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Paul F. Aoki (1967)

The tomato industry got taken over by big industry in the Central Valley, no longer in Woodland. The canneries moved to Modesto, closer to big industry farming. Regarding the mechanical tomato harvestor,

I wanted to add a different prespective  The harvester changed the tomato business around Woodland  Not all changes were good for everyone  For the farm workers who came from Mexico to earn money to support their families, those jobs were gone  For the family business owned tomato farmer, it was a big capial investment in harvesters and additional equipment to harvest tomatoes  One harvester could cost $100,000 and each tractor could run $50,000-$70,000  The tomato changed to a new variety which was developed at UCD  Those tomatoes were hardy to withstand being harvested with more bumping around and able not to be crushed under hundreds of other tomatoes in large bins  I think the tomato lost its taste; it was used for tomato paste, pizza sauce, but not used as a canning tomato to be eaten whole or sliced  

I am glad I didn't go into farming  I went into high tech in the Silicon Valley  Many farmers were hit hard by the water draught  If you were a tomato farmer in Woodland who spent your whole life building a business, I don't think you would agree that the mechanical tomato harvester was an improvement  

Joel Childers (1966)

Thanks for the great stories about Spreckels. My older brother worked there for awhile too. While Mary and I were vacationing in Maui, we visited the town of Spreckelsville, another company town created by Adolph Spreckels. C&H eventually ran him out of Maui. Did you know that C&H stands for California and Hawaii? 

My Dad worked at the Contadina Cannery for awhile before I was born. He told us that there were rats up in the rafters that would occassionally fall into the big vats of sauce. Of course, he told us this while we were at the dinner table eating speghetti. Anybody else work for Contadina?

Don Murdoch (1962)

I worked 4 summers at Contadina loading railcars,  The great Ed Dowell was my boss.  Great guy.

Vern Larson (1960)

Hey Don! I also worked at Contadina loading rail cars for Ed Dowell. Phil Persson was also a fork lift operator. Ed would bring us cases of tomatoes on a pallet with his forklift. He had the steering wheel tightened down super tight so as to give him a workout while steering. I knew Ed was a great athlete and I challenged him to a foot race just to see how fast he was. We took off and he toyed with me letting me lead for a short while. About half way to the finish line he opened up and beat me by 15 yards. It was fun to see his speed! Ed passed away in 2015. RIP Ed.

Paul Lieberum (1968)

Another memory from working at Spreckels....a bunch of my friends were tasked to sweep a giant warehouse which could take most of a day. Hot, boring work! At the rear of the warehouse was a tall stack of sacks of something that if you were on top of, you could not be seen from the floor so naturally, one of us had the bright idea that we could take turns napping up there while the rest swept. On my one and only attempt at this, just as I was dozing off, felt something on my chest. Woke to see a giant RAT! I was so freaked, it took all of my strength to move my hand an inch which was enough to scare the rat off. Never did that again!

Janet Long (Levers) (1966)

I also worked at Contadina, in the bacteriology lab, in 1969; very interesting job-I had to take samples in all sorts of out-of the way places so got to go all over the facility.

On another note, I'm sure many of you had Dr. Wm. Robinson as your pediatrician; he just passed away and there was a marvelous obituary in the Daily Democrat. I'm hoping it will get posted in our "Other Obits' section. His son, Rick, was in Class of '67.

Theresa Eve (1964)

Contadina Cannery, you could smell the tomatoes from miles away.  Paul, thanks for all the history on the impact of the tomato harvester on the farmers and laborers.  My father worked at Contadina's for the summers, jumping over the hugs boiling pots to check the temperatures.  His dark glasses changed to white from the high temperature.  That ended that job.  He then worked at the Yolo County Fairgrounds in charge of the Home Arts Building each summer; a much more rewarding job.  

Kay Most (Chapman) (1962)

My Dad, Don Most, worked at Contadina, originally Matmor Cannery.  I remember he worked with Gary Warren's dad (Gary = class of 1960 or 1961), and I think Mr. Warren was his boss.  For a # of years, Dad just worked "season" in the warehouse at the cannery and did our farm the rest of the time.  And I remember Ed Dowell attending a party at our house.  He was quite the runner.  Eventually, Dad went full time in the warehouse and was transferred to Contadina in Riverbank.  I used to have a book--no more, unfortunately--that referenced Al Capone's days in Chicago and some of the mobsters that became involved in what was Matmor Cannery.  I think a branch was in San Jose as well.  Perhaps it was used to help launder money?  So many of the canneries are now gone.  Contadina in Riverbank is now closed and torn down.  Does the spot in Woodland have anything going on there at this time?

