Gold Dust & Walker Farms

We Stand With Shut Down & Fed Up

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We are proud to support the Shut Down & Fed Up movement

May 29th was pretty incredible. And we’re proud to have been a part of an amazing event like the Convoy For Change.

Last Friday, some of our crew met at our shop in Merrill to help decorate cars, pickups, tractors and trucks to join in the convoy. This tractor rally was put on by the Shut Down & Fed Up movement, which is working to find a sustainable solution for farms and fish in the Klamath Basin. Gold Dust & Walker Farms was more than happy to add our vehicles and voices to the protest. We even offered up one of our grain fields just outside of Merrill to give everyone in the rally a place to get ready.

  • Gold Dust & Walker Farms employees getting ready to decorate for Shut Down & Fed Up's Convoy For Change tractor rally
    Signs – check. Help – check. Let’s get these farm rigs ready to roll!
  • Decorating Lexi Crawford's GMC Denali
    Alright, let’s get Lexi’s rig ready for the tractor rally!
  • John Deere tractor with Built to Farm sign
    No truer words have ever been attached to a tractor
  • Maddion Walker and Penny Crawford holding sign
    That’s a great and incredibly true sign, Madison and Penny!
  • Tractor with protest sign
    Here’s one of 23 vehicles we put towards Shut Down & Fed Up’s tractor rally
  • Gold Dust & Walker Farms employees decorating hay truck
    We even made sure the hay was ready for the Convoy For Change
  • Various farm vehicles in field near Merrill, OR
    As you can see, the Convoy For Change tractor rally isn’t just about tractors.

We figured there’s be quite a few people. The leaders of Shut Down & Fed Up said there’s be several hundred participants.

That’s quite a line of farm rigs getting ready to join the Convoy For Change

What we saw from the shop’s parking lot told us there was a whole lot more than several hundred. As we worked to get posters and flags hanging from the equipment and vehicle windows painted with phrases in support of Klamath Basin ag, we could see the line for the tractor rally was massive. It went past our shop, and from what we could tell to the Tulelake-Malin junction.

Our vehicles didn’t enter the tractor rally all at once. Rather, we were spread out, slowly making our way to Merrill and then towards Klamath Falls. People lined the streets of Merrill, waving and cheering in support, giving our protest the feel of a parade more than a statement. However, it was a statement – a statement that was nearly 30 miles long!

While some of the tractor rally headed to downtown Klamath Falls (yes, there!), others headed to a field in Midland owned by the Scalas family. In years past this was a productive hay field, but this year, with their water being cut, it was instead a dusty meeting place for the Convoy For Change. At the site nearly 2,000 crosses were planted, each to represent the family farms and ranches that would be affected or die off if water to Klamath Basin ag was shut down, as it was for the Scalas family.

Tractors surrounding a field planted with crosses near Midland, OR for the Shut Down & Fed Up Convoy For Change
Tractors and other farm vehicles surrounded the field of flags for the Shut Down & Fed Up rally

The field was surrounded by an assortment of farm machinery – ranging from large tractors hooked up to potato bulkers to combines and fertilizer spreaders. The convoy slowly filled the field, with all the intersections leading up to it jammed with more rigs. At the field, several leaders from Klamath, Siskiyou and Modoc counties spoke along with Representatives Walden and LaMalfa and other California supervisors. Despite the heat, the traffic and the long procession to get to the field, many met at the field to show support for Klamath Basin ag and the communities affected by farming and ranching.

It was an incredible feeling of awe and camaraderie to be a part of this amazing event. Talking to some of the members of Shut Down & Fed Up, they had to goals for the tractor rally. The first was to bring our community together, which they succeeded in. The second was to get the attention of the Trump Administration to focus on finding a solution that helps not only Klamath ag, but also brings real solutions to preserving the sucker fish in Upper Klamath Lake and the salmon in the Klamath River. We wish them luck in their second goal.

