In 2008, with the idea in mind of healing a sewer-war torn community, Pandora and her friend Mimi Kalland started Celebrate Los Osos as a way to reengage residents in the community. Their goals were and are to: improve the appearance of our community; conserve our resources; and to regenerate a positive community spirit.

Pandora was raised in Southern California and moved to San Luis Obispo County to attend college in 1969. She attended Cal State San Jose and the University of Nevada and for over 30 years, was a graphic designer and photographer. She received national and international honors and her photographs have appeared on the covers and interiors of national and regional magazines and newspapers.

She and her husband Gary built their home in Los Osos in 1980 and both have been very active in the community and the county, and both have been honored with the Los Osos Citizen of the Year award. Pandora has served on the San Luis Obispo County Park Commission since 1991. In 2020 she was honored by Congressman Salad Carbajal as one of the Women of the Year in his District.

Her sense of curiosity, love of travel and sailing have taken her to many foreign places where people live their art, and live simply. Pandora believes the real trick of travel is not to just see new worlds, but to see your own with new eyes when you return.  Following her other passion of sailing, she has sailed over 40,000 offshore miles and holds a US Coast Guard Captain’s license.

Lynette Tornatzky has been a resident of Los Osos since 2005. She wrote the book on Los Osos/Baywood Park for Arcadia Publishing with all profits from the book going to Celebrate Los Osos.

She is on the Los Osos Community Advisory Council and maintains their website. She is secretary for the Los Osos/Baywood Park Chamber of Commerce, the South Bay Women’s Network, and Celebrate Los Osos. She is on the board of the History Center of San Luis Obispo County, and heads two committees there. She volunteers time doing graphic design for the History Center of San Luis Obispo County, and the Morro Coast Audubon Society. You will find her once a month pulling weeds and planting at the Sweet Springs Nature Preserve.

She was co-chair of Water Health 2 Outreach from 2007-2011 putting on water conservation events for parent group, the San Luis Obispo Coastkeeper. Before retiring to Los Osos from the Los Angeles area, she was an art director for print work, a graphic designer, and a copywriter for an entrepreneurship business. She also served as department head and buyer for a retail home and garden store in West Los Angeles.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Ed moved to the Central Coast in 2013. He has degrees in psychology from Rutgers University and Ohio State University. In addition to N.J and Ohio, he has lived in Iowa where he taught psychology at the University of Northern Iowa, California, and Pennsylvania where he taught psychology for thirty years at Keystone College. At Keystone he served as department chair for a while and conducted surveys of graduates.

In addition to serving on the board of Celebrate Los Osos, he volunteers at the Los Osos/Baywood Park Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center and received the Volunteer of the Year award in 2018.

Ed enjoys photography, hiking, art, music, and film.

Steve Vinson, Director

Before arriving in Los Osos, Steve Vinson spent the first 54 years of his life living in central Virginia. He attended Benedictine High School, James Madison University (B.S. in political science) and Averett University (MBA). Steve worked nearly 30 years in manufacturing management and five in real estate before arriving in Los Osos in 2011.

Since his arrival, Steve has served the community as three-time president of the Los Osos | Baywood Park Chamber of Commerce, served on the board of directors of the county’s Tourism Business Improvement District and also served on the board of directors of the South Bay Community Center. He recently concluded a five-year run as chairman of the Oktoberfest committee, Los Osos’ largest social event.

Says Steve, “It’s an honor to serve on the board of directors of Celebrate Los Osos, an organization that proudly rolls up its sleeves and speaks by doing.!”

Steve can often be found at the Saturday “Concert on the Green” series at Sea Pines Golf Resort and on Monday at the Farmers Market / Beer on the Pier events.

Will Kastner, Director

Will Kastner moved to Los Osos in the early 1980s, and in 1985 opened the Los Osos Book Exchange, which he operated for almost 20 years.  He also founded the Los Osos Community Organization (“We’re LOCO!”), the 501(c)(3) corporation which is the direct ancestor of Celebrate Los Osos.

LOCO’s three large murals depicting the history of Los Osos from the natural landscape through the Chumash culture to the Spanish “Sacred Expedition” of 1769 still grace central district walls.  Will continues his area beautification efforts through his long-time membership in the Black Hill Gang, a volunteer trail maintenance group working in the local State Parks.  Poison Oak trembles at the very whisper of his name.

Will was selected as the Los Osos Citizen of the Year in 2009.