[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 15, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E197-E198]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         IN RECOGNITION OF THE 100TH BIRTHDAY OF ELLEN STILLMAN

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. WILLIAM R. KEATING

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 15, 2012

  Mr. KEATING. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Mrs. Ellen 
Stillman, a resident of Hanson, Massachusetts, who celebrates her 100th 
birthday on February 20th.
  Ellen was born in 1912, and began her first job at a Hanson cranberry 
cooperative, Cranberry Canners, when she was 15 years old. She fell in 
love with the work and after graduating from the Chandler School for 
Women and Boston University with a degree in journalism and 
advertising, she convinced her father to cultivate a bog of their own. 
In 1937,

[[Page E198]]

she borrowed $15,000 and built a six-acre bog on the Stillman property 
in Hanson. Her bog paid for itself after only the second harvest.
  Ellen continued to pursue her passion, and by the time she retired as 
vice president in charge of advertising at the Ocean Spray Cranberry 
Association in 1956, she had built a national reputation for the 
cranberry industry. Some of her more notable accomplishments include 
spearheading an advertising campaign to join cranberries and chicken, 
appearing on radio and TV and making a presentation of cranberries to 
President Eisenhower and Vice President Nixon at the White House. One 
year later, she was named the only female member of the 24-person Ocean 
Spray board of directors.
  When not busy with her bogs, Ellen took time out for philanthropy, 
serving on the women's committee of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and 
donating generously to the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She also used her 
expertise to write a number of cookbooks.
  More than 70 years later, Ellen's cranberry bogs continue to be an 
important part of the Hanson community and economy, and Ellen, herself, 
remains a pioneer in the industry. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to honor 
Ellen Stillman on this joyful occasion and I hope my colleagues will 
join me in wishing her many more years of happiness and health.

                          ____________________