Gold Dust & Walker Farms is proud to support the Shut Down & Fed Up movement. While we’re able to find the ground and water to fulfill our contacts, we know many of our neighbors are not as fortunate. We’d like to thank the organizers of the Convoy For Change tractor rally, including our very own Tricia Hill and Lexi Crawford. We also hope you too will learn more about their cause by visiting their Facebook page or going to ShutDownFedUp.org.

2018 Klamath Basin Potato Festival

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Gold Dust Potatoes and Walker Farms' 2013 Klamath Basin Potato Festival float.
Our epic, award-winning Klamath Basin Potato Festival float from 2013!

For us, it’s hard to think about potato harvest without the Klamath Basin Potato Festival being mentioned. In our last post about potato harvest, we mentioned the Potato Festival in a list of other activities going on during harvest. However, if you look through our Farm Blog, you’ll see we’ve been participating in the Spud Festival for years.

Obviously, our history with the Potato Festival goes back before that.

Years and years ago, before we moved into our processing plant in Malin and weren’t farming as many acres, Jan would gather and clean the potatoes entered for the Spud Festival. Parade time would find the Walker family gathered at the home of Glenna Walker, aka Grammie, aka Bill and John’s mom. The kids would gather candy thrown from the floats while Glenna hosted family, friends and neighbors.

Over the years, things changed and new traditions developed. Our companies started getting more involved with the Spud Festival and creating new rituals. For a few years, we put together floats and tossed candy and bags of potato chips to the crowds, hoping to take home the bragging rights for the best float while the chipping potatoes hand selected by our agronomy team earned ribbons in the potato judging. The office staff started a potato lunch potluck where everybody brings something different to top off baked potatoes with.  Between the camaraderie and community involvement, it created an opportunity for fun during a crazy time of year.

Our Klamath Basin Potato Festival float from 2011

Our traditions have changed again, and in a way have come full circle. The huge floats of years past have gone to the wayside for now as the trucks are needed on the road and our staff is busy. The office potato potluck still lives on, and instead of our agronomy team entering the potatoes for judging, our employees’ kids entered them this year. Still wanting to be involved with the parade and the community, last year we started a new tradition that will likely carry forward. From Grammie’s garage, just across the street from the Merrill Civic Center, our office team handed out hot drinks and potato chips to friends, family and anyone else who came to Merrill to watch the parade.

We’re proud to be a part of a community that celebrates ag the way the Klamath Basin Potato Festival does. We’re also proud to have a group of dedicated employees who help us carry participate in the community. Thank you to our staff who helped during the Spud Festival, and thank you to everyone who stopped by for a bag of chips and something to sip!

Tis The Season at Gold Dust and Walker Farms

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The 161 presents Gold Dust and Walker Farms donated to Klamath Falls Toys For Tots.
Thanks to our employees, carriers and growers, Gold Dust and Walker Farms donated 161 gifts to Toys For Tots

Yesterday, December 20th, Gold Dust held its annual office Christmas party at Bill and Jan’s house just north of our campus. The atmosphere was merry and there was lots of laughs and cheer over the white elephant gift exchange. Good food, good times and great people always make the holidays a special time of year!

While on the topic of great people, Gold Dust and Walker Farms are blessed to work with the most generous folks. If you look through our farm’s blog, you’ll find post after post about giving and donating. This year alone our companies and the people who help us succeed raised $31,000 and 135,000 airline miles for Make-A-Wish Oregon. So, it goes without saying that when the holidays roll around, we also experience the generosity of the people coming and going from our packing shed.

Photo credits Lexi Crawford

Years past, we’ve held food drives for the Klamath and Lake County Food Bank and adopted a family for Christmas. More recently, we’ve been holding toy drives for our local Toys For Tots. For example, last year between what our employees donated and what the company matched, we were able to fill the back of Tricia AND Lexi’s SUVs! This year, with Nayeli Pena leading the charge, we held another successful toy drive for Toys For Tots.

