TRAVERSE CITY — Judy and Glenn LaCross own Leelanau Fruit Company in Suttons Bay and about 10 orchards in the Leelanau County area.
Judy said she has been involved with the National Cherry Festival for about 45 years. She remembers bringing her son Ben to the events when he was a toddler.
But it was around 1979 that she was asked to join the cherry promotion committee.
“They wanted to connect more with growers,” LaCross said.
Some of her early roles included surveying area restaurants to see who was serving cherry products and designing placemats.
“We tried to make sure when people come to Traverse City, they would get cherries,” she said.
In the 1980s, she made dessert for the Very Cherry Luncheon at the Park Place Hotel. She said the growers made cherry-themed treats in their home kitchens and brought them to the ticketed event.
In 1985 or so, she said she took over the cherry promotion committee as the event director. She helped establish a greeting booth at the Cherry Festival. They gave out recipes and product samples.
“I did that for many years,” LaCross said. “We really expanded our reach.”
The committee also started the Orchard Tours and More event, though LaCross said it may have been called something else back then. They wanted to bring people to the Northwest Michigan Horticulture Research Center for educational activities.
After directing, about 15 years ago, she was asked to join the festival’s board of governors. She served for several years.
“There was never a cherry person on their board when I was asked,” she said. “We educated the board about what’s happening with our business at any time of the year.”
Since then, she said she is “semi-retired,” helping out when needed — mainly to provide tours and facilitate educating the National Cherry Queen when she visits the LaCross farms.
She and her husband Glenn won a National Cherry Festival Industry Couple of the Year Award in 2004.