In Loving Memory of our Matriarch
Wanda as crew leader during apple harvest
As we wind down the month of May, I wanted to take a moment to shine a spotlight on one of our most favorite people, the matriarch of the family, Wanda Oakes. Wanda passed away last month at the age of 93, completely pain-free and mentally sharp as a tack. It was just her time to go, and up until her very last day, she kept repeating the same sentiment to all who came to shower love upon her – “I am just so blessed”. But so are all those who knew and loved her. To know Wanda Oakes was to know true kindness, selfless generosity, and gentle humility.
At the service celebrating Wanda’s life, those present were invited to share stories about her. There were stories about her as a mother, as a grandmother, as a friend, as an international traveler, as a barbershop singer, as a crew leader on the farm, and more. But one memory was shared by many present and really stood out as a key moment of the day.
Wanda’s granddaughter Katie stood up to recount a vivid memory of her childhood – of making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with her beloved grandma. But these weren’t just any peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. These were dozens of PB&J sandwiches, made daily during the cherry harvest season for our hardworking farm crews.
Cherry Harvest
Up until a few years ago, LynOaken Farms grew tart cherries – a lot of tart cherries – they were our second largest crop after apples. Cherries ripened and were ready for harvest in the middle of July, when temperatures can soar and humidity can be oppressive. Cherries need to be harvested in cooler temperatures, when their skin and flesh are still relatively firm. As the temperatures rose throughout the day, the cherries would soften and would be much more susceptible to damage. Cherries can be harvested mechanically, unlike apples which are harvested only by hand. For each cherry harvest crew, there would be a mechanical harvester which would move methodically from tree to tree, gently clamping the machinery around each trunk, then vigorously shaking the trunk. The shaking would cause the ripe cherries to fall into two sloped trays that were the diameter of the tree canopy. The cherries would then roll onto a tarp, then moved up a conveyer belt that would deposit the harvested crop into big tanks full of ice water. All of this involved quite a bit of impact on the cherry fruit – hitting the sloped trays, tumbling over the conveyer belt, dumping into the ice tanks – and they needed to be as firm as possible to withstand the physical battery provoked by the mechanical harvest. To ensure firm fruit and an undamaged crop, our workers would start their cherry harvesting shifts extremely early in the morning, often at 5am. But 5am was a LONG way off from lunchtime! And our crews got hungry!
Enter Wanda Oakes and her PB&J sandwich buffet! Every morning of cherry harvest, the crews would take a break at 9am. And at every 9am break, Wanda would arrive with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for each and every crew member in the orchards. Wanda would also often be the caretaker of the kids of family members involved in the farm, and whichever grandkids happened to be home with her at that time would help her make the sandwiches. There was a specific way to do it – line up two vertical rows of 9 slices of bread. Peanut butter on one side, jelly on the other, slap them together, cut them in half, and then load them back into the empty bread bags. Wanda made sure that dietary restrictions were taken into consideration and always had no-sugar options for those who needed them.
Wanda and Leon
The sandwiches were legendary, and as everyone working those cherry harvesting crews can attest - never has PB&J tasted so good. Wanda made those sandwiches every day during cherry harvest for over forty years… generations of her children and grandchildren either helped her make the sandwiches at home when they were too little to work, or knew the sheer joy of being a crew member at that 9am break, seeing her drive up to the orchard, bags of PB&J in hand, coolers of Kool-Aid in the back.
So these weren’t just any peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and these weren’t just Wanda’s granddaughter Katie’s memories. After Katie shared her story of making the PB&J sandwiches with her Grandma, Wanda’s son Darrel stood up and asked the packed church “Who else has memories of making or eating those peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?” Almost half of those present that day raised their hands.
PB&J, Wanda-style! Special refreshment at the banquet after her funeral
As the service was winding down, there was one last person who wanted to share a memory of Wanda. Leon Harris, one of two brothers who have worked for our farm for over 30 years, stood up and said in his distinctive southern drawl - “I’m one of the ones who was waiting for those peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and let me tell you, Wanda was like an angel coming through the orchard with those sandwiches!” It was funny and touching and further evidence of just how many people benefited from Wanda’s love and generosity.
Later that day, as all of Wanda’s family and friends celebrated her long and well-lived life at a banquet at our winery, her grandson Jonathan filled one end of the snack table with bags of PB&J sandwiches, just like how she would make them during cherry harvest. And as people ate and talked and laughed and reminisced about this wonderful woman who had touched us all, it was clear that her spirit lives on, her presence and her love remains at the core of this family, this business, this community that she helped to build.
We love you, Wanda D. Oakes!