And this year was amazing! As usual, our farm, shed and office crews contributed with toys and cash. Truck drivers that work for the various carriers that deliver our chipping potatoes and hay to our customers also contributed. Then our growers stepped up, with Luke Robison’s family donating $500. Our office was filled with toys and bicycles, and the cash donation bucket was filled with a variety of bills. Overall, 25 toys, four bicycles and around $1,000 was donated by the incredibly generous people we work and do business with. And yes, Gold Dust and Walker Farms matched it!

On Tuesday, December 19th, Tricia and her husband made the trek to Fred Meyers in Klamath Falls to fulfill Gold Dust’s end of the bargain. Fred Meyer’s manager also stepped up, offering discounts to help our contributions go even further. In the end, we were able to drop off 161 gifts to the Klamath Falls Toys For Tots.

Tricia Hill with Toys For Tots volunteers at their Toys For Tots Drop Station in Klamath Falls, Oregon.
When dropping off the gifts, Toys For Tots volunteers told Tricia about the 2,000 kids these presents would go to in the Klamath Basin

That donation was very much needed. When dropping off the gifts, one of the Toys For Tots volunteers told Tricia that this year they were trying to provide gifts for 2,000 local kids – 500 more than they expected. When you consider how many households are in the Klamath Basin, that’s a lot of families that are affected. All the donations to the Klamath Falls Toys For Tots program stay local – which means when you give a gift in our community, it stays in our community.

Gold Dust Potato Processors employee Suzanne Wallace helping load a truck with donated chipping potatoes.
Suzanne Wallace helping load one of our donations of potatoes. Photo credit Lexi Crawford.

Along with Toys For Tots, we also donated truck loads of potatoes to area charity groups and organizations. Those groups included Integral Youth Services, Women Infant Health, Malin City Hall, Tulelake-Newell Family Center, Klamath KID Center, Klamath Lake Community Actions, Henley High School FFA, Bonanza High School FFA, Bonanza Community Church, Livingsprings Church, Klamath Senior Center, Faith Tabernacle Church and Marta’s House in Klamath Falls. All of these organizations give back to community and we’re happy that we’re able to help them with their causes during the holidays.

We are proud of our employees and the people we do business with and the amount of generosity they showed with this year’s giving. Though we focused our holiday giving on our local Toys For Tots, there are lots of other ways to help. Consider those 2,000 children – their families likely also need help providing food, paying the power bill and more. Whether you slip something into one of the Salvation Army’s red kettles or take canned food to the Klamath-Lake Counties Food Bank (you can donate online too!), every little bit helps someone in our community.

Before we wrap this up and wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year, we’d like to give Nayeli a big thank you for her work on this. We’d also like to thank Luke Robison’s family for their generous donation and to thank everyone who donated cash or toys. We’d also like say thank you to the Fred Meyer’s managers and cashier who helped make our donations go further. And of course, thank you to Toys For Tots for providing the spirit of Christmas to kids in our community. When you think about our company slogan, “where together we grow”, it’s evident that it extends beyond our sheds and farm and into the community as well. It’s part of what makes the Klamath Basin a great place to live.

And now, may everyone have a happy and safe holiday season and here’s to an amazing 2018!

KCC Ag Marketing Class Visits Gold Dust & Walker Farms!

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Klamath Community College's ARE 221 Agriculture Marketing class with John Walker and Bart Crawford at Walker Farms' Merrill, Oregon mechanical shop.
KCC’s Ag Marketing Class started the day in Merrill

As one of the most dynamic farms in the Klamath Basin, from time to time we get to share what we do with local schools. These field trips (some of them are literally out to fields) give us an opportunity share our love for farming with the community and expose young minds to agriculture.

On June 1st, we had another such opportunity, but this time it was a bit different. Instead of grade-schoolers, Professor Keith Duran brought his ARE 221 Agriculture Marketing class from Klamath Community College to learn more about what Gold Dust and Walker Farms do and what it takes to be successful in agri-business.

