The Luis and Consuelo Chavez family. Courtesy photos.
SANTA MARIA — On May 10, the Allan Hancock College Foundation announced the community leaders it will recognize at the college’s second-annual Hancock Honors celebration, presented by CoastHills Credit Union, on September 7.This year, the college will honor the Luis and Consuelo Chavez family, owners of L&G Farming, Inc.; Joyce Howerton, former Lompoc Mayor and community advocate; and Larry Lahr, former member and president of the AHC Board of Trustees.
Larry Lahr.
“This year’s honorees exemplify Hancock’s mission to change the odds for our community,” said Hancock Superintendent/President Kevin G. Walthers, Ph.D. “The Hancock Honors is an opportunity for us to celebrate that shared vision and commitment to Northern Santa Barbara County.”
The Luis and Consuelo Chavez family is a multigenerational family of farmers and business leaders with deep roots in the Santa Maria community. The family legacy began with husband-and-wife Luis and Consuelo Chavez,?who came to Santa Maria from Jalisco, Mexico, and began farming strawberries on a single acre. The couple founded L&G Farming, Inc., in 1986, which grew into a booming business that today employs more than 2,000 people and farms of more than 1,000 acres. Five of Luis and Consuelo’s?six children currently work in the strawberry industry, where they also continue to carry on the family’s legacy of serving their community by supporting many local organizations including Allan Hancock College, Marian Regional Medical Center, Mission Hope Cancer Center the Santa Maria Valley YMCA and the Santa Barbara County Fair, among many others. Several of Luis and Consuelo’s children are Hancock alumni.
Joyce Howerton.
Howerton, also a Hancock graduate, served as Lompoc’s mayor for three terms in the 1990s and as the North County district representative for former State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson. She has also served as the executive director of the Santa Barbara County Action Network and served on numerous nonprofit boards and county commissions, including the North County Rape Crisis and Child Protection Center, which she founded in the 1970s. As mayor of Lompoc, Howerton helped secure the land Hancock’s Lompoc Valley Center is on.
Lahr is a Hancock alumnus who was elected to his first four-year term as a Hancock trustee in 1994. During his tenure, Lahr served as president of the board in 2000-01, 2006-07, 2013-14, and from 2020 until his resignation in 2021. He also served as vice president in 1998-99, 2004-05, 2011-12, and 2018-19. He attended Allan Hancock College before earning a bachelor’s degree at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, in agricultural business management.
All of the 2024 honorees will be officially recognized at the college’s second annual Hancock Honors celebration on Sept. 7 in the college’s Fine Arts Complex’s outdoor plaza and Boyd Concert Hall. The evening will feature unique culinary offerings, a full hosted bar, and live music by the San Francisco-based Jazz Mafia. Proceeds from the celebration will benefit students through the Allan Hancock College Foundation. Tickets go on sale June 1 and sponsorships are available now.
To learn more about Hancock Honors and additional sponsorship opportunities, visit https://www.hancockcollege.edu/honors.