International House 

Somewhere in the mid to late 1960s, the Rotary Club of Walnut Creek began the tradition of sponsoring an agricultural tour of Contra Costa County for foreign students and visiting professors who were living at the International House (“I-House”) at UC Berkeley. 

A lot has changed over the 40-some years this event has taken place, and changes have occurred to the format and content of these trips as well. In the 1960s, Contra Costa County was quite rural with agricultural being its primary industry. The housing boom of the late 20th century turned huge agricultural acreage into subdivisions. Power plants and other industry also sprang up. But agriculture is still relevant in Contra Costa County, and so is the international good-will generated by this program. 

A typical tour today begins in Berkeley, where foreign students and visiting professors who live at I-House board a bus for a day in Contra Costa County. Two or three Rotarians from our club are there to greet them as they board and, using a microphone on the bus, act as tour guides, giving them background information about the places that we drive by or visit. 

Every year the stops along the way vary, but some of the typical stops include: 

• The Smith Family Farm is a family run business which is decorated for Halloween and allows those on the tour the opportunity to see farm animals, buy fresh-grown produce, go on a “hay ride”, and see a re-creation of a Native-American village.

• Roddy Ranch is a working cattle ranches and one of the favorite stops on the tour. Jack Roddy, a world-class rodeo cowboy, talks about cattle ranching and country life. He gets on his horse and demonstrates cattle roping, then takes the group into his home where they get to see his collection of awards from his rodeo career. 

• Other typical stops include some combination of: wineries, a wholesale nursery, produce packing plants, olive oil ranches, and pistachio growers. 

• Borges Ranch – This historical ranch was built in 1901 and is currently owned by the City of Walnut Creek. Tour participants gain insight to how living on a cattle ranch in the early 20th century looked and felt. 

Lunch is provided at one of the stops along the way. The last stop on the tour is typically either a barbeque dinner at Borges Ranch or dinner at the home of one of the club’s Rotarians. 

Our Rotary Club is proud to host this event. We feel that we are spreading international good-will by allowing a group (45 – 50) of international students and visiting professors to gain a glimpse of Americana that they don’t get at UC Berkeley. We have been told that this trip is often the first time these people go through the Caldecott tunnel and see anything east of Berkeley. At each stop, they meet real people who share their knowledge of their agricultural concerns. The Walnut Creek Rotarians hosts, as well as the hosts at each stop, always enjoy the interaction with our guests and learn from this interaction.