BERRY FESTIVAL COUNTS ON END TO RAIN HAVOC.

Byline: Sonia Giordani Daily News Staff Writer

The California Strawberry Festival - Oxnard's tastiest annual event - celebrates its 15th year this May, and already everyone from the event's planners to local dignitaries are all juiced up for the event.

But what about Ventura County's strawberry farmers, whose fields of fragile fruits were pounded by nearly continuous February rains?

``Well, if the festival were this weekend, we sure wouldn't be there,'' said a wistful Ron Kato, manager of Nakamura Farms in Oxnard.

Workers have been stripping the damaged fruits from nearly all of the farm's 200 acres of strawberry plants since the hard rains began the first week in February. Like strawberry growers across the county, much of what could be salvaged has gone to local processing factories for only a fraction of what the fresh market could produce.

``But we still have a lot of time before May. For growers at this point, we're hoping March, April and May will clear up,'' said Kato, who also sits on the festival's executive planning committee.

Event planners hope to see some clear skies Tuesday morning when they head to the Oxnard Embassy Suites Hotel to unveil the official poster for the 15th Annual California Strawberry Festival and to kick off celebrations for one of the state's greatest showcases of the sweet, red fruit.

While Ventura County strawberry farmers have already lost more than $7 million in storm-related damage to their lucrative early harvest crops, the plants are expected to have a chance to flower again before May.

``All the strawberry-producing districts in the state have been seriously affected by the rain. Oxnard was probably the hardest hit,'' said Christina Glynn, spokeswoman for the California Strawberry Commission in Watsonville.

With more than 30 inches of rain in Oxnard so far this year, farmers are bracing for more in coming weeks. Terry Schaeffer, agricultural meteorologist in the county and owner of Weather by Schaeffer, noted that the chances for rains to continue through March are still high.

But festival participants hold onto their hopes.

``The plants are still there and they will keep producing,'' said Don DeArmond, chairman of the event and owner of the Statewide Cooling Company, a major shipper of strawberries in Ventura County.

``With some of the plants, we may have some trouble getting really big, red fruits or really sweet berries, but overall that's just a percentage of the crop. Unless we see a lot of rain in March, April and May, I think we'll be fine,'' DeArmond said.

Four years ago, he recalled, farmers were wishing for the exact opposite. Following a prolonged drought, the 12 inches of sudden rain that arrived in March.

``At that time we really needed the rain. Now it's too much. You just never know. In the farming business, Mother Nature controls,'' he said.

In fact, in the mid-1980s, the festival was scheduled for earlier in the year but was later pushed back to mid-May when the weather was more secure.

Now, preparations are being made for this year's festival.

Besides praying for the rain to stop, director Shelley Merrick said she has been busy meeting with nonprofit organizations who have traditionally attended the event. From the Boys & Girls Club to area churches, soccer leagues and school bands, local community groups have come to depend on the festival as a major fund-raising event.

Nakamura Farms - one of the two farms that has participated in the festival since 1983 - has every intention of making it to the festival.

``Oh, we'll still go. We've gone every year,'' said Kato. ``It's become quite a nice little event for the city of Oxnard and for the strawberry industry as a whole. I think when it was started 15 years ago, no one expected it to be as big as it has become.''

FESTIVAL KICKOFF

The California Strawberry Festival will kick off festivities Tuesday by unveiling the official poster for the 15th annual festival. A Hawaiian luau buffet at the Oxnard Embassy Suites Hotel begins at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, come rain or shine. For more information, call [phone].