Croatian Delegation Sees Cultural Influence in Watsonville

A Croatian delegation's visit to Watsonville on Thursday morning seemed more like a family reunion than a tour group stop.

Drifting past displays at the at the , the visitors from Durbovnik noticed familiar last names on the vintage apple crates and made connections with Pajaro Valley residents of Croatian descent whose relatives came from the same region of the Central European country.

"You're going to see many layers of Croatian descent," Watsonville City Councilwoman Nancy Bilicich told the group.

The group, including the mayor of Dubrovnik, Andro Vlahusic, stopped in Watsonville as they traveled between Monterey—Dubrovnik's sister city—and San Francisco. The tour also includes visits to Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Everywhere they go, they are finding ties to the West Coast and meeting fellow Croatians.

"We are very proud that Croatians are very successful in protecting their roots," Vlahusic said.

John "Ivor" Basor and his wife, Jelka, made the Croatia connection.

The Basors run Adriatic Travel Agency on East Lake Avenue. A relative in Croatia setting up the tour group's trip to California and Las Vegas told them about the visit, and with a lot of help from Bilicich, Thursday's welcome event in Watsonville was born.

"We made the connection," Jelka said, adding that it was "nice to have them swing through Watsonville."

The visit started with a stop at the travel agency, followed by a reception at the Ag History Project. There, the tour group mingled with Pajaro Valley residents, sipped Martinelli's sparkling apple cider and tasted Watsonville-grown strawberries.

Bilicich told them about the area's rich Croatian history, including the late Ann Soldo, an educator and mayor who died two weeks ago. For more than three decades, Soldo had a Croatian radio show that broadcast throughout the Pajaro Valley.

Soldo's cousin, Marlene Matiaseveich Radovich, talked about her family's influence in the community. In addition to Soldo, Radovich's father—who was the brother of Soldo's father—was prominent in the community. He helped establish the county fair and had his own apple label.

"We are very proud of all of our Croation people," Radovich said.

Croatians started coming to Watsonville in the 1870s. By 1920, they made up 20 percent of the town's population, according to Donna Mekis, who wrote Blossoms into Gold, a book on the region's Croatian history, with her sister, Kathy Mekis Miller.

Croatians changed the area's economy—they were leaders in apple growing and cold storage of produce—and also built the town, Mekis said.

"Little by little, they purchased land and built buildings," said John Basor, who immigrated from Croatia in 1963. This spring, he teaches a Croatian history class at the .

Several historic downtown buildings were built by Croatians, and at Valley Public Cemetery, old mausoleums and headstones bear the names of those families who came to the Pajaro Valley from the Adriatic Sea region of Croatia.

Local leaders also have ties to Croatia, including Bilicich and county Supervisor Greg Caput. Caput said his mother's parents were immigrants from Croatia, and his father came to the United States at age 10. He named off people who went to school with his dad in Croatia, eliciting murmurs of recognition from the tour group.

As part of the visit, Vlahusic, the mayor, exchanged gifts and proclamations with Bilicich, Caput and Watsonville Mayor Daniel Dodge. Also, a men's chorale group sang traditional Croatian folk songs for their Watsonville hosts.

Franka Colendich, a Watsonville Croatian, was a part of welcoming the tour group.

"This is a great opportunity. I'm just amazed we have the two cities together," she said, telling them to enjoy the people and "the bounty of the valley."