Community gathers at Estrella Warbirds Museum to celebrate 95th Pioneer Day Queen, Marshal, and Belle, carrying forward Paso Robles’ legacy of family, tradition, and history
Feature Image: Lorraine Jespersen Cagliero (left) is this year’s Queen for Pioneer Day, while Gary Davies Tucker will serve as the Pioneer Day Marshal. Photo by Derek Luff/PRP
PASO ROBLES — The annual Pioneer Royalty Dinner brought together family, friends, and community members for an intimate evening at the Estrella Warbirds Museum in Paso Robles on Sunday, Aug. 17. The dinner served as a warm introduction to this year’s Pioneer Royalty and celebrated the long-standing traditions that lead up to the 95th annual Pioneer Day Parade.
“This is a more in-depth introduction [to the Pioneer Day Royalty]. How long, where they come from, what they’ve done for the community that has led to them receiving this honor,” Pioneer Day Chairman Lori Woods told Paso Robles Press.
The evening’s highlight came when Olivia Anderson of the York Mountain area was officially announced as this year’s Belle. She will represent her family and community alongside five attendants, each representing different regions across North County: Emma Marquart (Templeton), Jaklyn Woodland (Estrella), Taylor Gignoux (Bradley), Amelia Peterson (Paso Robles), and Samantha Martinez (Union). Belles and their attendants, typically high school seniors, represent the next generation of pioneer families whose roots in the region date back before World War II.
Pioneer Day Corresponding Secretary Jill Vierra Smith told Paso Robles Press, “We were lucky enough this year to have a good group of girls, and they’re so excited. It’s been really fun … everyone is always absolutely fascinated by the girl’s history. And I think that the girls like to hear about the other girls and find out how everyone got here.”
Anderson is a fifth-generation member of the Venturini family and sixth-generation Lindberg descendant. She chose York Mountain to honor where her family’s local history began. Her great-grandmother, Dorolice “Big Nonna” Luzi, was born in Templeton in 1918 and raised in York Mountain, where her father worked in the vineyards. Dorolice later married Emidio Venturini, who immigrated from Italy and settled in Templeton during the Great Depression, where together they built a family farm and raised six children. On her grandfather’s side, the Lindberg family came from Norway in 1910, with several relatives participating in Pioneer Day traditions, including Olivia’s mother, April, who served as a Belle Attendant in 1997, and her sister, Kendall, in 2017. Olivia continues that legacy as the fourth generation in her family to represent Pioneer Royalty. In addition to her Pioneer Day role, she enjoys cooking her family’s traditional recipes, learning to sew with her grandmother, and hopes to pursue a career in fashion as a personal stylist and shopper.
Pioneer Day, founded in 1931, was established to honor the pioneer families who built Paso Robles and the surrounding area. Central to this tradition is the selection of a Marshal and Queen, chosen from families with long-standing ties and deep contributions to the community.
“Not only do they represent families that were big in this area and helped make Paso Robles what it is today. These individuals have been so integral in that growth,” Woods shared. “Whether they’ve owned businesses, they’ve owned the property, they expanded … they kept Paso thriving through the years.”
This year’s Pioneer Day Queen is Lorraine Jespersen Cagliero, born in Atascadero in 1943. She descends from pioneer families who homesteaded in the Union and Willow Creek districts in the late 1800s. Her grandfather, Senator Chris Jespersen, played a vital role in securing major projects for San Luis Obispo County, including Camp Roberts and Cal Poly, where a building now bears his name. Raised on local ranches, Cagliero attended San Miguel Grammar School and graduated from Paso Robles High School in 1961, the same year she married her neighbor, Pete Cagliero. Together, they built a life rooted in ranching, farming, and community service, raising three children while managing cattle, hay, grape, and real estate ventures until Pete’s passing in 2004. Cagliero has served on the Cuesta College Foundation and French Hospital Medical Center Foundation boards, been active in the El Paso de Robles Historical Society and Mission San Miguel, and was named Cattlewoman of the Year in 2015. Today, she treasures time with her five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren while continuing to uphold her family’s legacy of community leadership and pioneer heritage.
Serving as the 95th Pioneer Day Marshal is Gary Davies Tucker, born in Atascadero in 1941, who descends from the pioneer Davies and Tucker families of Cholame, Annette, and Shandon, with roots tracing back to England and Scotland. His family has been deeply tied to North County for generations, with his grandfather and uncle both serving as Pioneer Day Marshals and his granddaughter, Payton Tucker, as a Belle. Raised on ranches in the Shandon area, Tucker attended local one-room schools before graduating from Shandon High School in 1960. He went on to serve in the military, then built a successful career as a general contractor, constructing hundreds of homes, banks, and commercial buildings throughout North County, as well as housing developments in Templeton. With his wife, Kathy Tucker, he also owned and operated several residential care facilities before retiring. Today, he continues to raise cattle on a Shandon ranch with his son, Ken, while his son, William, follows in his path as a builder and developer. Deeply rooted in Paso Robles’ heritage, Tucker proudly represents the sixth and seventh generations of his family’s legacy in the community.
The selection process is not taken lightly. As Woods explained, the Queen and Marshal are chosen not just because their families have been in the area for generations, but because of their continued contributions. “They gave their blood, sweat and tears to our community and that’s something special,” she said. “That’s something we really like to honor.”
The dinner, catered by the San Miguel Lions Club with a chicken barbecue, provided more than just good food — it offered a space for storytelling and reflection. Guests shared family histories, weaving together tales of migration during the Great Depression, farming hardships, and community resilience.
The 95th annual Paso Robles Pioneer Day Parade will return Saturday, Oct. 11, carrying forward nearly a century of tradition rooted in honoring the past while celebrating the present.
For more information on the Pioneer Day Parade and its upcoming festivities, visit pasoroblespioneerday.org
