Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – Days prior to his one-year anniversary as being sworn in as the commissioner of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Seth Bradstreet III of Newport told industry leaders at the annual Maine Potato Board dinner that he is enjoying the job immensely.
“I’ve had a lot of fun with the Agriculture Committee. They understand agriculture as we do, and they want to do what we need done,” Bradstreet told the more than 250 people who attended Friday night’s dinner and meeting. “I am a potato grower at heart … always have been, always will be, and I often tell the governor that.
“I think we’re on the right track, and if you don’t think we are, please give me a call,” said Bradstreet. “We have some concerns we’re looking into such as electrical rates and rising fuel costs. Those are things we’re going to grapple with. We’ll do whatever we can to help alleviate those issues.”
Bradstreet reminded growers that it’s important for them to have a presence in Augusta.
“It’s easy for me to drive 50 miles to Augusta, put a tie on, and stand in front of a crowd for a couple of hours and work the halls,” he said. “I know it’s difficult to make a 500-mile roundtrip, but you have to be present. Things happen down there that even I don’t understand. We need to be present there and tell our story. We can’t be too overzealous.”
During board’s 21st annual meeting, which was held at the Presque Isle Inn & Convention Center, the Maine Agri-Women announced their Woman of the Year, Barbara Porter of Washburn.
“The lady that we have chosen tonight was not born in this area and was not raised on a farm,” said Mary Anne Buck, president of the Maine Agri-Women. “She attended the University of Maine where she met her husband, and shortly thereafter, they were married, and he brought her up to this area where he introduced her to farm life.”
Buck told a story how when living with her in-laws, Porter had to care for a sick calf.
“The in-laws had gone on a trip, and left them to care for the animals and the farm. One of the calves got sick, so they decided to bring it in and put it in the cellar, only to find the next morning that the calf had died,” said Buck. “At this point, she was probably thinking that she needed to be a vet, as well as a farm wife.
“She has shown a great interest in farming, and I am very pleased tonight to present this plaque to Barbara,” she said.
In accepting the award, Porter thanked the audience “very much,” and joked that had she known she was receiving an award, she would have “worn her evening gown.”
Donovan Todd III, outgoing president of the Maine Potato Board, presented the President’s Award to Gaylen Flewelling of Easton.
“After graduating from the University of Maine at Orono, Gaylen returned to Easton to become a fourth-generation farmer,” said Todd. “For 32 years, Gaylen grew tablestock potatoes, he bought potatoes from growers and packed and shipped them for the Bushwick Commission.
“In 1985, Gaylen was the Easton Grand Champion Potato Grower for McCain Foods, and in 1992, he was the Top Grower of McCain Foods,” he said. “Gaylen was the president of the Maine Potato Board in 1990, and in 1996, Gaylen and his brother, Gerald, were Farm Family of the Year.”
Along with his son, Brent, Flewelling raises 650 acres of processing and chip potatoes, and 650 acres of barley.
In 1987, Flewelling became involved with the National Potato Council and has served on the environmental affairs and long-range planning committees.
“Gaylen has represented us on the National Potato Council for a number of years, and through my six years on the Maine Potato Board, he has continually presented great reports from those meetings,” said Todd. “He represents us extremely well at the national level.”
Flewelling thanked the industry and said though he and some of his colleagues like Darrell Chandler “are getting to be senior citizens,” he would continue to serve until someone “steps up to the plate.”
“We’re looking for someone to take our place,” he said. “I told Don Flannery [executive director of the Maine Potato Board] that I’ll stay at this job until he can find someone to take it, but we want someone who will take it and do the job.”
Also at the meeting, Limestone’s Trevor Michaud was presented the Maine Potato Board’s 2006 Young Farmer of the Year Award.
In addition, Alan Moir of Woodland was elected to the United States Potato Board (USPB). Moore replaces Brent Buck of Chapman whose term had expired.
Also recognized at the annual dinner were outgoing board members Ward McLaughlin of Mars Hill, Conrad Caron of Easton, David McCrum of Mars Hill, and Steven Whited of Bridgewater.
“I would like to thank each and every one of you for serving on the board with me,” said Todd. “I had a great experience with all these gentlemen, and I’ll miss them.”
As outgoing MPB president, Todd said the last six years “have been very enlightening.”
“The first year I came on the board, we started a legislative tour where we invited all the Agriculture Committee members to come up for a tour of ‘The County,’ and see what was actually going on in this great area,” said Todd, who has had the experience of going to Cuba, California, Toronto and Ottawa. “As a new board member, I had assumed that had been done for years, but I was told it was the first time it had ever been done. I thought it was a great idea. I was very impressed.
“I’ve enjoyed my time on the board,” he said, “and I’m going to miss it. It gives you hope and the confidence that this industry is going to be here for a long time. People from the county are a special group of people.”
Incoming President Dominic LaJoie of Van Buren said he’s proud to be the first MPB president from the St. John Valley.
“I’d like to ask my neighbors in the Valley to please attend some of the meetings and support our organization,” said LaJoie. “If I see enough participation we will have the first Maine Potato Board meeting in French, so brush up on your French.”
Earlier in the meeting, the 2007 Maine Potato Board members were introduced. Serving on the board are
Dominic LaJoie, president, of Van Buren; Murray Blackstone, vice president, of Caribou; Bart Bradbury, secretary, of Easton; and Andrew Yaeger, treasurer, of Presque Isle.
Also, David Bartlett of Houlton, Todd Bradley of Presque Isle, Brent Buck of Chapman, Erica Fitzpatrick of Easton, Jeff Irving of Caribou, Edward Jewell of Monticello, Brandon Roope of Presque Isle, and Donovan Todd III, ex-officio, of Bangor.
