Umatilla Citrus History Celebrated

    Umatilla’s Citrus History was celebrated on Monday, as two locations in town became the first sites to unveil large placards as part of a new Lake County Citrus Label Tour. Designed to showcase the county’s rich citrus past, the two sites will join at least ten others from around the county in drawing people to learn more about how citrus shaped Lake County over the last 100 years.
    “These are portals,” said program organizer John Jackson on Monday. Jackson, a retired Lake County extension agent, organized the Lake County citrus label project after seeing a similar program in Polk County, with support from the Lake County Historical Society. Pointing to the bottom of a sign placed at the Umatilla museum, Jackson pointed out how using the QR code on each sign will send interested users to a website full of citrus history, as well as to signs elsewhere in the county.
    “My goal is to have a website chock-full of pictures and stories,” he said. “These are stories that we can tell and need to be told.”
    Jackson shared a few of those stories, including how the late Lawrence Atkinson, himself a Lake County citrus icon came to be in Umatilla. Newer residents can still see Atkinson’s office and a storage area, sitting just north of the football field at Umatilla High School.
    “Lawrence told the story of how he got to Umatilla,” Jackson said, recounting a tale of Atkinson’s father deciding to move the family south from Georgia, getting a flat tire in Umatilla and deciding ‘this looks as good as anywhere.’ Longtime residents will cheer that fortuitous flat, remembering Atkinson’s many contributions to the community over the years that went well beyond his business acumen.
    Umatilla, once known as the golden buckle of the citrus belt, was a popular place to grow citrus, as in the early 1900s its proximity to the St. Johns River allowed for easier transportation north. Many families that were in the citrus industry were on hand Monday to mark the occasion of remembering citrus' impact here.
    "We used mules," said fourth-generation Lake County resident Dixie Royal while describing the early days before motorized equipment was available.   "They could stand the heat a lot better than horses." Royal reminded the nearly 50 people in attendance that at one time, Lake County was the second most producing citrus county in the state. Among the larger producers was the Grand Island Fruit Company, where Royal worked for 42 years and is remembered by the name it took on in 1951 - Golden Gem Growers.
    “During the heyday, Golden Gem would have 1,200 employees. We had 40,000 heaters. That’s a lot of heaters to light on a cold night.”
    The Umatilla Citrus Growers’ Association Duckhead label is represented on a sign, with Doris Mabry on hand to reflect and reminisce on her long history with the association that even today sends its fruit to Citrus World, packager of the Florida’s Natural brand juice.
    “I packed many boxes of that,” Mabry said while looking at the large sign with the Duckhead label. “That was our US #1 packing label.”
    Mabry has been with Umatilla Citrus Growers for 42 years, including back when the co-op operated its packing house at the corner of SR 19 and CR 450 West where a Circle K convenience store now stands.
    Times have changed.
    “I’m the only employee left,” said Mabry, who now runs the association’s office on CR 450 NE near the North Lake Community Park.
    Longtime Umatilla resident and Umatilla Fruit Company man Charles Calhoun was on hand to witness the unveiling of the Red Warrior label along with members of the Dillard family.
    “Grandaddy and Barney Dillard were partners,” Calhoun said on Monday. “When they divided the company, Barney took everything in the south, and Granddaddy took everything in the north.”
    Red Warrior was a featured label of the firm, with Calhoun noting he believed that label outsold all the others represented on Monday, combined. “It went for 40 years!,” he said.
    Indeed, a popular label was worth keeping around, as explained by Glenn Tyre, who was in attendance on Monday to oversee the unveiling of a sign recognizing Tyre family labels.
    “A label could be very valuable. If a packing house was shutting down for any reason and had a good label, people would fight to get that label.”
    Tyre's family operated Umatilla Packers out of a packing house that still stands on SR 19 at the corner of Golden Gem Drive. The family operated the location from the early 1960s, but has a much deeper link to citrus, with ancestors settling in Lake County in 1925 to grow citrus in the Yalaha area.
    “We never lived in Umatilla, we lived in Eustis,” Tyre said. “But Umatilla has always been special to us.”
    In fact, the two ceremonies on Monday, one dedicating a sign at the Umatilla Historical Museum and another just a few blocks away at Cadwell Park, served as a sort of citrus reunion.
    “I bet half of the Umatilla citrus industry is represented here,” said Jackson at one point. Stories and goodwill were shared, and fond memories were brought to the fore, including the camaraderie that existed among growers.
    “We were in competition, but people helped each other,” Tyre said. “Or maybe they just felt sorry for us, as we were smaller!”
    The four signs in Umatilla, two-sided each, were privately funded by the following:
    Duckhead: Umatilla Citrus Growers Association - sponsor Greater Umatilla Historical Society/Dalton Yancey/Elliott Seabrook/Chuck Allison/Winkie Kennedy/Cliff Whitaker.
    Golden Gem Growers - sponsor Greater Umatilla Historical Society/Dalton Yancey, Elliott Seabrook/Chuck Allison/Cliff Whitaker/Winkie Kennedy.
    Red Warrior: Umatilla Fruit Company - sponsor Family of Barney Dillard, Jr.
    Indian Warrior/Tyre’s Pride/Miss Atlanta/Atlanta Maid: Palm Terrace Fruit Company and Umatilla Packers, Inc. - sponsor Tyre Family in honor of James B. Tyre, Jr.
    Additional unveilings are planned for Eustis, Tavares, Howey-in-the-Hills, Mount Dora, Leesburg, Mascotte, Groveland, and Clermont. To learn more, visit www.historyoflakecountycistrus.com.