2016 Al Smith Friend of Agriculture Award

National Agriculture Day Contest Winners Presented

A record crowd attended the National Agriculture Spring Luncheon held today at the Santa Cruz County Fair Heritage Hall in Watsonville. The annual event is coordinated by the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau and the educational organization Agri-Culture. At the luncheon, the 2016 Al Smith Friend of Agriculture award was presented to the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County for its strong support of local agriculture. The award was announced by Ceil Cirillo was the 2015 award recipient.

This award is named after Al Smith who was the founder of Orchard Supply Hardware and donated 3,000 acres (Swanton Pacific Ranch) on our north coast to Cal Poly. The ranch has row crops, timber and even a one-third-scale railroad, which was Al’s hobby. The award is on a piece of redwood with a train depicted on it.

It is presented annually to an individual, business or organization not involved in production agriculture but has done much for the industry.

Also presented at the luncheon were the winner of the 2016 National Ag Day Poster and Poetry Contests. Quinn Porterfield, from Mission Hill Middle School in Santa Cruz, won the poster contest. And Joel Burchell, from Creekside School in Santa Cruz, won the Poetry Contest and read his poem at the event. Attached is a list of all winners.

It was announced at the luncheon Maya Capurro-Frosch was selected as the 2016 recipient of the Jimmie Cox Memorial Scholarship. Attached is information about Maya.

Master of Ceremonies for the event was Farm Bureau President David Van Lennep. Lance Linares, CEO, Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County, was the featured speaker, speaking on the topic of “Growing Now, Giving Forever – Agriculture: Invested in the Community”

Other notables in attendance include County Supervisor Zach Friend; Driscoll’s President Miles Reiter; California Certified Organic Farmers Executive Director Cathy Calfo; Bill Codiga; City of Watsonville Mayor Felipe Hernandez; and Scotts Valley Councilmember Stephany Aguilar.