John Walker addressing the KCC ARE 221 Agriculture Marketing class at Walker Farms' Merrill, Oregon mechanical shop.
John Walker dispensing a bit of good advice – “It’s all logic.”

Their visit started at 8:30 in the morning at our Merrill shop, where John Walker and Bart Crawford met with the class. Though the conversation started out discussing what it takes to produce an organic crop, it quickly turned what it takes to actually run a farm. John talked about the amount of time and support it takes to ensure your employees have what they need to be able to be successful in their tasks. Adding to it, Mr Duran recommended his students to “Be a border collie, not a pit bull”, that leadership is more than hovering over your workers. Before our guests headed to Malin for the second part of the field trip, John left them with one more piece of advice. “Always remember one thing – it’s logic. It’s all logic,” he said, going on to explain that most of the problems, whether with the crops or equipment, can be figured out by stopping and thinking.

Klamath Community College student and Gold Dust & Walker Farms employee John-Rian Watson leading the ARE 221 Ag Marketing class on a tour of Gold Dust's potato processing facility.
KCC student and Walker Farms employee John-Rian Watson gave the KCC Ag Marketing class a tour of packing shed

Upon arriving at Gold Dust’s Malin campus, the KCC students were given a tour of our potato processing plant by Walker Brothers employee and ARE 221 student John-Rian Watson. After the shed tour, they met with Bill Walker and Lexi Crawford in the conference room, where, along with a discussion about the potato markets, our CEO gave them more advice on how to succeed at Gold Dust and in agri-business. While recommending the students need to pay attention to detail and possess a desire to work, he stressed it was important for the students to finish their schooling. “A college education does matter, “ he said, pointing out that it shows they can follow-through with what they started and complete tasks.

Gold Dust Potato Processors CEO Bill Walker addressing Klamath Community College students in the conference room of Gold Dust's Malin, Oregon packing shed.
Bill Walker giving the KCC students a bit of advice – “Pay attention to details, want to work and a college education DOES matter!”

Lexi also spent some time talking about the potato market and what it takes to provide excellent customer service, but when asked about her background, the conversation turned into what it takes to run a modern farm. Without a background in agriculture, the Albany-native’s family business was engineering, not farming. However, the advice of her family to study business, a chance meeting with Weston Walker and marrying Bart (who is also from a Basin ag family) led her down a winding path to Gold Dust and Walker Farms. Her education and experience has more than helped make her a key player in our marketing and farming operations.

Lexi and the Agriculture Marketing students shifted their talk to about how the next generation of farmers is changing – as well as the opportunities today’s farms offer. A problem our local farms and ranches have is young people are leaving and not coming back. One of the students, Victoria Flowers, is a part of a solution. She’s helping to establish Junior Farm Bureau at KCC to help educate area students about the future of Basin ag and job possibilities it offers. If the enthusiasm of the Ag Marketing class are any indicator, there’s a good chance we may be able to reverse this trend.

For Gold Dust and Walker Farms, one of the most important aspects of Professor Duren and his class’s visit it that we got an opportunity to show the next generation of farmers and ranchers the possibilities available in ag. We appreciated them visiting our shop in Merrill and shed in Malin to see what we do, and hope it was educational for them as well!

KCC's ARE 221 Ag Marketing class from left to right: Johnathan Rohrbacker, John-Rian Watson, Christina Wallace, Allen Hess, Johnathan Lopez, Ty Rajnus and Keith Duren in front of Gold Dust's Malin, OR packing shed.
KCC’s ARE 221 Ag Marketing class from left to right: Johnathan Rohrbacker, John-Rian Watson, Christina Wallace, Allen Hess, Johnathan Lopez, Ty Rajnus and Keith Duren

Thank you again for coming out visiting us!

Gold Dust At The Mazama Career Fair

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Students from around the Klamath Basin filled Valhalla Court at Mazama High School for the 2017 Mazam College and Career Fair held in Klamath Falls, Oregon.
About 1,100 high school students from across the Klamath Basin attended the Mazama College and Career Fair on Wednesday, April 12.

