[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 170 (Tuesday, November 29, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6542-S6543]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            RECOGNIZING ALLENHOLM FARM AND THE ALLEN FAMILY

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, Vermonters understand the value of hard 
work and perseverance, and we take pride in passing those values from 
generation to generation. Our communities thrive on family-owned 
businesses built on these values. They form the roots of success in our 
Green Mountain State, and it is those who own and operate them who are 
providing the leadership that will carry our State into the future. 
Today I want to recognize one exceptional Vermont family for the 
success of their multigenerational Vermont enterprise and their 
continued commitment to Vermont values.
  Founded in 1870, Allenholm Farm is Vermont's largest apple orchard. 
At its helm is Ray W. Allen, whose great-grandfather Rueben Allen 
planted the farm's first apple trees more than 150 years ago, and Ray's 
wife and partner, Pam. After graduating from the University of Vermont 
with a degree in agriculture, Ray returned to the family farm he had 
worked as a child, eventually purchasing it from his father in 1960. 
More than five decades of running the farm haven't slowed Ray down, and 
he can still be found fixing machinery, giving tours of the orchard, 
and loading delicious Vermont apples into trucks for shipment.
  Like many Vermont businessowners, Ray knows the value of 
diversification. In addition to the apples it sells to local grocery 
stores and cider makers, the farm harvests raspberries, blueberries, 
and cherries, some of which are sold to Vermont's world-renowned 
Alchemist Brewery. Ray and Pam, his wife of 31 years, work together to 
make hundreds of apple pies that are then baked fresh on demand. The 
autumn season brings thousands of guests, often multigenerational 
families themselves, for pick-your-own apples and visits to Willie and 
Sassafras, the farm's pet donkeys. Visitors may also enjoy maple 
creemees, a soft serve ice cream that is as unique to the State as the 
patented Vermont Gold apple variety is to Allenholm Farm.
  Ray's dedication to his farm is matched only by his commitment to his 
family's legacy. As he hands down his knowledge of the apple business 
to his children, grandchildren, and now great-grandchildren, he passes 
on something else: a commitment to building on the past to create a 
successful Vermont for future generations.
  I ask unanimous consent that an October 1 story from the Burlington 
Free Press about the successful Allenholm Farm in South Hero, VT, be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

             [From the Burlington Free Press, Oct. 1, 2016]

          Localvore Since 1870 at Allenholm Farm in South Hero

                           (By Sally Pollak)

       South Hero.--When the apple pies are sold out, the goats 
     are spitting out grain-filled ice cream cones, and the porta-
     potties need to be emptied, it's been a busy weekend at 
     Allenholm Farm.
       Count last weekend as very busy. Thousands of people 
     visited the South Hero orchard, the owners estimated.
       ``The groups were really big,'' co-owner Pam Allen said. 
     ``Generational groups.''
       Allenholm Farm, founded in 1870, is itself multi-
     generational--seven and counting. The farm in South Hero is 
     thought to be the oldest commercial orchard in the state, 
     according to its owner, Ray W. Allen. Allen, who will turn 80 
     next month, has owned and operated the farm for 56 years. His 
     great-grandfather, Ruben Allen, planted the first apple trees 
     at the farm almost 150 years ago; the last of the original 
     trees died in 1978.
       At one time, Allenholm Farm was a diversified family farm 
     with dairy cows, sheep, hogs and poultry, horses for plowing. 
     These days, the 275-acre farm is primarily an apple orchard, 
     with 2,000 trees growing on roughly 25 acres. The farm also 
     produces cherries, berries, pears and pumpkins.
       Farm animals are confined, mostly, to a petting zoo, though 
     a donkey named Willy sometimes strolls down South Street, 
     site of the farm. That's when Ray C. Allen, sheriff of Grand 
     Isle County and son of Ray W. Allen, telephones his 
     stepmother with a message:
       ``Your husband's ass is in the middle of the road again,'' 
     the sheriff tells her.
       This is family duty, he said. Not law and order.

