Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current, August 17, 2018, Page 2, Image 2

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CapitalPress.com
August 17, 2018
People & Places
Sisters nurture legacy at family orchard
Capital Press
Established 1928
Board of Directors
Mike Forrester
Steve Forrester
Kathryn Brown
Susan Rana
Harrison Forrester
Mike Omeg
Cory Bollinger
Jeff Rogers
Kelley family keeps
orchard going with
unique offerings
like Airbnb stays
Western
Innovator
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
FILER, Idaho — Nestled
alongside the Snake River just
west of Twin Falls, Kelley’s
Canyon Orchard has been a
draw for generations of fruit
lovers.
The orchard is in its 110th
fruit-crop season, and locals
with bushel baskets knew their
way to the U-pick rows of
peach trees on Sunday after-
noon. Others, from as far away
as Boise, chose freshly picked
produce from the farm stand
welcoming visitors to the or-
chard.
The operation has a rich
history from its beginnings in
1906 to its current, fourth-gen-
eration owners — sisters Robin
and Gretchen. Although mar-
ried, the women still go by the
family name, Robin Kelley
Rausch said.
While the operation has had
small blips of large distribution,
its focus has always been direct
sales to customers, she said.
It’s a business model that
harkens back to her great
grandfather, John Steele Gour-
ley, who planted the first fruit
trees at the orchard in 1906. His
father, a preacher, had come to
the Magic Valley from Pennsyl-
vania to help with the develop-
ment of the First Presbyterian
Church of Twin Falls.
Gourley recognized the cli-
mate in the Snake River Can-
yon was ideal for cultivating
stone fruit and obtained land
and water rights there. He es-
tablished his orchard on 50
acres along the banks of the
Robin Kelley
Rausch and
Gretchen Kelley
Bietz
Photos by Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press
Robin Kelley Rausch, co-owner of Kelley’s Canyon Orchard in Filer, Idaho, puts ripe-picked peaches
in a market bag on Aug. 11.
Alex Badenhop, left, an employee at Kelley’s Canyon Orchard
in Filer, Idaho, helps customers with peaches they picked at the
orchard on Aug. 11.
Snake and planted melons be-
tween the trees to make a little
money while the trees were ma-
turing.
For years, he would haul his
produce to Twin Falls by horse
and wagon, selling to houses up
and down neighborhood alleys,
Kelley said.
Love for the orchard was
carried down to his daughter,
Mary Anne Gourley Kelley,
and grandson, Richard Kel-
ley — the father of Robin and
Gretchen.
The business ran under the
Gourley name until Richard
took over in the late 1970s and
expanded the operation. After
Richard’s death in 2014, Robin
and Gretchen took the reins.
“Some of the things I love
the best are the multiple-gen-
eration experiences. It’s a rite
of passage,” she said, not just
for her own family, which is
bringing in the fifth generation
at the orchard, but also for the
customers who have been com-
ing to the orchard for genera-
tions. People who brought their
children to the orchard are now
bringing their grandchildren.
It’s a connection of food and
family. Kelley’s is part of other
families’ traditions, she said.
“It’s always been a place
for people to come and enjoy.
We really pride ourselves on a
sense of place,” she said.
But it isn’t an easy business.
The orchard lost 85 percent of
its cherry crop this year due to
a late spring freeze. The freeze
and a hail storm took half of the
peaches and plums and dec-
imated the nectarines. Apple
production is also down due to
a bad bud set.
“The orchard business is
a four-month revenue stream,
maybe, if everything goes
well,” she said.
But she and her sister, who
both also have careers outside
the orchard business, are ded-
Samantha McLaren .... Circulation Manager
Acres: 200 acres, 70 acres
cultivated
Production: Cherries,
apricots, cantaloupe, water-
melon, tomatoes, peaches,
plums, nectarines, pears and
apples
Sales: On-farm stand; farm-
ers’ markets in Twin Falls,
Boise and Mountain Home,
Idaho; farmers’ market in
Elko, Nev.; private distributor
in Reno, Nev.
Website: www.kelleyscan-
yonorchard.com
icated to making the orchard
thrive. They are putting all the
income from the orchard back
into the business, and they’ve
opened their grandmother’s
house on the property as an
Airbnb destination to bring
in more revenue and provide
visitors with a unique experi-
ence, she said.
“There is a love for the
place and the legacy of tra-
dition and a responsibility to
family,” she said.
The orchard is a shared
story between the family and
customers, old and new, she
said.