One of the challenges every small rural community in America faces is the loss of great talent to cities and areas with more opportunities. The Klamath Basin is no different. Being located in a place that’s as beautiful as our little corner of Southern Oregon and Northern California isn’t enough to keep young people interested in staying if there aren’t any opportunities. A career fair is the perfect opportunity to reach out to our community’s young people to show them the possibilities that are available in their backyard.

As you read in our blog post from last week about spring farming, two of our top hands, Lexi Crawford and Toby Turner, were at the first annual Mazama College and Career day that took place on April 12th. Around 1,100 students from Mazama, Henley, Bonanza, Lost River, Falcon Heights Academy, Great Basin Home School, Klamath Union and Brixner Junior High showed up to Valhalla Court to see the various options available to them after High School. From schools such as Klamath Community College, Oregon Institute of Technology and Northwest College of Cosmetology to  businesses such as Diamond Home Improvement, Pacific Crest Credit Union and of course, Gold Dust and Walker Farms, there were plenty of options for everyone to explore and consider.

Lexi Crawford and Toby Turner representing Gold Dust and Walker Brothers at the Mazama Career Fair in Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Lexi Crawford and Toby Turner at the Mazama High School Career Fair looking for some fresh recruits

Our booth was located by the front door, which posed a challenge as students made their way into Mazama’s gym to check out the other booths while bypassing Gold Dust’s. Thanks to Lexi’s quick thinking, she and Toby were able to wrangle students with something every teenager desires – food. Not only was providing chips from Kettle and Lay a great way to get the kids’ attention, it also provided a conversation starter about where our potatoes go. We also shared a booth with the Klamath Water User’s Association (KWUA), and with Chelsea Shearer’s help, our team was able to give the students a better idea of the opportunities available in local ag.

Snack chips are laid out on top of an agricultural drone at Gold Dust Potato Processors' booth at the 2017 Mazama College & Career Fair.
A sure fire way into students’ hearts, er, bellies and minds – a drone and potato chips!

KWUA was also handing out information for an intern program they have available this year. Called Generation h2.o, according to KWUA’s flier, they’re looking for “8 students from around the Basin to participate in a 5 week program complete with tours, presentations and actual work experience.” Not only will Generation h2.o give students a great education on water policy and hands-on experience, it also fulfills senior project requirements. If you’re a student interested in this program or know a Basin student in the class of 2018 that would be interested, please check out KWUA’s site for more information about the requirements and download an application. The deadline to apply is May 26th – so do so quickly!

Lexi and Toby had a good time at Mazama’s College and Career Day. It was a great experience to show local high school students how many opportunities our community has available in Southern Oregon, as well as hopefully see some of these kids working in our offices, shed or fields. For Toby, it also offered a chance to go back to his old stomping grounds as a Mazama Viking as well as meet a current Viking that was born the year he graduated!

Gold Dust and Walker Brothers employee Toby Turner standing in Mazama High School for the 2017 Mazama College & Career Fair.
This young man was born the year Toby graduated from Mazama High School – 2001!

Thank again to Mazama High School for putting the event on!

It’s The 4th of July!

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Two bald eagles fly above Walker Brothers' farm at the Running Y Ranch outside Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Happy Independence Day from Gold Dust Potatoes and Walker Brothers!

As Independence Day approaches, we think of our forefathers and the battles they fought to create this great nation and those wars that came after to keep it whole and free.  Without the sacrifices of the men and women who built the United States and the continued sacrifices of those who serve today, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy the freedoms we have.  While we celebrate the day with our friends and families with barbecues and parades and fireworks, don’t forget it was brave people leaving their homes and farms to answer the call.

In the Klamath Basin, the Fourth of July also has us turning our heads to the potato fields to see if the rows have grown in.  Aside from celebrating freedom, this day also represents a good way to mark how well the potatoes are doing.  As John explains it, “We just had the summer solstice, and since we’re going to get less sun here on out, it’s important to see where the fields are at and what we need to do.”

