Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/481870
www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER APRIL 1, 2015 33 Willow Drive Nursery's Neal Manly (left) with Larry Lutz, recipient of the IFTA industry service award. Terence Robinson (right) joins the IFTA Hall of Fame. The award was presented by outgoing president Phil Schwallier. Outgoing IFTA president Phil Schwallier (right) commended for his work by new president Tim Welch. the history of IFTA from its birth in Michigan in 1958, when dwarfing root- stocks were just appearing on the horizon. Industry service Working with Jenereaux and Chris Duyvelshoff to organize the meeting was Larry Lutz, who was given the IFTA industry service award. Since 1988, Lutz has been the grower technical advisor for Scotian Gold Cooperative, which packs most of the Nova Scotia apple crop for its grower/members. Also a grower with 70 acres of high-den- sity apples and peaches, Lutz has reduced his work with Scotian Gold to two days a week to devote more time to his own orchards. Neal Manly of Willow Drive Nursery presented the award to Lutz of Scotian Gold, who said, "This industry has given me more than I ever gave it." New board Incoming IFTA vice president Rod Farrow, Waterport, New York, and incom- ing president Tim Welsh, of Columbia Fruit Packers in Wenatchee, Washington, commended outgoing president Phil Schwallier for his service. "You're more than just farmers, more than just fruit growers, you're family to me," Schwallier said. IFTA presidents serve two-year terms. New president Welch thanked outgoing board members Trevor Meachum of High Acres Fruit Farm in Hartford, Michigan, Sam DiMaria of Kelowna, British Columbia, and Terence Robinson. New board members elected during the conference are Craig Tanner, Speer, Illinois; Tom DeMarree, Williamson, New York; and Karen Lewis, Washington State University Extension, Ephrata, Washington. Reelected for another term were Jeff Cleveringa, Starr Ranch, Wenatchee, Washington; Chris Hedges, Martin's Family Fruit Farm, Vanessa, Ontario; and Lisa Jenereaux. —R. Lehnert by horticulture crops specialist Chris Duyvelshoff, who works from the agen- cy's office in Kentville. Growers of the year Duyvelshoff presented the IFTA Grower of the Year award to John Eisses of Centreville. Eisses is one of the largest Honeycrisp growers in Canada and is reputed to get the highest apple yields in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley. Eisses and his wife, Trudy, farm with their two sons—Peter and his wife, Shanna, and Dave—and daughter Mary- Ellen and son-in-law Ryan Swanson. Lisa Jenereaux, the orchard manager for Spurr Brothers Farms in Kingston, also received an IFTA Grower of the Year award. The orchard is part of a large operation that includes 800 acres, and she—daughter of Bill Spurr—manages 100 acres, mostly of apples but also six acres of pears growing in a high-density, bi-axis, v-trellis system. She was a guiding force in organizing the IFTA meeting in Nova Scotia. "I'm on the awards commit- tee, and I didn't know," she said about the surprise recognition. The award was presented to Jenereaux by Steve Blizzard, a former president of IFTA inducted into its hall of fame in 2008. Blizzard now manages 3,000 acres of stone fruits, grapes, and blueber- ries for Lagomarsino Group in Visalia, California. He was master of ceremonies for the awards banquet and delivered the Carlson Lecture, in which he recounted