James Crandall (1961)

I worked as a Southern Pacific brakeman in the summers between my college and dental school years, seven summers.   The Woodland local was a job I got called on many times.  We did a lot of switching out drops and pickups at the Spreckles plant.  We didn't go via the Sacramento Northern tracks but from Roseville through Davis and up the West Valley tracks to Woodland.  And always in the middle of the night.  

Greg Kareofelas (1962)

Hi Bernard

I'm looking thru some of the old Birthday Party Photos, I might be able to find one of Sues, with you there. That was one of the few things that got photos taken of - birthday parties. Mom's cakes were delicious :-)  And yes, our Woodland house was on Fifth Street, one house from the corner of Beamer. As a kid I could hang out at the Matroni Planing mill watching them make cabinets and beautiful woodwork. I could go to their cutoff scrapt bin and always find pieces of wood to build things with. Fond Memories

Greg Kareofelas (1962)

To everyone with tomato harvester memories, that was a little after my summer job - part time work. Paul's correct, things changed with the harvester - especially the tsste of the tomato. My "Tomato memoriy" is: "My uncle John's friend Floyd Meyers raised tomatoes in the Elkhorn District and I "picked for two days". A truck would bring a crew of Mexican Nationals and we would get our Lug Box and you would pick until it was full. And then carry it back to a flat bed truck. You had to be careful as these tomatoes were not like the rocks they call tomatoes today and being they were going to pick the same plants a number of times, you had to be careful and not hurt the green ones. Even as a healthy strong High school kid, it was BRUTAL. The workers who did that for the whole season, had my admiration

John Michael Somero (1967)

Tim Galloway and I drove the trucks hauling the double fiberglass trailers full of mechanically harvested tomatoes from the fields to the Contadina cannery.  I'll confirm the rodent stories.  I occasionally saw a mouse, or rat, or snake float up to the conveyor that brought the tomatoes from the wash-out trough to the cannery.  It was great part-time work.

Bernard Rocksvold (1965)

Hi Greg,

I too searched the Matroni cutoff scrap bin. Found enough wood to build a tree house in the pepper tree behind the Logenour house at the corner of Fifth and Clover. We also collected the dunnage from the rail cars delivering lumber to Matroni's. My dad used the dunnage to build bedrooms on our house at 112 Fifth st. every time a couple more kids were born. Yes! the memories of a much less complicated time.

Paul F. Aoki (1967)

Andrea,

I'm living in the Bay Area trying to survive without getting Covid 19. My county has the most deaths and infections. Santa Clara is opening more businesses because we just changed colors from purple to red. I'm looking forward to my gym opening. I've been doing improvement around the house and yard to keep active.  Good thing I didn't get into the tomato farming business. Instead, I worked in an air conditioned office for 45 years. My uncle who was a farmer shook my hand and said, "Your hands are softer than a woman's hand!" That's what 45 years of computer typing and pencil pushing does. I'm still in good shape and enjoying retirement. 

Gary Wegener (Wegener) (1966)

The old Woodland cannery is now Pacific Coast Producers.  The acquired and completely automated the old cannery ~15-20 yrs ago.  My daughter affectionately refers to the cannery during tomato season as "the smell of the economy".

Vern Larson (1960)

Kay Mosts father, Don Most, was instrumental in my being hired at Contadina. He was very good man! One of my jobs was working night shift at a conveyor belt with cans to be boxed and loaded on a pallet. I would get off work and go to high school. I had Mr. Mosher for one of my classes and it seems I was always falling asleep. He must have known I was working night shift and never once called attention to the fact I was sleeping or tried to embarrassed me. Another good man! 

