Port Dover resident Deb Matthews enjoyed working at the Norfolk Fruit Growers’ Association (NFGA) so much that she stayed there for 46 years.
Matthews is the outgoing retail store manager for The Apple Place, the NFGA’s landmark store at the co-operative’s headquarters on Queensway East in Simcoe. She began working in the processing line on Oct. 4, 1978 before advancing to retail, becoming a fixture in the store and in the community.
Matthews officially retires at the end of October, and will be replaced by Kim Popkey of Tillsonburg, who comes to the job with much food retail experience. Training Popkey, who was hired in June, is one of Matthews’ last official duties.
“I’ve seen a lot of changes over the years after beginning in the processing line,” recalled Matthews, laughing.
Back then, said Matthews, the apples required more personal handling while in the line, from washing and hand grading them, then sending them down the line to the dryer and adding the “shine spray” before they were packed into purple trays. Today, much of the processing is done electronically.
Matthews said that the processing work was seasonal, but staff could choose to stay on to repair old wooden bins and clean up in order to work full time. She said that the wages were livable, with approximately 75 workers at the time, including truckers, packers and a small retail store.
After 11 years, her boss, Murray Churley, asked her to work at the store. Training her was Debbie Exelby, who had previously moved from packing to the store.
“It was a great change,” said Matthews about the move. “I had customer interaction and also with the apple growers -- it was just as if you’re running the store.”
The Apple Place was smaller then, with no bakery at the time, said Matthews. Upon Exelby’s retirement, she became the manager.
Being a manager means multitasking, from handling everything from inventory, store layout, working with the processing crew and other staff, even assisting in the increasingly busy bakery when Matthews had time. She greeted busloads of agri-tourists who came to visit the facility.
Matthews works 48-hour weeks, from Monday to Saturday; but she added, “I had summers off when the store was closed in order to regenerate.”
Store product increased during Matthews’ tenure, with everything from fair trade coffee to local condiments and foods from other apple processors appearing on the shelves. Gift baskets became popular, with Matthews’ daughter, Jessica, assembling them.
The Apple Place’s signature baked good – the apple cider doughnut – became a best-seller. Matthews assisted the NFGA in successfully lobbying Norfolk County Council to declare it as the County’s Official Doughnut in 2015.
Matthews witnessed apple varieties expand from the few “oldies” such as Ida Red, Mac, Spy and Cortland to approximately 20 varieties.
“Honeycrisp is the most popular, although it’s a toss-up between it and Ambrosia. And the Empire has been a biggie (for hand-eating) for years.”
“You know all of the local farmers too,” said Matthews. “There were at least 100 members when I began; they were little growers with small acreages. Now the orchards are bigger with fewer growers, but the volume and varieties have increased.”
Matthews has no regrets: “I loved both jobs; I had no qualms with either section.”
She looks forward towards time at home with husband Paul, who also worked for the NFGA.
Matthews admitted, ‘I will miss working with Kim. I will miss the regular customers, but I collected quite a few phone numbers to meet some of them over tea!”
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