Ben Lomond's Newest Traditions Happen in Its Oldest Buildings, and the Ticket Money Goes Back Into Them
Three addresses on Mill Street hold several of the main settings for Ben Lomond's newer calendar. Park Hall is at 9400, Ben Lomond Market at 9440 and Ben Lomond County Park at 9525. The Village Market spreads across the street and into the park, Scottish Day fills the park, and Park Hall hosts the history talks and last year's square dance night. The final Village Market of 2026 was scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 3, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The Ben Lomond Village Alliance held its first informational meeting at Park Hall in April 2024. About 75 people came to hear about restoring the historic Mill Street district as a community hub. Since then the volunteer group has added a monthly summer market, a Scottish festival that drew more than 500 people in its first year, a holiday tree lighting and a ticketed history series.
Almost every one of those events takes place in a building or on a piece of ground that was already historic, and much of what they raise pays to keep those places running.
In 2025 the Alliance debuted its market as the Wee Kirk Market, held on the first Sunday of each month from June through October at 9500 Central Avenue. The Wee Kirk Church was built in 1891 and was the first church building in the San Lorenzo Valley, and its co-owner, Steve Leib, chairs the Alliance's Health and Happiness Committee.
The 2026 version has a new name and a new address. The Village Market now runs on the first Saturday of the month, June through October, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It sits on Mill Street and in Ben Lomond County Park. Older calendar listings show the Sunday format, so the Village Market visitor FAQ is the page to check before you go.
Vendors change from month to month. The FAQ lists specialty foods, baked goods, food trucks, local fruits and vegetables and gifts, plus a free children's activity area, nonprofit booths and live music. Bring your own tote bags, because larger grocery-style bags aren't available. The market doesn't accept EBT or SNAP in 2026, and the Alliance says it hopes to add that. Restrooms at the park are limited.
The park itself has a story that fits the market. In the 1920s, property owners along the river donated their land to the county so the town could have public river access. The buildings standing there were moved to make room. The Ben Lomond Library and Wilder Hall date to 1913 and are both still in use, and the market now sets up on that donated ground.
Ben Lomond has a Scottish festival because of how the town got its name. Scottish immigrant John Burns named the nearby mountain after a peak in his homeland, and the community took the mountain's name when it applied for a post office in 1887.
The Alliance held the first Scottish Day on Oct. 4, 2025. The second edition ran Saturday, Sept. 19, from 1 to 5 p.m. at Ben Lomond County Park, and admission was free. The lineup included:
The shortbread contest paid a $100 prize across four categories: Best Overall, Best Traditional, Most Creative and Best Junior Baker for ages 17 and under. Last year's commemorative glasses sold out, so this year the Alliance took pre-orders and handed them out at the event.
The sponsor list stayed close to home. The Celtic Society of Monterey Bay, Ben Lomond's Roberts Ranch Vineyards, Scarborough Lumber and Scotts Valley's Steel Bonnet Brewing Company backed the day. Overflow parking went to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 9545 Love Creek Road, which also hosted overflow parking for the 2024 tree lighting.
The events raise money, and the money goes to specific things.
| Event | Where | Cost | Where the money goes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tales of Ben Lomond history talks | Park Hall, 9400 Mill St. | $25 adults, $20 seniors and youth; $65 and $50 for the three-talk series | Park Hall Fire Sprinkler Fund and the Village Alliance |
| Scottish Day | Ben Lomond County Park | Free | In 2025, the Alliance's work on village infrastructure, local history and community |
| Holiday Tree Lighting | Ben Lomond Fire Department, 9430 Highway 9 | Free, donations welcome | Donations support the tradition; canned food goes to Valley Churches United |
Park Hall explains why a sprinkler fund matters. The hall is a community building owned collectively by Ben Lomond residents who live within a mile and a half of it. Its Fire Sprinkler Fund is the project the history-talk tickets support.
The history talks are the tidiest example. Ronnie Trubek, a local historian and the driving force behind the Alliance's founding, gave three presentations this year. They covered 1821 to 1890, then roughly 1900 to 1950, then the valley's counterculture years in the second half of the twentieth century. Each ticket buys a look at Ben Lomond's past in a hall established in 1923, and the proceeds go to the hall's sprinkler fund and the Alliance.
The larger ambitions are more practical. At the Alliance's January 2025 meeting, which drew nearly 100 people to Park Hall, one idea was a grant-writing effort for two sidewalks. One would run up Glen Arbor past Riverside Drive and the other alongside Scarborough. The pitch, as then-board president Heidi Castagna put it, was pathways for neighbors to walk into town.
The dining rooms on Highway 9 follow the same habit. Corazon de Leon held its grand opening on Valentine's Day 2026 at 9217 Highway 9, in the former home of Casa Nostra and the short-lived Guild Kitchen: Act III. Owner Marco Rocha runs the El Rey Leon food truck in Boulder Creek, which won Best Food Truck in the Press Banner's Best of San Lorenzo Valley 2025 readers' poll. His León-style corn quesadillas, made with jalapeños, grilled onions and grilled cheese, come from his hometown of León, Guanajuato. Hours reported at the February opening were Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. with a break between lunch and dinner service, and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., so call ahead before planning around them.
Aroma, at 9600 Highway 9, occupies the space where the Tyrolean Inn served Bavarian and German food from 1975. It opened in March 2023 under co-owners Mario Ibarra and Pasquale Bianco. The menu covers German, Mexican and French dishes alongside Argentinian chimichurri and small plates from Korea, Japan and the Philippines. It also keeps a Tyrolean Schnitzel, carried forward by Douglas Bella, who spent ten years in the Tyrolean's kitchen. Aroma has a covered patio, and dogs are allowed.
The corridor follows the same pattern. The building stays, and the new operator brings a signature dish or a following. Henfling's of Ben Lomond, known for live music and burgers and tacos, rounds out the evening options.
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