EDITOR: I felt compelled to write you in regards to the column
Martin Cheek wrote about the orchards in Santa Clara County. It was
nice to know that I am not the only person who has noticed the
changes. I take these changes personally because these changes
represent the changes of my community and my family.
EDITOR:
I felt compelled to write you in regards to the column Martin Cheek wrote about the orchards in Santa Clara County. It was nice to know that I am not the only person who has noticed the changes. I take these changes personally because these changes represent the changes of my community and my family.
My great great great (you get the point) grandfather was Pierre Pellier and I am sixth-generation Santa Clara County, born and raised. I have grown up hearing the history of my family and how we are connected to this community. I remember the story of Pierre bring the prune cuttings by ship around the horn of Africa. During the voyage the ship’s water was rationed, so Pierre came up with the idea to ask the ship’s cook for potatoes. The cuttings were placed in the potatoes to help keep them alive until arrival in California.
A few years ago the French prune was still being raised by our family. My uncle needed to cut down his orchard in Morgan Hill for various reasons. He was the last of our family to have an orchard. My family takes great pride in being from Santa Clara County and that we have a history that not many families on the west coast can say they have.
I have not forgotten my “roots” or my history and will pass it on and hope to share it with others. I appreciate that you, too, have shared the history of The Valley of Heart’s Delight which has become Silicon Valley. I just hope that as the generations come and go they to will learn that this county has a diverse history and that it should be cherished and not forgotten.
Michelle Madrigal-Walters, Morgan Hill