So, how are the potato fields doing?

Out at the Running Y, the rows haven’t closed yet.  Under the blue skies and eagles and pelicans riding the thermals, the potatoes and fields look beautiful, and some are getting close, but they rows are still open.  We had a nice, wet winter and have received plenty of sun.  But when the late spring showers came through the Basin, the little valley this farm sits in was all but missed by the rain.  While Malin, Merrill and other areas around Klamath County received over an inch of rain, the Running Y received only a tenth of an inch.  Though this isn’t ideal, there’s still time to for the potato plants to reach their full potential before harvest.

Turning an eye to our fields around Malin, you can tell the difference.  The plants are tall and strong, and as you can see, the rows are closing in and able to hide small children!  The sun, rich soil and spring showers have helped these plants grow to their full potential, plus these fields were planted almost a month earlier than the potato fields at the Running Y.  While there’s still a ways to go before harvest and anything can happen, we’re pleased with how well these potato fields are coming along.

Before we wrap up this post, we’d like to wish the families of our Gold Dust and Walker Brothers teams a very happy and safe Independence Day.  We hope everyone here has a bit of fun checking out the fun events around the Klamath Basin, and to those outside the area, Happy Fourth of July!

Mari and Rory Hill with Madison Walker on piggy back running through a chipping potato field outside of Malin, Oregon.
That’s all for now – gotta’ run!

2016 Winter Wings Festival to Visit The Running Y Ranch!

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Members of the Klamath Basin Audubon Society visited Gold Dust's Running Y Ranch in preparation for a field trip for the 2016 Winter Wings Festival.
Members of the Klamath Basin Audubon Society visited the Running Y Ranch for next year’s Winter Wings Festival

If you’ve spent any time reading our blog or talking to our partners and employees, then you know how proud we are of the Running Y Ranch.  Not only does that farm have amazing soil, terrific water rights and produce some of the best crops in the Basin, but the amount of wildlife around those fields is outstanding.  Elk and deer graze our fields (and raid our hay sheds!), raptors glide through the skies above the ranch while ducks, geese and swans stop by on their migrations along the Pacific Flyway.  If you appreciate wildlife, then you can understand why we feel the Running Y is a more than just another farm to us.

With that in mind, our CEO and partner, Bill, wanted to reach out to the Winter Wings Festival and offer our fields for tours in 2016.  For those unfamiliar with the Winter Wings Festival, it’s a yearly event held by the Klamath Basin Audubon Society (KBAS) over President’s Day holiday weekend that brings birders from all over the world to the Basin to take birding tours, attend workshops about bird behavior and photography, and basically talk birds!  Considering the tundra swan migration is happening that time of year, it’s a great opportunity to show people how agriculture and wildlife can co-exist.

The offer was extended and Diana Samuels, one of the organizers for the Winter Wings Festival, suggested that in preparation for 2016 some members of the KBAS pay the Running Y Ranch a visit. On February 21st, Caleb Sundahl, Mihajlo Matic and Lexi Crawford met the local Audubon Society to take photos, watch birds, look at where to take their birders next year and talk logistics.  Though there was less snow than we’d like for this time of year, it was a beautiful day to watch the swans, answer questions about our farming practices and make plans for next year.

After KBAS’s visit with members of the Gold Dust crew, we’re looking forward to having the birders visit our fields for the 2016 Winter Wings Festival.  Thank you to the Klamath Basin Audubon Society for coming out and seeing what we can share with birders.  We’re looking forward to their tour next year!

 

By the way, before we wrap this up, the photos for this post were taken by Lexi and Bart Crawford’s son, Walker.  Thanks for the snaps, Walker!

Walker Crawford, 6, takes a picture of himself.
Thanks for the photos, Walker!

Gold Dust Recognized At The 94th Annual Chamber Gala!

