Festival visitors vsit booths along Kelseyville's Main Street. Photo by Elizabeth Larson.

KELSEYVILLE – For another year, thousands of people crowded into Kelseyville's downtown to celebrate the pear and its local history.

For more than a century the Bartlett pear has been an important engine in Lake County's economy, though in recent years the pear industry has found itself ranked No. 2 behind the growing local wine industry.

Yet Lake County remains the second-most productive pear-growing area in California – next to Sacramento County – with its pears known for quality and excellent taste.

If the people who came from far and wide to celebrate the pear are any indication, local pear culture is still very much alive and important to what makes Lake County unique.

There was music, shopping and fun for all ages. For the kids there was a kids fun spot over at the Presbyterian Church, including a slide, a jump house, with a petting zoo just down the road.

Down at one end of town there was the quilt show plus an exhibition of antique engines supplied by the Early Days Gas Engine and Tractor Association, Branch No. 31. There, Wayne Sanders of Santa Rosa showed visitors how to use a 1901-vintage rope-making machine to twist strands of jute fiber into a usable rope.

One of the Pear Festival's great draws is its food – pear milkshakes and desserts at the Presbyterian Church, pear tasting at the University of California Cooperative Extension booth in the Pear Pavilion, even pear ice cream.

And the local chapter of the California Women for Agriculture's pear pies and turnovers were once again a hit.

Sixteen group members spent part of Friday baking 96 pies and 140 turnovers donated by Scully Packing and Adobe Creek Packing, the county's two remaining pear packing sheds, reported group member Wilda Shock.

All of the baked treats were sold out by just after 11 a.m., Shock said, with people coming up to buy their pies even before the 9:30 a.m. parade. So get ready to line up early next year.

The weather this year also was perfect – warm but not as hot as in recent years, with just the hint of an early fall in the air.

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The University of California Cooperative Extension offered free pear tasting in the Pear Pavilion. Photo by Elizabeth Larson.

There were a lot of fun activities for kids during the day. Photo by Elizabeth Larson.

Antique engines were once again part of the festival's attractions. Photo by Elizabeth Larson.

Wayne Sanders show some young apprentices how to make rope the old-fashioned way. Photo by Elizabeth Larson.

“Ken Burns does war, I do pears,” quipped Groody.

Groody, at the request of Kelseyville Pear Festival organizer Marilyn Holdenried, began a project this summer that follows not only the lifecycle of pears – from bloom through processing – but also documents the stories of the people and families whose lives are intertwined with pear farming locally.

A 12-minute portion of the documentary is set to debut in the Pear Pavilion at this Saturday’s Kelseyville Pear Festival, he said.

Groody said he’s been creating documentaries since the 1980s.

He’s is the former owner of nine local radio stations, including KXBX and Q106, which he owned from 1990 to 1999 before selling them to Bicoastal Media.

Before that, he worked for the NBC Radio Network in Washington, D.C., where he was a White House correspondent during the first four years of the Reagan administration.

After that, he did special projects, including documentaries on crime, the millennium and the Apollo moonwalk.

Over the last six years, Groody has been working mostly on documentaries for television. “We do one or two projects a year, usually things that interest us,” he said.

A recent projects with a local theme included a film on the Pomo Indians basket weavers, which he completed for the Lake County Museum.

In 2005 he did a project called “Dying to Live,” which documents the struggles of migrant farms workers traveling from Mexico and Latin America to the U.S. That show ran on public television during September 2006, which was Hispanic Heritage Month, said Groody.

“Writing and jouralism is sort of my first love‚” said Groody.

Then Holdenried asked him to consider pears.

“It’s been a wonderful project,” said Groody.

And it’s as much a story about people as pears, said Groody.

“There’s a rich Lake County history that’s a big part of this,” he said.

Work on the documentary began “in earnest” in July and August, Groody said. In July he started interviews; in September, he filmed in the pear sheds during packing, and has been hard at work to get a short version of his film ready for the festival.

“We've been in production for three months,” said Groody.

The pear documentary will be completed and refined once he’s followed the full pear cycle – Groody said he has yet to film the winter pears going through the winter, pruning and bloom.

Groody said the documentary starts out with the local pear industry’s history, which includes stories of local families who have grown the fruit for decades. The families’ stories are an extremely interesting aspect, he added.