Thursday, Aug. 23
Inaugural Washington FFA Founda-
tion Golf Tournament. 1:30-6 p.m. Apple
Tree Golf Course, 8804 Occidental
Road, Yakima, Wash. To take part, con-
tact FFA Foundation Executive Director
Jesse Taylor at jesse@washingtonffa.
Jessica Boone ........ Production Manager
Entire contents copyright © 2018
EO Media Group
dba Capital Press
An independent newspaper
published every Friday.
Capital Press (ISSN 0740-3704) is
published weekly by EO Media Group,
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Subscriptions
Two Russell steam tractors on display at the 48th annual Great
Oregon Steam-Up near Brooks, Ore.
Joel Messer, John Winn and Vickey Winn are longtime members of
the John Deere Museum at Powerland Heritage Park, which hosts
the Great Oregon Steam-Up each year.
ple while an announcer tells
the history of each piece.
Tim Ruffing has attended
the Steam-Up for decades and
now brings his 1911 steam
tractor to the event.
“I have been coming here
since about 1970, back when
this was just an open field,”
he said.
“This engine, supposedly
… they used it as a road en-
gine,” Ruffing said, adding
that the tractor was used to
pull a road grader.
Ruffing started out bring-
ing stationary steam engines
but eventually worked his
way up to a steam tractor.
He thinks that teaching
people to run the engine is
important, and he usually has
other people operate the en-
gine for the Parade of Power.
Vintage Machinery Museum
featuring John Deere. Vickey
Winn and her husband, John,
have participated in the Steam-
Up for 30 years. She is the pres-
ident of the John Deere muse-
um. While the museum opened
in 2013, the John Deere club at
Powerland has been around a
lot longer, she said.
The Winns and a friend,
Joel Messer, have long appre-
ciated John Deere equipment.
“We had John Deeres on
the farm,” John Winn said,
adding that there was a Deere
dealer down the road from
his family’s house when he
was young and they found the
brand to be reliable.
Messer’s story was simi-
lar, he said as he motioned to
a John Deere tractor and said
he had driven one just like it.
For all three, being a part
of the Steam-Up each year
and being members of the mu-
seum allow them to preserve
the heritage of farming for the
next generation.
“This is history,” John
said.
The three spoke of the old
machine shop across the way
from the museum and men-
tioned there is an importance
to showing younger gener-
ations how things used to be
done.
That’s why the museums
and Powerland exist, Vickey
Winn said.
Powerland Heritage Park is
open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday
through Sunday from April
through September and peri-
odically hosts other events.
It is closed Aug. 18.
Tuesday, Sept. 4
Christmas Tree Association Tree
Fair & Trade Show. Holiday Inn,
Portland Airport, 8439 NE Colum-
bia Blvd. Portland, Ore. The world’s
largest trade show in the Christ-
mas tree industry. Members have
the advantage of market exposure
at the Tree Fair and Trade Show,
where buyers and sellers meet. It
features industry equipment and
supplies on display as well as retail
lot demonstrations, research and
marketing information. Cost: $19-
$29 Website: www.pnwcta.org
Photos by Desiree Bergstrom/Capital Press
First held on the current
grounds in 1970, the Steam-
Up’s roots go back farther,
Duchateau said.
“It started as a threshing
bee,” she said.
Farmers would get done
with their harvests and want
to do something fun, so they
would hold the threshing bee,
Duchateau said.
As the event grew they ran
out of space on the farm prop-
erty they were using. They
eventually gained use of the
current location from another
group and purchased the land
later.
The park is now home to
15 heritage museums, includ-
ing a truck museum, an an-
tique Caterpillar museum and
a blacksmith shop.
One of them is the Oregon
Calendar
Western Idaho Fair. Western Idaho
Fairgrounds, 5610 Glenwood St., Boise,
Idaho. Website: www.idahofair.com
Elizabeth Yutzie Sell .... Advertising Director
Location: Filer, Idaho
Capital Press
Friday-Sunday
Aug. 17-26
Capital Press Managers
Joe Beach ..................Editor & Publisher
Carl Sampson ................Managing Editor
By DESIREE BERGSTROM
To submit an event go to the
Community Events calendar on the
home page of our website at www.
capitalpress.com and click on “Sub-
mit an Event.” Calendar items can
also be mailed to Capital Press,
1400 Broadway St. NE, Salem, OR
97301 or emailed to newsroom@
capitalpress.com. Write “Calendar”
in the subject line.
