Sherry Ahern is the princess of promotion in La Jolla, having successfully started, developed, and maintained two community signature events over the past quarter-century: the La Jolla Open Aire Market and the La Jolla Art & Wine Festival.

Two things stand out about her style: She makes live-event promotion look easy, and it’s always for a good cause – raising funds for worthy community needs like youth educational support.

For 26 years, Ahern has been La Jolla Elementary’s patron saint, having founded the Open Aire Market on Sundays, which has become the county’s largest such market raising millions for the school.

The first La Jolla Open Aire Market was held on Oct. 25, 1998, with 14 farmers and one artisan. The market has continued to grow becoming a vibrant weekly community event and gathering place for the entire La Jolla community with over 120 vendors.

The La Jolla Open Aire Market is different than other farmers markets in that all proceeds benefit La Jolla Elementary School. Market proceeds fund various initiatives enjoyed by all children at LJES including school improvements and programs such as art, music, library, technology, and additional classroom teachers to lower class sizes.

Of the fundraising need at LJES, Ahern said: “Unfortunately, we are in the San Diego Unified School District, which gives more money to underserved areas. LJES has the highest test scores. The higher the test scores, the less money we get, which doesn’t seem fair, especially considering a lot of the kids at the school are bussed in.”

Ahern and her husband, Kevin, owned a family plant genetics business selling hybrid vegetable seeds internationally, including Mexico and Latin America, for 40 years. They recently sold that business, along with a farm in Italy.

Asked what her game plan is for promotional success, Ahern replied: “First you come up with your idea, your theme, then you come up with a need. I worked on that farmers market for two years to get it up and running after my kids had left the school.”

Starting a farmers market in La Jolla was far from a cinch. There were seven different community planning groups to please, as well as the overriding need to be transparent about your intentions. “It’s better to let everyone know everything than to have to ask for forgiveness later,” said Ahern. She added other hurdles to clear included “other groups wanting to create farmers markets that would have gone up against us.”

Founding-promoting the La Jolla Art & Wine Festival, now in its 16th year, was easier the second time around for Ahern. And the cause was right. “We wanted to put all five schools in the La Jolla Cluster together and give them all money from the art and wine festival,” she said.

Noting she’s “not afraid to start things,” Ahern pointed out it also takes a lot of help from others, especially volunteers, for any promotional venture to succeed. “I was lucky enough to have the school’s (nonprofit) foundation, Friends of La Jolla Elementary, Inc. take on the event,” she said noting, with the Art & Wine Festival, that the goal was to “build it (event) up, get it going, then give it (money) to the schools.”

Speaking of her grown children, Brianna and Brendan, Ahern noted both are budding entrepreneurs and promoters. Brianna is CEO of Innosurf LLC, the exclusive provider of Mario Romano Walls in both the U.S. and Mexico offering one-of-a-kind 3D textured walls with non-repeating designs for any size or space.

Brendan is the founder/CEO of FooodDude, an ordering platform for food trucks and stall vendors. His customers place and pay for orders, including the tip, via an app, then go and pick their orders up.

It was always Ahern’s intention to step away from the Art & Wine Festival once it became a hit. But that hasn’t happened.

Joked Ahern: “If anybody would love to take my place – I would love to give it to them.”

HELPING OUT

La Jolla Open Aire Market: Founded in 1998 by Sherry Ahern, this market has become the largest in San Diego County, raising millions for La Jolla Elementary School.

La Jolla Art & Wine Festival: Established in 2008 by Ahern, this top California arts festival supports five public schools and has directly funded the hiring of art teachers in the schools it supports.

Salvation Army ‘Women of Dedication’ Award & Door of Hope: As a volunteer liaison, she organizes events supporting homeless families transitioning to stable lives.

Helen Woodward Animal Center: Ahern created “The Fling” annual gala 35 years ago, raising millions for the center over her ten years as a full-time volunteer.

Riford Center (now La Jolla Community Center): Ahern raised the funds to save the only senior center in La Jolla from closing.