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Darcy and Tricia Hill, Jan and Bill Walker, Matt and Cassie Thompson, and Lexi and Bart Crawford at the Ross Ragland Theater for the Klamath County Chamber of Commerce's 94th Annual Chamber Gala Awards.
Here’s a well-dressed group of good-looking people!

It’s always nice to get recognized.  It’s even nicer when the recognition comes from your peers in your community!

Back in November, the Klamath County Chamber of Commerce started taking nominations for its 94th Annual Chamber Awards Gala, with the nomination deadline being December 20th.  While the partners were attending the annual National Potato Convention at the beginning of January, we were surprised to learn we were nominated for not just one award – but two!

The first category we were nominated for was Environmental Leadership and the second was for the Big IDEA Innovation Award.  With all the great businesses that operate in the Klamath Basin, it’s an incredible honor to get nominated for one recognition.  But to be nominated twice is incredible!  While we were eager to learn if we’d win an award, we had to wait until the night of the Chamber Awards Gala, which was held at the Ross Ragland Theater on the evening of January 17th.  Local business leaders and some of their employees dressed up for the occasion, which not only consisted of the awards ceremony itself but also some time for socializing before the big event.  Several local restaurants had samples of their best dishes out while floating plates of sweet breads and pastries made their way through the room.  The event was emcee’d by Aaron Orendorff, with members of the Chamber handing out the awards.  Short, funny skits with Chip Massie chasing the performers off the stage punctuated the ceremony.

While we didn’t receive the Big IDEA Innovation Award (that honor went to Gro-Volution), we did bring home the award for Environmental Leadership!  Our efforts for sustainable farming, wildlife habitat preservation, solar energy implementation, soil and water conservation practices, green manure usage, and organic farming efforts were mentioned for the reasons we received the award.  We’re proud of the work we’ve been doing to make our farm more sustainable, and the fact we were nominated with the Oregon Institute of Technology (which is the first university campus to run off geo-thermal power in the USA), REACH and Sky Lakes Medical Center, makes the award truly an honor.

Bill Walker, Tricia Hill, Lexi Crawford, Matthew Thompson and Bart Crawford accept the 2014 Environmental Leadership Award at the Klamath County Chamber of Commerce's 94th Annual Chamber Gala Awards.
We received the 2014 Environmental Leadership Award! Thank you!

Before wrapping up this post, Gold Dust Potato Processors and Walker Brothers would like to thank whomever nominated us for these awards, to the committee for selecting us for the Environmental Leadership award and, lastly, to the Klamath County Chamber of Commerce.  The Klamath County Chamber of Commerce not only does a lot for the businesses in Klamath Falls, but they do a lot for agriculture in the Klamath Basin.  We’d like to not only thank them for how they help businesses here, but also for their advocacy on behalf of farming and ranching.  Thank you!

And congratulations to the other winners and nominees! Here’s to a successful 2015 for all!

Happy Holidays From Gold Dust and Walker Brothers!

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Tricia (Walker) Hill, Weston Walker, Bill Walker and John Walker smile with a donation headed to Klamath Falls, Oregon's Toys For Tots Foundation.
That’s quite a haul for Klamath Falls’ Toys For Tots!

We’ve finally made it to December.  The driveway to Gold Dust’s packing shed is lined up with trucks, while our shed crews work hard to get them loaded with chipping potatoes and on their way.  Yes, it’s busy, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take a little time during the holiday season to have a little fun and spread some good cheer.

This year we held our annual packing shed Christmas luncheon on Monday, December 22nd and brought in a fantastic spread from Subway (including those delicious Lay’s potato chips!).  The Christmas luncheon isn’t only an opportunity for our shed and farm crews to get together for lunch, but also a chance for the partners of Walker Brothers and Gold Dust to thank our employees for all of their hard work.

