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Dorean Rice — 'Mother of Street Faires' — to be honored Sunday
Sunday's Lodi Street Faire will honor the woman who organized the event 17 years ago and has headed the volunteer effort for all 34 fairs.
Dorean Rice
Dorean Rice, who is battling terminal cancer, has often been named the "Mother of All Street Faires" and "the most powerful woman in Lodi."
She plans to be at the faire on Sunday, probably for a short period of time. Due to her health, there won't be an official presentation in her honor, but a large banner with her picture and a list of her accomplishments will be displayed near Church and Oak streets. Fliers of Rice will be all over the faire.
"She has lot of people in town who love her," said Lodi Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Pat Patrick.
"It's an honor to me to be honored," Rice said Thursday. "The chamber's always been good to me. I've always enjoyed working for the chamber because before that, I never volunteered for the community of Lodi. I used to live in the country."
Rice served on several chamber committees, including one that ran the annual flea market at the Lodi Grape Festival grounds. She expanded that concept by suggesting a Street Faire. The first of the twice-a-year Street Faires took place 17 years ago. Rice has been a major fund-raiser, and she has organized the 100 volunteers who help make the Street Faire a success. In the early years of the Street Faire, Rice got 25 members of her family to volunteer.
For her hard work at the Street Faire and her other community activity, Rice was named to the Lodi Community Hall of Fame in 2003. Three years earlier, she and her husband, the late Walter Rice, were named the Lodi's Outstanding Citizens of the Year.
A mother of eight, stepmother of two, grandmother of 11, stepgrandmother of five and great-grandmother of eight, Rice was a bus driver for the Lodi Unified School District for 15 years, She also volunteered in many areas. They include service as:
• A member of the Lodi Planning Commission.
• Secretary for 12 years with the Lodi-Tokay Rotary Club.
• Ooh Aah Fourth of July Festival chairwoman for 10 years.
• Lodi Boys and Girls Club board member.
• Lodi Sister City Committee president.
Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.
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