Dublin Grange honors Valley residents

Debbie Pifer, manager of White House Fruit Farm in Canfield, was honored as Outstanding Community Citizen of the Year at the April meeting of Dublin Grange in Canfield.

She became the 38th honoree by the Grange over the years, highlighting a person who makes a strong contribution to the community, especially in the field of agriculture.

The Hull family has been at the same location for almost 200 years, Pifer explained, as a part of the neighboring Baird family original homestead of 640 acres bought in the early 1800s. Pifer’s grandfather, Jerome Hull, saved the farm from foreclosure in 1920 to start a fruit and turkey operation that was huge at one time, but now the focus is fresh fruit and vegetables, with doughnuts as a strong seller.

Pifer explained some of the advantages and problems of a family operation, but stressed that they still look back to their roots when making business decisions.

Also honored were Golden Sheaf members with more than 50 years of continuous membership. Jack Mauch, formerly of Greenford, has 71 years, while Paul Manchester, Esther Snyder, Marian Manchester, Vera Brown, and Vada Reel have more than 60 years. Elsie DeHoff and Ken Reel each have 52 years of service.

Final honorees were past masters, including Bill DeHoff, Jack Mauch, Zella Baker, Vera Brown, David Corll, along with Ken, Gary and Vada Reel.

Dublin Grange was founded south of Canfield in 1894 and has been in its present location since 1940.