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History of the Washington State Grape Society

The Washington State Grape Society was organized in the fall of 1971. This occurred, following attempts over several years to create a unified group that could serve all grape growers.

In 1971, we were just coming into the age of mechanical harvesting. There were 9,700 acres of concord grapes and about 200 acres of wine grapes. The concord processors included Yakima Valley Grape Producers, National Grape/Welch, Kraft, A.F. Murch, Seneca and Ermey Vineyards. American Wine Growers, Alhambra and Sata Rosa were established wineries.

In November, 1971, a group of twenty to thirty people met at the Prosser Experiment Station, to again attempt to start an organization that would unite and serve the grape industry in the State of Washington. All segments of the industry were invited to participate. At this meeting, two committees were formed. The first was a Constitution Committee charged with the task of writing a constitution and bylaws and the other was a Nominating Committee.

A second meeting was held in December, 1971 when the group adopted the constitution and bylaws and by that created the Washington State Grape Society. These documents were modeled after the constitution and bylaws of the Washington State Horticultural Association. Also, the first officers and directors of the society were elected. The Board included: President Warren Tomlinson, Vice President Bill Lewis, Treasurer Blaine Taylor. Directors were: Frank Omstead, Les Fleming, Andy Tudor, Fred Kilian, Elvin McKenzie and Ken Lewis.

What was the intent and vision of our founders? They were looking for an organization that would facilitate the flow of information from researchers to growers, to record and publish this information for future reference and to include all segments of the industry. They also included some rather open language in the constitution of the society: "the overall advancement of the grape industry in the State of Washington . . . and the protection, stimulation and assistance of the grape interest of the State."

The industry has seen a great deal of change since the founding of the Society. When we began, the age of mechanization in the vineyard was quite young. The first commercial mechanical harvester was brought into the Yakima Valley in 1968, by the Kilian Brothers. By 1971, new harvesters were very much in demand. Today, more than 99% of juice grapes are harvested mechanically.
The concord crop in 1971 was 75,000 tons, grown on 9,700 acres, with a cash price of $120 per ton. Washington has become the state producing the largest amount of concord grapes in the nation.

In the early 1970, there was much effort put forth to find a way to fund research within the industry. In 1973, the Washington State Concord Research Council was formed. This organization has had an excellent record of support through the concord processors. The members of the Concord Council voluntarily assess themselves on a per ton basis to fund research.

In each of the years since it's inception, the Washington State Grape Society has held it's annual seminar and in most years there has also been a Trade Show. The reports to the industry from research personnel have been record and published each year in the Proceedings.

The Society seminars were first held in Grandview, at what was then the Jr. High School. Later, they were moved to the High School. We moved to Sunnyside, until the Washington School Auditorium was converted to classroom use. We met at the Heritage Center in Toppenish for two years and then began a period of years with the meetings in either Pasco or Yakima. We are pleased to be back in Grandview, centrally located in the grape growing area.

The Grape Society has worked with cooperative extensions in the publication of our newsletter to the industry. Our editor, Jack Watson is to be commended for his many hours of writing and editing the newsletter over the years.
Through the years, there have been numerous Summer Tours. These tours observed many different vineyard conditions, from overcropping and thinning, to vineyards nearly wiped out by winter cold. We have always utilized the expertise of Washington State University and especially those at the Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center at Prosser.

In years past, the Grape Society has worked in conjunction with the Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers to sponsor two Summer Tours for state legislators here in the Yakima Valley. We have invited legislators to come spend two days visiting farms to discuss various issues that were being considered in the legislature. On these visits, the legislators were housed in the homes of cooperating grape growers. This has been a very effective program, especially for "westsiders" who have in some cases, never been in eastern Washington.
Another activity of the society has been the Washington State Grape Society Memorial Scholarship. This has provided a way of remembering those who have contributed to the grape industry. The scholarship is available to students attending Washington State University, who are pursuing work in grapes.
The Society established the Walter Clore award in 1977. This award is presented each year during the annual seminar to recognize an individual for significant contribution to the industry. The award was established to honor Dr. Walter Clore, a retired researcher at WSU, Prosser, who is known as the "Father of the Washington Grape Industry."

The Lloyd H. Porter Award was established in memory of Lloyd Porter who was known for his dedication to the industry. He began working for Welch while in college, following graduation he continued working for Welch and then for National Grape Co-operative in New York. He came to Washington in 1978, as a field representative. He became Washington Area Manager for National Grape in 1983. Lloyd served on the Board of the Grape Society and also served on the Washington Concord Grape Research Council. Following his death in 1991, the Society established this award to recognize an individual as the "outstanding grower of the year."

An activity that the Society has sponsored for many years is the Annual Pruning Strategies & Demonstrations. Most recently, this activity has been held after our Annual meeting at WSU-IAREC, in Prosser.

The Washington State Grape Society has a bright future, if we learn from the past and pay attention to the basics. There will always be a market for good quality grapes. There are many secrets about grapes and vines that are yet to be learned. To uncover these "secrets", continued research must be funded. By utilizing the knowledge gained from past research and focusing on the answered questions, quality and quantity will continue to be fine tuned.