[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Pages 20301-20302]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     RECOGNIZING COUNTY SUPER SPUDS

 Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, 2 weeks ago, residents in Aroostook 
County took part in the 62nd Annual Maine Potato Blossom Festival, a 
weeklong celebration of the indispensible role agriculture has played 
in Northern Maine's economy. Indeed, early in the 20th century, 
Northern Maine was known as the Potato Capital of America. While the 
times have changed and varieties of crops have expanded, potato farming 
remains a prevalent way of life in rural Aroostook County. With this in 
mind, I wish to recognize a fifth-generation family-owned small potato 
company from Mars Hill, County Super Spuds, whose owners, the McCrum 
family, have been harvesting potatoes in Northern Maine since the mid-
1880s.
  It was Lemuel McCrum who, in 1886, moved across the border from New 
Brunswick, Canada, to the small town of Mars Hill in order to establish 
a future for his family in potato farming. Lemuel and his wife Ada had 
14 children, teaching them the value of good stewardship of the land 
and work ethic, thus ensuring that future McCrums would harvest 
bountiful crops on the same land. In the 1960s, Dana McCrum, a member 
of the family's third generation, moved to a new location in Mars Hill, 
where County Super Spuds has been situated ever since. The fourth 
generation of McCrums Jay and David began their farming in the early 
1970s, and they were joined by their sister's husband, Bobby Lunney, in 
1981. By 2004, the family's fifth generation, Jay's sons, Darrell and 
Wade, and David's sons, Nicholas and Jonathan, began cultivating their 
own futures at County Super Spuds.
  Since its founding, County Super Spuds has grown into a thriving 
business that now encompasses three subsidiaries: JDR Transport, a 
family trucking firm launched in 1992; Penobscot McCrum, LLC, a potato 
processing plant in Belfast that supplies spuds to customers and 
restaurants around the world; and Sunday River Farms, a 500-acre 
farming operation in Rumford Point. McCrum family members all operate 
and manage these firms, which stretch across the State of Maine. 
Additionally, the McCrum principle of seeking and finding resolutions 
to issues of quality assurance with their crops was epitomized by their 
decision in 2006 to begin utilizing a new GPS system. This technique 
assists the McCrums in accurate equipment placement within its fields 
in order to maintain the highest quality product for the Nation's 
dinner tables.
  A proud family with a rich tradition of potato farming, the McCrums 
have been lauded with prestigious awards on numerous occasions. Jay 
McCrum was named Young Farmer of the Year in 1986 by the Maine Potato 
Board, the State's foremost advocate for the potato industry, and a 
decade later was also named as the Farmer of the Year. And in 2001, 
County Super Spuds received the Maine Potato Board's highest honor, as 
they were recognized as the Farm Family of the Year. These awards 
exemplify that this family has been and continues to be an example of 
the dedication and determination of the McCrum spirit to succeed within 
this prestigious profession through every season and every economic and 
environmental trial and tribulation.
  However, many across Maine, and indeed the Nation, may know County 
Super Spuds best for its most recent work. The company was one of five 
potato growers selected from farms across the Nation by FritoLay to 
star in a nationwide advertising campaign for Lay's Potato Chips, 
including television and print media, as well as on-pack and in-store 
displays. In fact, County Super Spuds has been working with Lay's for 
23 years, and in that time, the firm has sold approximately 2,300 
trailer loads of its delicious potatoes to FritoLay. In the television 
advertisement, Darrell McCrum, manager for the company's Northern Maine 
Farm Operations, states that, ``We grow potatoes in New England, and 
Lay's makes potato chips in New England, so that's a pretty good fit.'' 
As part of the ad campaign's rollout, Darrell was invited to New York 
City in mid-May to join the four other farmers and ring the opening 
bell at the New York Stock Exchange. This was a well-placed honor for a 
truly distinguished family-owned business with such deep roots in the 
local community. He simultaneously discusses a photograph showing 
nearly two dozen family members, once again showcasing that Lemuel and 
Ada McCrum planted their feet firmly in Aroostook County in 1886 with 
high hopes for their future and their family and over 12 decades later 
a legacy of 5 generations stand firmly on the foundation they built.
  With annual growth of between 11 and 18 percent in recent years, 
County Super Spuds and the McCrum family have certainly made a positive 
impact not only within the Maine economy but across this Nation. Their 
high business acumen and work ethic have distinguished them as a 
profitable and trusted company. As the McCrum family continues in the 
footsteps of their forefathers, they remain an invaluable asset in one 
of Maine's most prestigious and vital industries. I congratulate the 
McCrums and everyone at County Super Spuds for their work to promote 
Maine potatoes across the country, and I wish them continued success in 
the decades to come.

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