff, and improve the community pool. In 2006, the CCA hosted the first ever Hawaiian-themed Luau Reverse Drawing dinner on the patio at the Loading Chute. It was a huge success and was extremely well organized and well attended. A huge thank you to local resident, Vicky Bittle, for being a major part of the CCA for most of her life! She has done an incredible job as CCA Secretary and also has been the gate lady at the entrance gate at the Creston Classic Rodeo since the first one in 1996. She is really an excellent record keeper.
In 2009, the Creston Community Association chose a new theme for their annual fund raiser: the Beach Bash! It was a huge success, with nearly every seat full and a wonderful DJ. Everyone danced to rock and roll. County Supervisor was unable to attend, but did make a cash donation to our Pool Fund. He sent a very nice letter with his donation check:

August 14, 2009

Aloha Creston Community Association !
   I unfortunately am not able to personally celebrate with you today as I committed to an event in Atascadero to benefit all our District schools. I am certainly here with you in spirit and continue to support your fundraising efforts. As I hope you are aware, I love recreation, and there is nothing better than a pool on hot days. I also admire and value your community's tenacity in keeping this pool open during the summer months for public use.
   In fact, the community pool will continue to serve the children and families for many more years, because this year the County Parks and Rec partnered with the Atascadero School District to fund the improvements to the pool. These improvements were vitally necessary just to maintain the safelty of the pool. So, dont forget your sunscreen and I wish you happy swimming.
    
               Supervisor Jim Patterson

added on August 21, 2011:
     The Creston Community Association does a great job hosting their annual Pool Fund Party. This year, in addition to the dinner, dancing, games, Silent and Live  dessert Auctions,  there was a very large poster with about 12 really great photos (enlarged to about 4" by 6") of the swimming pool as it was being built in the spring of 1960, with a short explanation of how this pool was created by the community, and how it began with just a few ladies talking about building a pool for the kids - at a PTA meeting - and how the residents were asked to make a small monetary (cash) donation to buy the materials and hire a contractor. The old photos are priceless. I hope that this large poster will someday hang at our soon-to-be built Creston Community Center.
 
       The Farm Bureau has been extremely active in Creston since the first meeting held in 1916. In 1926, a request was granted to the Farm Bureau women for a "Home Department", which provides the women with Extension service Programs and a Home Advisor. Various workshops and demonstration programs are a great source of information to the "Modern" homemaker. the Farm Bureau offers excellent health insurance and farm insurance packages through Cal-Farm Insurance.
       In 1992, several residents came together to discuss the fact that Creston still does not have a Community Center Building. This group formed the Creston Activities Town Center Helping Hands organization, better known as C A T C H. Member organizations, each having one vote, were the Creston Community Church, the Creston Women's Club, the Garden Club, the  PTA, the Creston Community Association ( these folks support the public swimming pool ), and the Volunteer Fire Dept.  Later, in the late 1990's, the Men's Club became a member organization. Each organization was to pay $100 per year in dues, to help build up the fund. A large billboard, know as "the Thermometer", was hand painted and erected during the mid-90's, to help the community watch the progress. The top of this "thermometer" registers $350,000 and can be seen today near to the corner of Swayze and Hwy 229. In 1994, a small group of residents gathered to come up with a fundraiser to help raise the needed dollars for the Center. The Creston Classic Rodeo was then born and the very "first ever" rodeo was held in 1996. You can find a link to the rodeo on my Links page. The first rodeo was held on the dirt on acreage belonging to the Webster family, behind the Volunteer Garden, which is next to the Volunteer Fire Station. Over the years, many residents have donated thousands of dollars to build bleachers, shade awnings, water lines, electrical panels, livestock pens, a VIP area, trees, etc. Linda Rohrer, of Rohrer's Hay and Feed, donated the entire Powder River Arena ! As of this writing in late August of 2007, we have nearly $90,000 in our CATCH trust fund. I would like to personally thank each and every one of you who have contributed time, energy, money, and prayers to this endeavor.  You know who you are.  There is more information on this issue at the  Creston Advisory Body website, which is linked on my Links page.
Update July 2009: The Catch Fund now has over $100,000 thanks to recent donations from the Creston Classic Rodeo Board. The Thermometer is being updated and relocated towards Hwy 41 and will include an area to announce upcoming local events.
      Added in May  2010:    The new CAL Fire station is to begin construction in Sept. or October of this year and be complete in early summer of 2011, according to RRM Design, the architects. This may set the ball in motion to create the long-awaited Community Center at the location of the existing, pole-barn building on Swayze street, which must be  re-designed and rebuilt to accommodate a large assembly space, and be brought up to 2011 building codes.
   Added July 2011:  the Cal Fire station now has the concrete footings built and the grading appears complete. Rarig Construction of San Luis Obispo is the lead contractor.  Today, July 12th,  I noticed that the Rodeo Announcer booth ( those two green, stacked,  Sea Trains !) now have a brand new wooden staircase leading up to the booth.  The rodeo board and their committees work all year round to make wonderful improvements to the Rodeo Grounds.  Last year ( 2010) they added decomposed granite walkways and the VIP Corral was increased with lots more tables and chairs, plus shade covers. Remember that the community supports this effort and hopes to some day  take over the  soon-to-be-abandoned  Volunteer Fire Station at the end of Swayze Road, and that Pole Barn will probably be retro-fitted / renovated to create our Community Center. Watch  us  grow !
        The Creston Men's Club originated in 1994 with the purpose of helping the community fulfill its needs and for fellowship. Activities over the years have included the Big Buck Contest, Halloween for the kids, firewood raffles, and, more recently, their incredible food booth at the Creston Classic Rodeo and their major fundraiser, the Reverse drawing dinner, held at the Loading Chute in May. Each year, the Men's Club awards cash scholarships to area students, helping them to afford a higher education. In the summer of 2007, the Club invested in a club house/Sea Train, which is located behind the Volunteer Fire Station.
        The Creston Ladies Poker Club has been meeting since 1984 around town at the member's homes. Additionally, there have been assorted trips to Laughlin, to the Mid State Fair, and entries in the Creston Parade, which was held for decades in conjunction with the Annual June Pool Fund Bar B Que. The last year of the Pool Fund Bar B Q was 2004.
        The Creston Library has always been a very important part of our rural area. In order to move the Library to a larger building, a group of locals formed the "Friends of the Library" in the mid-1990's. One of the first big  fundraisers was a well-received art show and sale in October of 1996. It was held in one of the oldest and most historic buildings on our main street, Webster. The new modular Library building opened in 2003 and is staffed by Kathleen "Cookie" Saffell. Her mother, Norma Heilmann, retired as the Librarian in 1977 after many decades of service. Keep your eye out for posters around town that advertise a book sale now and then. The Library installed Internet  Services and WI FI in March of 2009. The current contact for Friends of the Library is Cookie Saffel at 237-3010. New for 2010 is the fund raiser created by the "Friends of the Creston Library":  a monthly Silent Auction, starting in March, with the theme of "For the Gardener", which is a basket full of gardening tools and reference materials. There are also books for sale all the time, on a rack inside the Library.  The Library is open Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons, often until 7  or  8 PM.  The Library contains dozens of excellent movies - both on DVD and VHS tape - available for checking out - meaning at no charge to you ! The DVD's are available for one week, and the VHS tapes are available for 3 weeks. If the Library doesn't have the particular movie  (or TV show ) you want, you can "request" it from the System which includes the entire west coast inventory !