For nearly a quarter-century Duarte Nursery in Hughson, Calif. has invited friends of the nursery – customers, neighbors and others – to an annual event on the first Friday in May commonly known as “Friends Day.”

Since its inception the event has grown from a small gathering of people for tours and a lunch at the nursery to about 2,000 guests and a trade show with about 70 vendors.

This year’s Friends Day honored Jim Bennett, a long-time friend of Duarte Nursery founder Jim Duarte. Bennett and Duarte partnered on an almond variety known as Bennett-Hickman that the nursery is marketing. More than one million of the Bennett-Hickman trees have been sold to growers.