LOST HILLS, Calif. (Nov. 2, 2011) – On Sunday, Nov. 6, Paramount Farms will host a special Fall Festival in the community of Lost Hills, celebrating the reopening of the town’s community park located at the intersection of Highway 46 and Lost Hills Road.

The Fall Festival offers the community a first look at the improvements made to the park over the past 10 months, a project that has transformed a once dilapidated public space into a safe and inviting park and recreation center where children can play and families can gather. Residents will also learn about the next phase of community renovations, which begin the following Monday.

“Our hope is that this park becomes the heart and soul of a thriving community,” said Lynda Resnick, vice chairman, Roll Global (parent company to Paramount), who has taken a keen interest in Lost Hills as a part of her Central Valley Leadership Project. “It brings us great pride to be able to give back to Lost Hills, and to create a model for corporate philanthropy that can be replicated throughout the region.”

The new Lost Hills Paramount Park features a resurfaced basketball court, a volleyball court and soccer field, bleachers, a mile-long walking path that circles the park, a splash park to keep kids cool in the summer and solar-powered lights to illuminate the park at night. Soon, a paved sidewalk from the school to the park will give students a safe route directly to the park’s facilities.

“This is a family-oriented community that has long been concerned with offering a safe place for its children to grow and to play,” said Jerry Scott, superintendent of the Lost Hills Union School District who has also worked closely with project organizers. “Now our students can enjoy a healthy afternoon of basketball, soccer or volleyball after school in a secure environment.”

The community recreation center has also been completely renovated to include a fully equipped kitchen, projector and retractable display screen, plus tables and chairs that can be used for celebrations such as birthdays and weddings, as well as community events, including meetings, classes or religious services.

A newly painted water tower adjacent to the park welcomes visitors, declaring: “You Have Found Lost Hills!” The colorful addition is the result of a recent competition that invited residents to create a design that best conveys the pride and positive outlook of the community.

As a part of her Central Valley Leadership Project, Resnick has been working closely with the Lost Hills community and locally based organizations – conducting surveys of all residents and organizing house meetings to foster conversation – all with the goal of better understanding what it is that Lost Hillians want most for their community’s future.

The second phase of the Lost Hills improvement projects, which start Nov. 7, will be announced at the celebration, including the widening of streets and addition of bike lanes; the installation of sidewalks, gutters, bus stop shelters and street lights; and the planting of drought-resistant landscaping, including different colored flowering trees to give each streets its own character.

But for now, it’s the newly reopened park that is taking center stage.

“It’s so refreshing to see families pushing their strollers around the walking path, or groups of children playing basketball under the lights in the evenings,” said Dave Szeflin, vice president of operations for nearby Paramount Farms, which grows, processes and packages pistachios and almonds. “You never would’ve seen that happening prior to these renovations; the park has truly transformed into a safe gathering place for the community.”

The Fall Festival celebration begins at noon, Nov 6.

About Paramount Farms
Paramount Farms is the world’s largest vertically integrated supplier of pistachios and almonds with more than 70,000 acres of prime pistachio and almond orchards located in California’s San Joaquin Valley. Paramount Farms’ 30,000 acres of pistachio orchards are the largest in the Western Hemisphere; and in a state famous for its almonds, Paramount Farms is California’s largest almond grower, with more than 45,000 acres of permanent almond orchards. Paramount Farms nuts can be found in the produce department of grocery stores nationwide sold to consumers under the Wonderful®, Sunkist® and Everybody’s Nuts® brand names as well as under private label and in bulk. For more information on Paramount Farms please visit the Web site at www.paramountfarms.com.