At first, Groody said he didn’t know who the key pear farmers would be in the piece.

As he interviewed people and followed different stories, the documentary led him to three key people – grower Diane Henderson, who he said has turned out to be the star; Toni Scully, who owns Scully Packing with her husband, Phil; and Colleen Rentsch, a member of the Seely family in Upper Lake.

All three, he said, are strong, articulate women with an important impact on the local industry.

The second part of the film, said Groody, will focus on the uniqueness of the county as a pear growing region, and what makes it ideal for pears.

The film also will cover processing, the challenges the industry faces and the threat that it might be lost here.

Groody said the documentary on pears will be a promotional piece of Lake County’s pear industry. He also intends to share it with local schools and public television.

For more information about Groody and his work visit www.groodyriverfilms.com.

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Senate Bill 319, sponsored by Wiggins (D–Santa Rosa), extends an existing exemption to state law allowing agricultural packing plants in Lake County to employ minors, 16 or 17 years of age and residing in Lake County, for up to 10 hours per day and more than 48 hours (but not more than 60 hours) per week during peak harvest season.

The longer hours are contingent upon the written approval of the Lake County Office of Education.

The Senate had previously approved SB 319, but a subsequent vote was required for concurrence with minor, mostly technical amendments made while the bill was in the Assembly.

Final passage means SB 319 is now headed to the desk of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“I am very pleased that my colleagues in both the Senate and Assembly have shown their overwhelming support for both my bill and for this exemption that has meant so much to the agricultural community and to teen workers in Lake County,” Wiggins said Friday. “I am confident that Gov. Schwarzenegger will soon sign this bill into law.”

Existing law allows the state labor commissioner to issue exemptions for agricultural packing plants to employ minors (16 or 17 years of age) to work for up to 10 hours per day during peak harvest season when school is not in session. The commissioner requires inspections of agricultural packing plants prior to issuing the exemption.

Current law also allows the labor commissioner, upon receiving written approval from the Lake County Board of Education, to issue exemptions to agricultural packing plants to employ minors enrolled in schools located in Lake County to work for up to 10 hours per day and more than 48 hours (but not more than 60 hours) per week during peak harvest season, when school is not in session.

The Wiggins bill extends the exemption for agricultural packing plants until Jan. 1, 2012, and also requires that the labor commissioner issue the written reports on the general working conditions of minors employed in agricultural packing industry to the Legislature.

“We needed to extend this exemption to help deal with the labor shortages in Lake

County's agricultural industry during harvest time,” Wiggins said. “The pear-packing season lasts only four to six weeks and coincides with the increase in tourism – the other large labor industry in Lake County. With both tourism and agriculture at peak activity, the available labor pool is limited.”

Visit Wiggins' Web site at http://dist02.casen.govoffice.com/.

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Hand crews are used on Shannon Ridge Winery's mountainside Morine Ranch above Clearlake Oaks. Photo by Rick Gunier.

As the sun came up Friday Crews starting harvesting grapes at Shannon Ridge's vineyards in Clearlake Oaks, said Rick Gunier of Shannon Ridge.

Gunier said this may be the first winegrape harvesting in Lake County so far this year.

The first varietal to be picked was Sauvignon Blanc from the Morine Ranch vineyard above Clearlake Oaks, Gunier said.

Lake County has 8,800 bearing winegrape acres, according to Shannon Gunier, executive director of the Lake County Winegrape Commission, who happens to be married to Rick Gunier.

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As the sun came up harvest crews were already picking Shannon Ridge's Sauvignon Blanc, one of the first vineyards to begin picking this year's winegrapes. Photo by Rick Gunier.

Vineyard manager Celestino Castaneda jumps in the bin for up-close inspection of the first bin to be harvested. Photo by Rick Gunier.

Lars Crail's Spanish-made mechanical pear harvester on the first day of picking in his orchard on Monday, Aug. 6. Crail's harvest is finished but his harvester will reportedly be at work this week in neighboring orchards. Photo by Elizabeth Larson.

LAKE COUNTY – Lake County's Bartlett pear harvest is well under way, and so far pear quality and the quantity of labor appear to be working in the favor of pear farmers.

Rachel Elkins, the pomology farm advisor for Lake and Mendocino counties, said the harvest is in full swing.

“This will be a big week,” she said.

