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www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER FEBRUARY 15, 2015 9 cascade of new cultivars. "It got people thinking outside of Red, Golden, and Granny. Fred was working on that before Fuji and Gala became popular." In 1992, Valentine left Blue Star to work for Wells and Wade, which had been acquired by Dole Fruit Company. Dole came into the tree fruit industry with the goal of being a major player in the industry and was accom- plishing all it set out to do, he said. It had warehouses in Wenatchee and Chelan that were both full. But a cor- porate-level decision to sell the business had Valentine looking for a new position. 5HFUXLWWRQQDJH His next job, at Stemilt Growers Inc., was to recruit tonnage, meaning he was to fi nd growers who would take their fruit to Stemilt. "When you get your feet underneath the table drink- ing coffee with the guy and his wife, you're on your way," legendary Manson fieldman Mel Crowder told him. And he was right, Valentine found. He brought Stemilt an additional 15,000 bins of fruit for each of the fi rst two years, and another 15,000 to 20,000 after that, for which he was paid commission as well as a salary. Valentine worked for Stemilt for fi ve years and then joined Van Well Nursery in Wenatchee as a horticultur- ist, working alongside Pete Van Well senior. The nursery guarantees replacement of trees that don't grow, and Valentine's work included checking on problems that growers reported. The two men felt they made a good team. "Fred knew the horticultural practices from experi- ence of being out in the orchards and working with the growers, and I knew more of the growing of the trees aspect—some of the things that cause trees to die," Van Well said. When they went out to check on trees, Van Well would examine the trees while Valentine would look at the orchard overall to see what might be affecting growth. "Between the two of us, we got a pretty good idea of what caused the problem," Van Well said. "Maybe it wasn't the tree. Maybe it was some cultural practices. I learned a lot from Fred." Valentine retired from Van Well at the end of 2014, his only regret being that he won't be involved in bringing to market some of the new cherry varieties that are being commercialized. But Van Well said he wants Valentine to remain involved in the nursery even in his retirement. "He just can't quit," Van Well insisted. Though his career has taken many turns, Valentine is happy with how it turned out. "The people I've worked with have been so kind to me that they've made me what I am today," he said. "If I had to do it over, I can't really say that I would do it differently. I would do it exactly the same." • LEADING HORT through industry's worst crisis T he unsuspecting Fred Valentine felt it was an honor to lead the industry when he was named president of the Washington State Horticultural Association in 1989. But that was the year the Alar crisis hit the industry after CBS broadcast its infamous 60 Minutes program falsely describing the growth regu- lator Alar (daminozide) as "the most potent cancer-causing agent in the food supply." When growers were accused of putting chil- dren's health at risk, Valentine was incensed by the injustice. He was particularly upset that the program included footage of a pediatric cancer ward, implying that children were in imminent danger. Valentine was more inclined to believe those who claimed that a person would have to eat tons of apples each year for a lifetime before there was any cancer risk from Alar-treated apples, and went to Washington, D.C., to lobby on the industry's behalf. Presiding over the Hort Association during the Alar crisis is not one of his happiest mem- ories. Consumers lost confi dence in apples and growers lost hundreds of millions of dollars. "It was horrible," he recalls. He expressed hope that, for the industry's sake, he would go down in history as serving during the hardest time any hort president ever did or will. As retiring hort president, he asked friend Janie Countryman to organize the annual meeting banquet. Countryman promised something special, which fueled a rumor that Valentine's relative Dolly Parton would attend. All the tickets were snapped up and another 200 people were on a waiting list. In place of Dolly, a posse of fruit industry notables surged into the room to do a skit called "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," which involved dancing and galloping around the ballroom on fake horses to the thumping beat of "Reach" by Martini Ranch. They even- tually overcame CBS (played by Bob Gix) using beating trays, pressure testers, and other fruit paraphernalia as weapons. "It was the funniest thing," recalled Valentine, who was relieved to end his year in the spotlight with some levity. He served, less eventfully, on the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission, which he chaired in 1991. He was a member of the Fresh Pear Committee's research subcommittee from 1990 to 2000. He also represented the pear industry for 20 years on the board of Tree Top, the fruit-processing cooperative. —G. Warner 9DOHQWLQHDQGKLVZLIH&DUROPHWZLWK'ROO\ 3DUWRQKLVUHODWLYHZKHQVKHSHUIRUPHG LQ7DFRPDDERXW\HDUVDJR COURTESY FRED VALENTINE GERALDINE WARNER/GOOD FRUIT GROWER 5D\6FKPLWWHQSUHVHQWVDQDZDUGRQ EHKDOIRIWKH1RUWK&HQWUDO:DVKLQJWRQ )LHOGPDQ³V$VVRFLDWLRQWR9DOHQWLQHIRU KLVLQVSLULQJOHDGHUVKLSDQGPHQWRUVKLS