Our
BERRIES

Meet Our Growers

Check out our video series Celebrating the Massachusetts Cranberry Grower here!

 

Adrienne Mollor is ‘all in’ when it comes to cranberries and the challenges of creating a sustainable future in the industry. Together with her father, Stanley, they own and manage properties throughout the region.  On a gorgeous spring morning, CCCGA recently met with Adrienne at one of her relatively new Middleboro properties.

Nestled in the historic village of Dennis lies a hidden treasure not commonly known to the general public. Down side streets touched by streams of dirt and dust, through arches of beautiful trees and bushes, if you look closely you will see something beautiful, something like stepping back in time. 

A Sunday afternoon drive through the scenic backroads of South Middleboro yielded a crimson view around every turn. In the midst of his cranberry harvest, Cass Gilmore agreed to take a few minutes and chat with CCCGA outside his screenhouse at Benson's Pond.

Charles Hayward, known as “Jim” to virtually everyone, has been a self-proclaimed ‘bog rat’ since 1976. A lifelong resident of Halifax, Jim is married to Deb and has five children and two grandchildren. 

His entry into the cranberry industry was working for a company on the bogs in Duxbury and Marshfield.  Jim did all sorts of jobs during that time and was hooked! He continued working there through the ‘80s right up until the crash of ’99.

Three generations of Rickers, spanning over 100 years, have been farming cranberries in Massachusetts. Earle B. Ricker, known as Rick to most people, is the current owner of approximately fifteen acres in Duxbury but the family business got its start in Pembroke with his grandfather, Clarence.

At a picnic table under a shady tree with acres of cranberry bogs as a picturesque backdrop, CCCGA recently sat down to chat with James, Jarrod and Patrick Rhodes from Edgewood Bogs LLC and Cape Cod Select.  The three brothers are 4th generation cranberry growers from Carver.

CCCGA recently had a chance to chat with Dom Fernandes of Fresh Meadows Farm in Carver.  A past board member of CCCGA, Dom is a 3rd generation cranberry grower who, somewhat unexpectedly, has found himself following in the footsteps of his father and grandparents for the last 37 years.

Tucked off Glen Charlie Road in Wareham are the bogs owned and farmed by Bill and Louise Scott.

There are not many cranberry growing families having their 8th generation still actively growing cranberries. However, the Halls of North Harwich are one such family. We spoke with Alan Hall (7th gen.) recently, who ran through the generations for us. The Hall family settled in a part of Dennis around 1630’s, and are descendants of John Hall, the same John Hall that Capt. Henry Hall is a descendant of. Their cranberry growing story begins with Nathan Hall of North Harwich who, according to the town register, was listed as a ‘farmer’. His son, John W.

Bill Russell was already a 30-plus year corporate veteran when he departed former roles in the aerospace industry, plastics manufacturing and automotive sensor technology companies in 2018 to devote his future to his own businesses. At 52, he was ready for change, and looked forward to spending more time on his personal interests.

Cape Cod Cranberry Growers’ Association (CCCGA) member Linda Rinta and the Rinta Family Farm of West Wareham have been selected by the Sand County Foundation as the recipient of the 2020 Leopold Conservation Award® for New England.  Given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, the prestigious award recognizes those who inspire others with their dedication to land, water and wildlife resources in their care. Rinta, an esteemed cranberry grower among the Association’s 300+ membership across the Commonwealth, is the first cranberry grower to be so honored.

Matt Beaton, a fifth-generation cranberry grower, owns and operates Sure-Cran Services in Wareham, Massachusetts. Managing 550 acres of cranberry bogs, with 330 being his own, Matt remains completely submerged in the industry on any given day.

2016 is the year three generations of Nantucket cranberry-men walked through fire to bring the bogs they’ve worked into the next era. 

This month we shine the spotlight on Jordan and Equus Trundy of Red Meadow Farm in Carver. While they are relative newcomers to all things cranberry & agriculture, they have taken to farming life with gusto! Read on to hear what they’ve learned so far and what they have planned for the future.

CCCGA recently squeezed in a visit with the very busy Will and Willie Stearns of Southers Marsh for a chat about all things cranberry, golf and family.

Picking your own strawberries is a fun springtime event. The anticipation of a summer full of fresh produce gets us all excited to go out and fill a bucket with the first fruits of the season.  CCCGA’s staff recently took an office field trip to Spring Rain Farm for some PYO strawberries and sat down to lunch and chat with one of the owners, Mary McCaffrey.

Steve Ward is not just a cranberry farmer.  He is also a great supporter of Massachusetts cranberries. CCCGA recently sat down with Steve to talk about his background in farming and his involvement in advocating for the industry.

As children, few people REALLY know what they want to be when they grow up. That was not the case with John Mason. John knew from a very early age that he wanted to be a cranberry grower.

Cranberries have always been a part of Wayne Dunham’s life.  He grew up picking cranberries with his father, Francis, who owned his own bogs and was also the foreman for Waterville Pond Cranberry.  As a boy, Wayne recalls picking cranberries by hand.  He also recounted his work spreading sand on the bogs with a #2 square shovel which, he told CCCGA, was not how most people did it but he liked that shovel.

When your family has a history in the cranberry industry that dates back to the 1800s, there is a lot of ground to cover when someone asks you to talk about ‘how you got started’ as a cranberry grower. Such is the case with Mark Weston of Carver, a 4th generation cranberry grower.

Back in the 1800s, Mark’s family tree had cranberry growers on both sides. T.T. Vaughan, owned cranberry bogs in the late 1890s in Carver. Mark’s paternal great-grandfather, Seneca Weston, was the first Weston to grow cranberries having 8-10 acres built for him in the Pope’s Point area.

On a snowy April morning, CCCGA met up with Roseann DeGrenier of Willows Cranberries at her processing plant in Wareham. It is here, in the early 1980’s, that the DeGrenier story picked back up in the cranberry industry when Roseann and her brother, John, purchased approximately 14 acres with 10 acres of abandoned bogs situated right off the Cranberry Highway.