Taunton Daily Gazette, 11/20/1996

A tale of berry good family trades

Cranberries are a way of life for a pair of area familiies

by Sarah G. Merrill

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from the article:

Thanks to Grandfather

Betty E. Brown can thank her grandfather Milo for her Finn heritage and for the cranberry bogs he started in 1939.

Her family has 35 acres of bogs and about 280 acres of support land, including a resevoir, sand pits and gravel.

Mrs. Brown hasn't spent all her time on Korpinen Cranberries, her family bog. She's a Ph.D. and works as the reference librarian at Middleboro Public Library.

Her family's involvement with the bog isn't just business, it's a love. Cranberry bogs, as a wetland crop, provide a wildlife habitat as a natural bonus.

For some unknown reason, perhaps because Finland has so many wild berries, an inordinate amount of Finns became cranberry growers in this region.

She remembered her childhood, where she would help out during the harvest. Her grandmother paid her 50 cents for her one day's work. Mrs. Brown keeps that documentation of her first work as a reminder, framed on her desk.

During the harvest Mrs. Brown takes flex time from her library duties and works the loading crew in the bog waters.

How long does she work?

"As many hours a day as it takes to get it done," she said, adding that there's no such things as a sick day during harvest. There's also no such thing as a day off.

Her husband, Hal, a psychotherapist, worked side-by-side with David Chase, husband of Mrs. Brown's cousins, and some hired hands to haul in the crop. Mrs. Brown's father and uncle planned to stop by too.

Like Mrs. Gates, Mrs. Brown monitored the weather, hoping nippy nights redden the berries to a burning red.

We're really hopeful" for a good crop, Mrs. Brown said. She didn't want to jinx her crop by quoting numbers, but said it looked good, especially in comparison to last year's dry season.