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Prunings


rchard industry leader David Hobson succumbed to cancer May 12 at the age of 65. Hobson served on the executive of the B.C. Fruit Growers’ Association for 17 years, including as president from 1992 to 1996. He also served as president of the B.C. Federation of Agriculture in 1988 and 1989 and as president of the Canadian Horticulture Council during his term as BCFGA president. Although he grew up on the family farm in the


O


Benvoulin and then Okanagan Mission areas of Kelowna, he went into banking before returning to his roots and


Uniacke Winery and re-named it after the little creek which passes through the Mission-area property in Kelowna. It is still owned and operated by the Fitzpatricks, and has the distinction of twice being named Canada’s Winery of the Year by Wine Access magazine, despite its relatively small size.


Dunham and Froese Estate Winery of Oliver is now named Covert Farms Family Estate. The winery was founded in 2005 by partners Gene and Shelly Covert and Kirby and Crystal Froese, but is now owned solely by the Covert family. It’s located at the 600-acre Covert Farms Organics at the foot of McIntyre Bluff...


David Hobson


purchasing an orchard in the Belgo area in 1970. He had only recently sold that orchard and retired. Hobson served as BCFGA vice-president while Gerald Geen was president and Geen recalls him as a great spokesman for the industry, an excellent speaker and a gentleman...


There are several wine industry anniversaries being celebrated this year, including the 80th of Calona Vineyards. It was opened in the throes of the depression by Cap Capozzi, WAC Bennett and Joe Ghezzi in Kelowna in 1932. In 1967, it commanded 38.6 per cent of all B.C. wine sales and it started its VQA program in 1989. Today, it’s owned by Andrew Peller Ltd., which was formerly Andres Wines, and which also owns Sandhill, Peller Estates and Red Rooster.


Gray Monk Estate Winery celebrates its 30th year as a winery, 40 years since George and Trudy Heiss planted their first grapes on their Lake Country property. It’s also their 50th wedding anniversary. The winery is still owned and operated by the couple and their family.


It’s also been 30 years since a hilltop winery in West Kelowna was bought by Anthony von Mandel and renamed Mission Hill. Since then it has undergone millions of dollars in renovations, brought home top world wine awards and welcomes thousands of visitors annually, but it’s still owned by the same family. It is CedarCreek Estate Winery’s 25th year of existence, since the Fitzpatrick family purchased


26 British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Summer 2012


The B.C. Wine Institute and Okanagan College are offering an updated, revised Wine Server program, which is being hailed as the most comprehensive B.C. wine education program in the market. It’s being held on the Penticton campus. The BCWI, in partnership with Tourism B.C. has also published the 2012 B.C. Winery Touring Guide, with a complete list of all wineries in all five wine regions in the province. It’s available at visitor centres and B.C. VQA shops...


The Okanagan Plant


Improvement Corporation (PICO) is now located at 105-13677 Rosedale Avenue in Summerland. Phone: (250) 494-5165, fax: (250) 494-7472.... Since early May, the federal


government has been seeking public comment on two non-browning apple varieties produced by Summerland's Okanagan Specialty Fruits’ (OSF): Arctic Golden and Arctic Granny. Several weeks into the process, OSF founder and president Neal Carter was pleased with the progress, saying an education-first approach "is providing a welcome opportunity for the public to learn as much as they can about Arctic apples, helping them form educated opinions. We’re confident this public comment opportunity will reassure consumers and producers alike that Arctic apples address browning in an innocuous way, so that we can move on to the work of getting more people eating more apples.” After reviewing comments received, the agency will announce its final determination on the CFIA website. “We have approximately 10 years of real-world field trial experience demonstrating that our Arctic trees behave no differently from conventional trees, and that Arctic Apples are compositionally and nutritionally similar to conventional apples,” said Carter. “It’s not until an Arctic apple is bruised, bitten or cut and doesn’t brown that the Arctic difference becomes very clear.” The path for OSF’s Arctic apples to the Canadian market, including this public comment period, is summarized on the web at www.arcticapples.com/blog/julia/ how-does-genetically-engineered-food- get-canadian-market...


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