[[Page S6543]]

       Ray W. Allen, steadfast and true to the farm, is also a bit 
     of a wanderer. Over the years he has gone off to high school 
     at Lyndon Institute in the Northeast Kingdom; run 25 
     marathons; appeared on stage in community theater, served as 
     a trustee at the University of Vermont, his alma mater; and 
     volunteered as an EMT--late-night calls before early-morning 
     chores.
       Monday morning he was up at 3:15 for a bank run to deposit 
     the weekend's cash. At 4:30, he was back home in his kitchen, 
     hand-mixing pie dough for some of the 2,500 pies Allenholm 
     Farm makes each year. (Ray Allen mixes the dough; Pam Allen 
     makes the filling.)
       At 5 a.m., he and his grandson, Brandon Allen, met at the 
     big gray storage shed across from the farmstand to load 
     trucks with boxes of apples for delivery to Hannaford 
     supermarkets.
       ``It's a good time,'' Brandon Allen said. ``Quality bonding 
     time at 5 in the morning.''


                  storied history of apple production

       The Champlain Islands have a long history of quality apple 
     production, said Terry Bradshaw, apple specialist at UVM and 
     director of its Horticulture Research Center. The lake 
     climate--which makes for a cooler summer and protects against 
     frost--provides superior growing and ripening conditions, 
     especially for McIntosh apples, he said. In addition, access 
     to the lake in the early 20th century meant transportation 
     for shipping fruit north to the port of Montreal and south to 
     New York.
       ``It's historic,'' Bradshaw said of Allenholm Farm.
       The history dates to the founding of Vermont. Pam Allen, 
     Ray Allen's second wife, is a descendant of Thomas 
     Chittenden, Vermont's first governor. Ray Allen descends from 
     Moses Robinson, the state's second governor.
       ``Illegitimate,'' Allen said of his ancestry.
       More recent farm history includes the end of dairying about 
     half a century ago, and getting in on the craft beer boom. 
     Allen sells his cherries to the Alchemist, the Stowe brewery 
     that makes Heady Topper. The cherries are used in a beer 
     called Petit Mutant. Perks of this job include beer delivery 
     to the farm by Alchemist brewer John Kimmich.


                               `cool guy'

       But the main crop is apples, and the primary variety is 
     McIntosh. A crew of six seasonal farm workers from Jamaica 
     are the apple pickers. The men live at the farm in a former 
     dairy barn converted to housing. Winston Waugh, from St. Ann, 
     Jamaica, has worked at Allenholm Farm for about 20 years.
       ``He's a cool guy,'' Waugh said of Ray Allen. ``He's quite 
     OK.''
       Picking is hard work, Waugh said, especially in cold 
     weather. It's crucial not to bruise the fruit, he said.
       The season's dry weather calls for ``selective picking,'' 
     Allen said, as opposed to stripping a tree of fruit. 
     Selective picking yields 50 to 60 bushels of apples per day 
     per picker, he said. When you strip a tree, an apple-picker 
     brings in about 90 bushels a day.
       The size of the apples is important, too. Apples that are 
     three or more inches in diameter are worth $40 a bushel; two-
     and-a-half to three inches are worth about $30 a bushel; less 
     than two-and-a-half inches sell for $5.50 to $7 a bushel, 
     Allen said.
       In the winter and into spring, before the apple trees 
     bloom, Allen is in his orchards pruning trees. He fixes 
     machinery and works in the farm store, which is open until 
     Christmas Eve.
       Last spring, Allen had surgery to replace both his knees. 
     He wore them out not from farming or running, but by wearing 
     Western-style boots 365 days a year, he said. Allen didn't 
     want to sit around on the couch, drink beer, and feel sorry 
     for himself, so he challenged himself to be active. Within 
     six days, he was driving around the farm.
       ``He's a character,'' his son said.
       His roles include welcoming visitors to Allenholm Farm and 
     leading tours. Allen expects future generations will fulfill 
     these and other duties; but he has no plans to retire.
       ``I would hate to be the one to lose it,'' he said. ``This 
     is the 146th year. I sure don't want to be the first one to 
     lose the farm.''

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