Some farmers who didn't prune their trees as heavily are reporting smaller fruit growing on younger wood, said Elkins.

“As the picking goes on the size gets better,” Elkins said.

She added, “The fruit is very nice looking.”

Labor doesn't appear to be as short as it was for growers last year, according to the reports Elkins has received. She added, however, that there appears to be more novice pickers and fewer workers who are experienced.

The Agricultural Commissioner's Office shared with Lake County News some preliminary numbers on pear acreage from the upcoming county crop report for 2006.

The report shows a total of 2,240 bearing pear acres, with 2,092 of those in Bartlett pears.

The total pear acreage in previous years, according to recent years' crop reports, is as follows: 3,024 in 2002; 2,764 in 2003; 2,557 in 2004; 2,482 in 2005.

“Every year it's down a little bit more,” said Elkins.

Elkins has been busy in the orchards with her harvest-related research. Beginning last week, she worked with organic pear farmer Lars Crail on an innovative way to harvest the 20 acres of organic pears he and wife Maile Field farm in Finley.

This is the third season that Crail has used a mechanical pear harvester imported from Spain in his orchard.

The harvester moves slowly through the orchard and features platforms where workers can stand and pick the pears at eye level. Pears are set on a conveyor belt and placed in a bin; when the bin becomes full, it is quickly switched onto a trailer that follows the harvester, allowing the workers to keep up a steady pace.

Pear picking has mostly been the territory of young, strong men scrambling up and down ladders carrying heavy bags of pears. The harvester allows workers who normally wouldn't have taken part in picking to work in the orchards.

Elkins said the harvester's mounted lighting allowed a pear crew to work at night last Thursday and Saturday, which makes for cooler conditions and was pleasant for the pickers, she said.

Crail, who became fascinated with the idea of mechanization in the orchard several years ago, said the harvester's gentler handling of fruit benefits his organic crop.

Elkins said Crail's harvest is now finished, but the largest pear farmers are still in full swing, and likely won't be finished with picking for about 10 more days.

When orchard workers finish here in Lake County, they'll begin moving north to Hood River, Ore., and Yakima, Wash., for the apple harvest, Elkins said.

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WASHINGTON – On Friday, the House of Representatives approved the 2007 Farm Bill, which will govern federal agriculture and food programs.

Rep. Mike Thompson applauded the inclusion of programs for specialty crops, organic crops, conservation and enhancement of nutrition.

“This farm bill is a change in direction from previous farm policy," said Thompson. “It gives specialty crops and organic crops a place at the table, while at the same time preserving the importance of conventional agriculture across the country."

The bill includes an historic $1.6 billion in funding for fruit and vegetable programs, which have not received Farm Bill benefits in the past.

Among other things, specialty crops will receive $38 million for technical assistance, $215 million to fund research on improving productivity and profitability, and $364 million in grants for research, education, pest and disease management and food safety.

For the first time, organic crops also received funding – approximately $55 million for technical assistance and research.

“This bill represents the diversity and bounty of American agriculture," added Thompson. “Fruits, vegetables and organic crops are the fastest growing segment of the agricultural economy, and we should be doing everything we can to help this industry continue to grow. This bill is a big win for California agriculture."

The Farm Bill also provides assistance to agricultural land owners who implement conservation programs on their property.

This year’s bill includes more than $26 billion for conservation programs, a 25-percent increase from the 2002 Farm Bill. In addition, this year’s bill extends the Wetlands Reserve Program, a voluntary incentive program that helps land owners restore wetlands.

The bill also includes $300 million for a new program, the Regional Watershed Enhancement Program. This program funds cooperative agreements between agriculture producers and the government to improve regional water quality in rivers and regions like the Klamath River Basin.

“Northern California has some of the best agricultural land in the world, but we are also home to critical wildlife habitats," said Thompson. “It’s important that we provide our farmers and ranchers with the tools they need to conserve their land and the species that live on it. This bill will help ensure our land and animals are protected for future generations."

The bill also takes critical steps that will expand renewable fuel production, encourage American energy independence and protect our environment. The measure boosts renewable energy programs by 600 percent, providing $2 billion in loan guarantees for the development of refineries that process renewable fuels, a key step toward bringing more renewable fuels to market in America. An additional and $1.5 billion for production incentives for ethanol and biodiesel made from agricultural, forest, and waste plant materials is also included.

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