Farmer dedicates research center to father

CRYSTAL – Arthur Shur told a group of more than 100 people Friday that he credited his father, Jacob, with helping him succeed in life. So it appeared natural for the Island Falls farmer to help dedicate a premier research facility early that afternoon to the memory of his dad.

Despite the threat of rain and an unseasonable chill in the air, a crowd of area residents, local and state representatives and University of Maine officials joined Gov. John Baldacci to christen the Jacob Shur Research Facility in Crystal. The massive building and its three greenhouses were a gift to the university from Arthur Shur. His father, Jacob, was a well-known Aroostook County farmer and business owner who died in 1980.

The agricultural and forest experiment station will allow researchers to conduct tests, and will aid in the production of disease-free plants and propel advanced tissue-culture techniques. The site will accommodate up to a million plants, officials said on Thursday.

Numerous friends and relatives of the Shur family packed into a tent adjacent to one of the sites’ vast greenhouses to hear the speakers’ remarks.

“Jacob Shur was a farmer himself, and I can think of no better honor than to dedicate this facility in his name,” Baldacci said during the ceremony.

Baldacci was joined by officials from U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe’s offices, along with a representative for Congressman Mike Michaud. State Agriculture Commissioner Robert Spear also attended Thursday’s ceremony.

“Potatoes are one of the largest commodities we have in this state,” Spear told the crowd. “We need to do more research to meet consumer demands, and this facility will move our state forward.”

Rep. Henry Joy of Crystal, who was joined at the ceremony by Rep. Raymond Wotton, a retired Littleton dairy and potato farmer, told the audience that he “lived in the shadow of the facility” and was pleased to see it established in the town.

“If we can all pull together and support this, I don’t see why this facility can’t grow into something tremendous,” Joy said. “I would like to express many thanks to Arthur Shur and his family.”

Shur was presented with a plaque dedicating the facility by G. Bruce Wiersma, director of the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station. Shur, who said that he farmed for 15 years with his father before his death, addressed the crowd briefly during the event.

“My father showed me that you can start with something and it may not work out,” Shur said, “but it may just turn into something good. Without him, I wouldn’t be here, and this facility would not be here.”

Many guests at the event walked away from the facility with a token of things to come. Researchers gave visitors sprawling pots of the UMaine daisy, which was developed by university horticulturists. Supplies of the perennial flower, which had blossomed over a foot tall in many containers, were quickly exhausted on Thursday afternoon.

“If you didn’t get a daisy,” Wiersma told the crowd, “just leave us your name. We’ll grow you one.”