David Swigert (1963)

 Growing up in Woodand for me was the changing smells caused by the varried winds.  The South  West winds brought the onion smell from Vacaville . The  stockyard smells from Dixon.  Fresh pop corn smells from the Sunset DriveIn theartre.  It was a treat to go to the drive in with my family.  We took our sugar smack cereal because my dad said the popcorn there was to expensive.  Once in awhile my mom woulld take our own popcorn and koolaid in a big jug.   The smell of burning garbage from the old Garbage dump.   The wind carried the smells from the Morman pounds, Sprekels Sugar Co., Sprekels Sugar holding ponds, Marks Feed Lot and slaughter house.   Contadina Cannery, seasonal smells like tomatos and peaches.   Oakland Bean Cleaning in Knights Landing once in awhile.   Numerous Grain Elevators, Grain and Rice Mills surrounding Woodland.   Sanitary Dairy.    A  chicken rendering facility on North and Elm Street  I believe.  Killed them, cleaned them and  wrapped them.    There was a  small slaughter facility north of Kentucky Ave on N College St., Sheep and Hogs I think.   They all had their unique smells I will never forget.  Tar smells from roofing  companies.   The spraying of mosquitos in the Summer.  I'm sure we all have our favorite Woodland smells.

Howard Amen (1966)

Haha. Greg and Bernard, I have to tell you because my wife is making me. Her grandfather was J.G. Motroni. She took offense that you spelled it wrong.. She remembers that there were many little kids that would dig through the scrap pile to make things. She and her siblings would make boats and scooters. I think Rick Tozzi's dad was one of the cabinet makers. I was told that someone was trying to remodel a kitchen and they couldnt get the cabinets apart with just a crowbar, they actually had to use a sledge hammer because how well they built them. 

Anna Lopez (Northam) (1963)

My aunts and my mom and 2 uncles worked at the cannery for many years  a few of them retired from the cannery. 

Gary Wegener (Wegener) (1966)

I still enjoy the smell of fresh mowed alfhalfa fields, and on the downside, whiffs of the sewage ponds or cannery process water treatment fields east of Gibson/102 (though all that got corrected around 15 yrs ago).  And yes, you could always tell you were driving past Vacaville because of the onion smell, but that is gone now and instead, you see a sign for the Vacaville "Cultural" Center.  Who would have thought?

Donald Daily (1961)

One of my favorite smells was the fresh rolled oats we would get from the mill at Beamer and West St. North East corner. We would pick up a bag for the chickens and I could not wait to grab a handfull to put into my mouth still warm, uuumm good. Anybody remember that mill?

Carol Dunton (Stone) (1968)

Thank you David Swigert for describing the wonderful smells around Woodland.  It was nice to grow up in an area where so many smells were part of our upbringing.  But don't forget the smell of airplanes flying by (dropping pesticides near our homes).  I grew up two houses off Gibson Rd with fields being sprayed on the other side of Gibson Rd.  We didn't know what pesticides did to us then but it was such a great childhood!

Bernard Rocksvold (1965)

Howard,

I blame Greg for the spelling mistake....... He's older and should have known better. LMAO!

David Stotts (1965)

Howard-To follow up on your post about Motroni's Lumber Company.  My mother Reta Stotts was the office manager there for many years.  I worked there for a couple of summers and on my Christmas vacations (doing their yearly inventory-counting every paint brush, nuts and bolts, etc.).  You are correct-Rick Tozzi's dad was one of the bosses at the mill part of Motroni's.  Ron Carston worked at the mill for years. Our one time Mayor Frank Heard (Stan's dad) ran the company.  Doug Motroni was one of the owners-not sure about Frank.  I had the pleasure of working for Cliff Harder in the yard those couple of summers-great guy.  Steven Gillete was working there full time.  I remember going out on the truck with deliveries with loads of lumber and 100 lb sacks of cement.  Pretty sure it was Doyle Phillips dad (nice man) that I worked with on those deliveries-correct me if I'm wrong.  Fun place to work-the people that worked there stayed on for years.  It was one of Woodland's long time establishments.

Doyle Phillips (1961)

Dave, Joe Motroni, Doug father hired Frank Heard in 32 at the age of 18 to be Bookkeeper and sales person for the J.G.Motroni Mill and lumber Company.  Frank became a partner in the company and they changed the name to Motroni / Heard Lumber Company.  In 32 when Joe hired Frank Doug was only 11.  Frank was first elected Mayor in 51 then again in 54 and 56. Yes, my dad was J.D. or John and worked there many years.