Since it’s the season of giving, every year we try to come up with a way to give to our community and help others have a wonderful Christmas.  In the past we’ve raised money, gathered food for the Food Bank and have even adopted a family.  This year, Tricia suggested we do a toy drive for Toys For Tots.  Employees were encouraged to donate a toy (or cash) and for every toy (or dollar) donated, Gold Dust would match it.  As a result of our employees’ generosity, Gold Dust donated a total of 50 toys!  Thanks to the donations and Tricia and Katie Walker’s savvy shopping skills, not only were dolls and trucks gifted but also scooters and bicycles.  We are always impressed with how our employees step up and give, and this year is no exception.  Well done!

However, Gold Dust didn’t only donate toys this year.  Throughout the year, our dispatcher, Rich Wright, worked with Southern Oregon Outreach Foundation (SOOF) to haul supplies to area food banks.  In 2014, Gold Dust hauled between 20-25 loads for them.  Not only that, we donated two loads of potatoes to SOOF.  Those potatoes were sold at SOOF’s retail outlets to help them fill emergency pantries for food banks all over Southern Oregon.

It’s been another fantastic year for Gold Dust and Walker Brothers.  And though we haven’t had the White Christmas we hoped we would to build up the snow-pack in the mountains, it at least has been a wet Christmas.  As this is being written, snow is gently covering the floor of the Klamath Basin so maybe our Christmas wishes will come true.  With that in mind, all of us at Gold Dust Potato Processors and Walker Brothers hope you and your families have had a very Merry Christmas and are looking forward to a blessed New Year.

C’mon 2015!

The Potato Festival and Our Traditions

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The Gold Dust Potatoes float makes it way down the highway at the 77th Annual Klamath Basin Potato Festival parade.
Happy Potato Festival!

The Klamath Basin Potato Festival is a tradition that brings folks from all over the Klamath Basin to Merrill to celebrate the area’s most popular tuber.  If you grew up in the rural Klamath Basin, the Potato Festival likely served as your social backdrop to the ag community.  With the crowning of the Potato Festival Queen, the Spud Bowl football games, the Saturday parade followed by a free potato feed, it’s a tradition that we’re happy and proud to be a part of.  And every year, the Potato Festival seems to get bigger.  Bigger floats, more parade entries, food carts from around the area, the addition of Pop Warner football games, bed races and now a car show – there is almost literally something for everyone.

Against the backdrop of the Spud Festival, Gold Dust has created a few annual traditions of its own.  One of those traditions is on the Friday of the Potato Festival, the Gold Dust Staff gets together for a potato lunch.  This year, Jan Walker invited the office staff up to her home to dress up baked chipping potatoes (yes, you can bake ’em!) for lunch.  From chili and cheese sauce to bacon and jalepeños and everything in between, everyone brought something to top their spud with.  Not only was it a great way for the staff to get out of the office and hang out together, it was delicious!

 

Another tradition that has developed over the past couple of years is Bring Your Kid to Work day.  Between Potato Festival Friday usually being a teacher’s in-service day and the afternoon of it being dedicated to working on the parade float, the office staff has been bringing their children to work to help out.  This year was a little different than years past in that the kids were treated to tours of the packing shed as well as the cellars.  “We’re always giving tours to other people and school children,” said Tricia Hill.  “So this year, Lexi and I decided we should give the kids of the people who work here a tour so they can see what happens where their moms and dads work.”  Out of everything the children saw, it seems the big pile of spuds and the plenum made the cellars a clear winner.

 

And of course, it wouldn’t be a Potato Festival without a float!  This year, the festival’s theme was “Spud-Tacular”, and there were plenty of “spudtacular” entries.  Gold Dust and Walker Brothers’ float was pulled by one of our International Express trucks and featured a balloon rainbow leading to a pot of golden chipping potatoes.  A few Gold Dust and Walker Brothers folks showed up to help decorate the float Saturday morning, and their dedication nabbed us first place in the Commercial Division of the parade!  Well done!

Before wrapping up this post, we’d like to give a big thanks to Jan Walker for putting on the potato feast in her home, as well as to the Gold Dust staff for planning and putting together the float.  It turned out great, and thanks to your dedication we’re able to show our involvement in the community.  See you all next Potato Festival!

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