“The stores wanted consistency and quality,” he explains.


There have been lots of fires to put out. Between himself and long-time administrator for the BCGA, Connie Bielert, who retired earlier this year, a way was always found to douse them. “We used common sense,” he says.


Straume recalls one such ‘fire’ in 2014 when they received 54,000 clamshells without the necessary UPC symbol stuck to the bottom. “We couldn’t sell them without it, but there was a school strike that year, so we managed to get a group of school children together to put them on,” he recalls.


Needless to say, those clamshells were free.


Although he worked part-time throughout the year as a contractor for the association, harvest has always been the most hectic time of year, from August to October. Straume grew up on a farm in Southern Ontario that had a small vineyard as part of the operation. As a youngster, he did some pruning and picking, and in the late 60s he headed out west to pick fruit in the orchards.


In the 70s he met his wife Doreen and they settled in the Okanagan, first living in a small pickers’ shack. In 1987, they bought a vineyard, but they found that with him working out 60 hours a week and the time involved in raising a couple of young girls, it simply wasn’t viable.


They sold it in the ’90s and today live on two acres in Kelowna, where they board a couple of horses. He’s made many friends in the industry over the years, some of whom he expects to still keep in touch with and he feels comfortable that he always did his best for growers.


It’s possible that in retirement he may still tackle the occasional problem, and mentor the new field person.


But his retirement priorities can be different, with consulting for growers taking second place to community work, family ties and his own vineyard.


British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Winter 2016-17 5


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