Hearst heir to serve as parade marshal for annual SLO County celebration. ‘My real home’
The parade marshal for Cambria’s 74th Annual Pinedorado parade loves the three-day celebration, the North Coast and San Luis Obispo County, has four generations of ties to this area and responsibilities that span the globe.
William Randolph Hearst III is a grandson of famed Hearst Castle magnate, wealthy media giant and art collector William Randolph “W.R” Hearst.
Hearst III is also the great grandson of Sen. George Hearst, who in 1919, bought the original 40,000 acres of what’s now the conserved 83,000-acre Piedra Blanca ranch in San Simeon. The family has raised cattle, Arabian horses and, inadvertently, zebras on the land for decades.
Appropriately, and perhaps by design, the theme for the Cambria Lions Club’s 2024 Pinedorado is “Cowboys, Art and Legends.”
Continuing to follow in familial footsteps, Hearst is chairman of the board of the Hearst firm (formerly Hearst Corp.). The reach of the media giant company extends across newspapers, magazines, television channels and stations and cable network groups, and the family owns a raft of luxury estates.
Hearst loves visiting family’s San Luis Obispo County ranch
Ahead of the upcoming Pinedorado celebration, Hearst told The Tribune about his lifelong devotion to and experiences in the area.
He was just 2 years old when his grandfather died, but he remembers “staying in the Castle itself, then in ‘A house’ until the mid-1970s,” he said.
“A House” is one of three guesthouses (or, as W.R. referred to them, cottages) adjacent to Casa Grande, Hearst Castle’s main residence on the hilltop estate.
The Hearst heir comes to San Simeon for many reasons “at least once every couple of months, but frequently more often,” he said.
“Partly to ride and partly because I just love the country,” he said. “It’s one of the most beautiful places on earth.”
Some of the highlights?
“Every time I take the short drive from Sebastian’s to Pico Creek and look at the waves, it always seems magical,” he said. Sebastian’s is in Old San Simeon Village.
Hearst said of his family’s diverse property holdings, the San Luis Obispo County ranch is “No. 1.”
“I’ve gone to the ranch since I was a kid,” he said. “I feel like it’s my second home — or maybe my real home.”
Parade marshal savors his Pinedorado memories — and the beans
This year’s parade marshal has close ties to the Pinedorado celebration — after all, the two were “born at the same time,” he said.
There’s a lot about the three-day celebration, held on Labor Day weekend, that the 74-year-old enjoys, such as “seeing people I don’t see every day.”
“Pinedorado brings people out of their homes, into the town,” he said.
Another tradition?
“Two or three of us always try to hit the hammer hard enough to ring the bell,” he recalled. “It’s always fun to see, and sometimes, we do it! ... Now that I have grandchildren of my own, I bring them, so they can try to win a teddy bear or something else.”
As is the case for many Pinedorado regulars, Hearst is particularly fond of the food that typically makes an appearance.
“I love the food there, the barbecued tri-tip, the salsa, the beans,” he said. “I’ve experimented with the beans for years, trying to match them. It’s very challenging.”
So far, he hasn’t quite mastered the secret, he acknowledge with a laugh.
Hearst to continue father’s tradition of horseback riding in parade
As parade marshal, Hearst will also continue his father’s tradition by riding horseback in the parade.
W.R. “Bill” Hearst, Jr., a Pulitzer Prize winner who was well known on the North Coast, was the parade marshal in 1957, accompanied by another rider, crooner Bing Crosby.
Hearst, then eight years old, also rode with his father in that parade.
In this year’s parade, Hearst plans to ride Pico Bonfire, an Arabian from the family’s longtime Pico Creek stables in San Simeon, Cynthia Lund wrote in a mid-August email. She’s Hearst’s administrative assistant.
“The line traces to William Randolph Hearst’s original desert-bred herd” begun in the 1940, Lund said of the family’s Arabians.
In 2017, Alta founding editor Mark Potts shared a Hearst horses tale on www.altaonline.com about WR very quickly launching a plan for his ranch manager which resulted in a historic, 25,000-mile, six-month trek across half a dozen countries.
The aim? To refresh the bloodlines of Hearst’s Arabian herd.
Manager Preston Dyer came back six months later with 14 Arabian horses acquired in Lebanon and Syria.
They were transported by ship, train and truck to San Simeon, all under extreme, challenging, circumstances of weather, political unrest and cholera.
What else is on schedule for Pinedorado?
Cambria’s 2024 Pinedorado parade starts at Main and Bridge streets at 9:30 a.m. Saturday and proceeds to the north end of downtown.
Some Pinedorado festivities began last week, however, with weekend performances of the latest version of the Cambria Follies.
This year’s comedic musical is “Cambria Night Live,” a send-up, Cambria-style, of the famous Saturday evening shows, with a series of localized skits about the town and its inhabitants.
Remaining shows will be at 7 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Tickets available online at eventbrite or
or at the Cambria Chamber of Commerce.
The AFS Fun Run will happen as usual, starting at 7:45 a.m on Saturday. For details on the race that supports American Field Services local programs, call Sharon Bisso 805-995-1432 or email her.
After the parade, crowds will pour into the Pinedorado grounds, next to the Cambria Veterans Memorial Building, 1000 Main St., right off Highway 1.
They’ll be there for the aforementioned barbecue (beef and chicken), burgers and hot dogs, live bands, corn on the cob, local beverages, garden club plants, kiddie rides, games, so much socializing and more.
A car show will be Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Vets Hall parking lot and beyond.
Sadly, something will be missing in this year’s parade lineup: Tracy Vining’s beautiful horse, Jackson, which collapsed and died suddenly in downtown Cambria on Aug. 16.
“All of a sudden, his legs went out from under him,” Vining wrote in response to social media condolences and comments. The horse died soon thereafter.
“Best guess, according to Dr. John Begley, was that it was a heart attack or an aneurysm,” Vining said.
The beloved horse will be missed after bringing “joy to a lot of kids and a lot of people,” he added — including many appearances at the Pinedorado parade.
He will be remembered with affection, and he will be missed.
A memorial parade entry is planned. It will be in a Ford Mustang, of course.
This story was originally published August 28, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