Rick Hansen
Chief Financial Officer
Owners: Kelley’s Canyon
Orchard
Steam-Up stokes interest in ag history
BROOKS, Ore. — A
rhythmic popping sound
filled the air at Powerland
Heritage Park on Sunday as
all sizes of antique machin-
ery chugged along grav-
el roads and hissing steam
came from all directions as
exhibitors stoked their boil-
ers to keep agricultural his-
tory alive.
The 48th annual Great
Oregon Steam-Up welcomed
17,000 to 20,000 people
during its two-weekend run,
said Michelle Duchateau,
president of Powerland Her-
itage Park, which is on 62
acres off Interstate 5 near
Brooks, Ore.
“(The Steam-Up) goes
along with our mission to ed-
ucate people about how agri-
culture has changed and how
machinery has fielded that
change,” Duchateau said.
The Steam-Up offers vis-
itors a chance to witness the
sights and sounds of the past
through many types of an-
tique steam-powered equip-
ment, a blacksmith shop, a
unique steam-powered lum-
ber mill and even an old-
time
electricity-powered
trolley. Each day the high-
light is the Parade of Power,
during which the tractors
and machinery drive past
grandstands filled with peo-
Corporate Officers
Heidi Wright
Chief Operating Officer
org or 253-208-9071. A dinner and auc-
tion will follow the tournament.
Thursday, Aug. 30
Meat School 2018. 5:30-9 p.m. OSU
Southern Oregon Research & Extension
Center, Auditorium, 569 Hanley Road,
Central Point, Ore. A five-evening class
series beginning Aug. 30 covers vari-
ous aspects of producing and market-
ing grass-fed and grass-finished meat
animals. Instructors include renowned
authors, successful producers, OSU
Extension livestock and grazing special-
ists, faculty from other universities and
speakers from the American Grassfed
Association and the Niche Meat Proces-
sors Association Network. The program
covers cattle, sheep and goats. There is
a discount for second registrant from the
same farm. Choose all five classes for
$175 or select individual classes for $40
each. Details: https://extension.oregon-
state.edu/sorec/events/grass-finished-
meat-school-class-1-5-part-series. Class
1, Aug. 30; Class 2, Sept. 4; Class 3,
Sept. 6; Class 4, Sept. 11, Class 5, Sept.
18. Each class is 5:30 to 9 p.m.
Friday-Monday
Aug. 24-Sept. 3
Oregon State Fair. Oregon State Fair
and Exposition Center, 2330 17th St. NE,
Salem, Ore. https://oregonstatefair.org/
Friday-Saturday
Aug. 31-Sept. 8
Eastern Idaho State Fair. Eastern
Idaho State Fairgrounds, 97 Park St.,
Blackfoot, Idaho. Website: https://fun
atthefair.com/
Friday-Sunday
Aug. 31-Sept. 23
Washington State Fair. 110 Ninth
Ave. SW, Puyallup, Wash. www.thefair.
com/
Meat School 2018. 5:30-9 p.m.
OSU Southern Oregon Research & Ex-
tension Center, Auditorium, 569 Hanley
Road, Central Point, Ore. The second
session of a five-evening class series
on producing and marketing grass-
fed and grass-finished meat animals.
Details: https://extension.oregonstate.
edu/sorec/events/grass-finished-meat-
school-class-1-5-part-series.
Thursday, Sept. 6
Meat School 2018. 5:30-9 p.m.
OSU Southern Oregon Research &
Extension Center, Auditorium, 569 Han-
ley Road, Central Point, Ore. The third
session of a five-evening class series
on producing and marketing grass-fed
and grass-finished meat animals.
Friday-Saturday
Sept. 7-8
60th Annual Pacific Northwest
Tuesday, Sept. 11
Meat School 2018. 5:30-9 p.m.
OSU Southern Oregon Research &
Extension Center, Auditorium, 569 Han-
ley Road, Central Point, Ore. The fourth
session of a series on producing and
marketing grass-fed and grass-finished
meat animals. The program covers cat-
tle, sheep and goats.
Mail rates paid in advance
Easy Pay U.S. $3.75/month (direct with-
drawal from bank or credit card account)
1 year U.S. ...................................$49.99
2 years U.S. .................................$89.99
1 year Canada .................................$275
1 year other countries ......... call for quote
1 year Internet only .......................$49.99
1 year 4-H, FFA students and teachers ....$30
9 months 4-H, FFA students & teachers .....$25
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Index
Dairy ...................................... 9
Markets ................................11
Opinion .................................. 6
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Press staff and to our readers.
If you see a misstatement,
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