PINEY RIVER — Paul Saunders, 84, is writing a book about the people who have worked at Saunders Brothers through the years, and is looking for former workers of the 103-year-old orchard who would like to be included.
“For the last 78 years, I have been part of this business one way or another,” Saunders said on Friday in his office. “I’ve met so many nice people, I decided I wanted to recognize the people who worked here during the summer and winter; mostly summer… I want them to feel happy that these are memories. This was a spot in a person’s life.”
Saunders so far has about 300 people whose names he remembers, but about 1,000 people have worked at the orchard, he said. Currently, Saunders Brothers employs more than 100 people.
Former workers who would like to be included in the “Peach Picking Time in Piney River” book can send a photo and written account of their time working on the farm by May 15 — a message Saunders wrote in a classified ad in Nelson County Times last week.
Among those featured are people who have long since left the farm, such as a radiologist in Williamsburg, a California resident who remembered packing fruit in the shed or a man who went on to serve as a pilot in the Vietnam War, Saunders said.
Saunders said Darrell Laurant — a longtime columnist for The News & Advance, now retired — is writing the book with him.
The book begins with the history of the farm and follows a chronological order from there, Saunders said, adding many local residents from surrounding communities in Nelson and Amherst counties worked on the farm in 1940s and 1950s.
The three-month harvest season fit well as a summer job, because it meant money for young earners, Saunders said.
Charlie Earl Martin, 78, has been working on the farm since he was 15 years old.
“He’s helped us since he was a youngster,” Saunders said about Martin. “[He is] a guy that knew the farm by heart; his dad worked here on the farm. It’s people like him that made farming so worthwhile.”
Martin said his father and uncles worked at Saunders Brothers, as well. Martin said he stuck around for the fresh air and rural life.
“It’s been good,” Martin said. “You could not find a better fella to work for.”
Frank Sirois works on maintenance for the 290 pieces of heavy equipment on the farm. Come July, he will have worked on the farm for 40 years, he said.
“They always take care of us and keep us on our toes,” Sirois said.
Clinton Willoughby has worked at Saunders Brothers for 11 years now, he said. He started as a “water boy” for fruit pickers when he was 11 years old; when he turned 15, he began picking.
“It’s like a family atmosphere,” Willoughby said.
Saunders has attracted its share of family members who work there together. Sarah Collins has worked in sales for 25 years; her mom previously worked on the farm and her sister, Terry Miller, daily operations manager, works on the farm, too. Miller has worked at Saunders Brothers for 33 years, because “it’s family grown and they treat us like family,” she said.
As time went on, Saunders Brothers had more competition in the area and had fewer workers for various reasons, Saunders said. Saunders Brothers lost fruit in 1978, because it did not have enough workers to pick the crop, and began employing migrant workers from Mexico who live in permanent housing on the orchard, Saunders said. Now, most of the pickers are migrant workers, Saunders said.
Mario Alejandro Cervantes Hernandez has worked at the orchard for 11 years, returning for part of the year to Jalisco, a state in western Mexico. He works from February to November, he said in Spanish, adding the work is dependable and Piney River is quiet.
Saunders said he has been working on this book for five years, gathering 500 pictures for about 200 pages; he hopes to finish the book by mid-June.
“I’m ready in a sense to close the gate [on this book], but I’m almost afraid,” Saunders said. “Who am I missing?”