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Photograph by David Heller
Yael Zoken, 5, reaches into a pail of freshly-picked cherries during the Orchard Heritage Blossom Faire.
History's Harvest
Orchard Heritage Park Interpretive Exhibit honors valley pioneers
By Michele Leung
For Sunnyvale city officials, it was a chance to display some civic pride, but for members of orchard families, the ground breaking of the Orchard Heritage Park Interpretive Exhibit took on the likes of a family reunion.
Before the Santa Clara Valley ruled with silicon chips, it was synonymous with apricots, prunes and walnuts. OHPIE is the valley's first exhibit that pays tribute to the area's agricultural roots and the families who tended "The Eden of the World."
Construction for the exhibit begins next month. A barn structure will be erected with panels that tell the story of an agricultural past. Companies that helped sustain the economy, like Food Machine Corporation, Del Monte and Beech-Nut Baby Foods, will be made prominent.
"At the beginning, I wanted to do something about the loss of a specific part of our history," said Joe Gutierrez, who spearheaded the OHPIE project. The exhibit has been in the works for 10 years and is slated to open in 2001.
Another aspect of the exhibit is the orchard industry Honor Roll. OHPIE organizers have already gathered the names of more than 300 orchard families who have been in the Santa Clara Valley and more are expected. Jacquie Anderson Magioncalda, who is in charge of putting together this permanent exhibit, remembers a childhood of picking apricots and walnuts. Magioncalda's ancestors-- grandfather Alex and father Ivan--worked their orchard in the Edenvale corner of San Jose for more than 50 years.
"At the time in high school, I wished my family lived closer to town because my school and friends were there. Now, I would give my eyes and teeth to raise my kids there," she said. She adds that in working with the exhibit, she recognized many of the names on the honor roll. "My parents talked about them, so they're familiar to me. It's nice to see their descendants, but many of the [old-timers] are gone," she said.
Photograph by David Heller
Joe and Joreta Battaglia of Sunnyvale spend some time examining a display of the proposed Orchard Heritage Park Interpretive Exhibit during the Orchard Heritage Blossom Faire in Sunnyvale.
The Bernals, another family with deep ties to the valley, have seen the Valley of the Heart's Delight grow up. Paul Bernal, currently a county superior court judge, recounts his family's history in the valley. The patriarch, Jose Joaquin Bernal, came from Spain in 1776 with an expedition team led by Juan Bautista De Anza. In 1826, the elder Bernal settled on a cattle ranch and tended a vineyard.
Despite being an eighth-generation member of a founding family in the valley, Paul Bernal isn't one to rest on his forefathers' laurels.
"What I like about this valley is that everyone is accepted," he said. "People from around the world come to this paradise and don't move on."
Similarly, Burt Malech understands that he can't look backwards either. Malech, who estimates he'll be in his orchard for one more year before it's removed to make way for freeway infrastructure, is stoic about his future. The Malech family has been in the industry for 40 years.
"You don't stand in front of a freight train," he says. "You'll get run over. You got to get off the track."
Attendants who came to the ground breaking ceremony wore their family's history with pride. Family members identified themselves with special gold nametags, but Eugene Butcher went the extra mile. While the crowd enjoyed their barbequed lunch, Butcher bought 12 commemorative bricks for each member of his family.
In 1872, Rolla Butcher, Sr., settled on Butcher's Corner, which currently sits on Fremont and Wolfe, and produced cherries and apricots. Five generations later, Eugene Butcher feels that the bricks are an excellent way for others to learn about the area's past, especially since he doesn't talk much about it these days. "I'm drawing a picture that people can't imagine," he said.
It is this change from the past to the present that Gutierrez had in mind when he first dreamed of this project. "I want to have people who are part of it to remember it as well. This is a memorial to our agricultural roots," he said. "It's time we move forward, but this is just a scrapbook of our family. This is a living history."
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
