Wild blueberries retain place at Big E

ELLSWORTH – The Maine Wild Blueberry Commission on Friday reluctantly voted to continue its presence at the Eastern States Exposition, or Big E, in Springfield, Mass., this year.

Commissioners were split on the value of having the wild blueberry industry represented at the Big E, and were concerned that it was too late in the year to begin planning for the exposition. But they agreed that they did not want the burden of planning the booth to fall on commission executive director David Bell.

In the end, they left it up to Bell to determine how extensive a presence the commission should have.

Commissioner David Kilton noted that almost two years ago, the commission had decided to leave the participation at the Big E up to the industry, and to remove the commission and Bell from involvement in the planning and operation of the booth at the exposition.

A committee of growers and processors met during the past year and developed a concept for a booth at the Big E, according to Bell, but never developed a concrete plan for running it. Based on that concept, however, the commission made a commitment to the Department of Agriculture to participate at the exhibition this year. The issue was further complicated by the major renovation of the State of Maine building at the exposition that will reduce the amount of space the commission has for its booth.

“We’ll have about a third of the space we’ve had in the past,” Bell said.

In the past, the commission has operated a booth that sold wild blueberry products, including wild blueberry ice cream. Some commissioners argued that has been a very popular attraction at the fair and has provided some income to offset the expenses of maintaining the booth.

“It does present our product in a pretty good light to a lot of people,” said Commissioner Sanford Kelley.

Commissioner Sid Reynolds agreed, noting that it was important to have something open to the public.

“You can talk to 100,000 people there and it might not mean anything, but there could be that one person you talk to that could make all the difference in the world,” he said.

It would be a “shot in our foot” to lose that presence at the exposition, Reynolds added. “We can’t afford to lose that momentum.”

But other commissioners questioned the value of being at the Big E. Commissioner Del Merrill said flatly that it was a “waste of time.”

“I haven’t noticed an increase in sales as a result of being there,” Merrill said.

He moved that the commission postpone any participation at the Big E until 2002, when “we can do it right.”

Commissioner Gary Willey agreed in part, noting that the presence at the Big E “doesn’t do squat for selling blueberries,” but he was reluctant to pull away from the venue altogether.

“We’re a major player in the state in terms of agriculture,” he said. “When you see a Maine building there, I think blueberries should have a presence in that building.”

Merrill’s proposal to wait a year was defeated by a 5-2 vote of the commission. Willey then suggested that the level of participation be left to Bell’s discretion based on the amount of help he can get and what would take the least amount of his time.

Bell had presented the commissioners with two options for a booth at the exposition. One would continue to provide food service to visitors; the other would be a trade show type booth that would provide handouts to visitors. The first requires more upfront planning, Bell said, but is easier to run once the exposition begins.

Tom Rush of Cherryfield Foods, one of the members of the industry committee who had worked on the Big E plan, urged the commissioners to continue its presence and to continue with the food service option if possible. He said he saw that option as a future venue for his company and others to sell product directly to the consumer, although he added that they did not have a product ready for this year’s event.

The commissioners voted 5-0, with commissioners Merrill, David Kilton and Chairman Roy Allen not voting, to proceed with plans for a booth at the exposition and to let Bell decide which option to pursue. Bell said after Friday’s session that the decision will depend on what people are available to work at the fair and their level of expertise. Rush and several commissioners said they thought they could help find people to organize the booth.

The commissioners plan to revisit the issue at their regular November meeting.