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Florida Blueberry Growers Association to set up shop in Brooksville

 
The Florida Blueberry Growers Association is coming to Brooksville.
The Florida Blueberry Growers Association is coming to Brooksville.
Published Sept. 27, 2014

BROOKSVILLE — For the past three years, Brooksville has enjoyed celebrity status as home to the state's largest blueberry celebration. Each April, the Florida Blueberry Festival attracts thousands to a two-day downtown street fest that pays homage to anything connected to the juicy indigo fruit.

In a couple of weeks, Brooksville will be able to boast one more accolade when it becomes the official home of the Florida Blueberry Growers Association.

Dudley Calfee, president of the association, said the move is the result of a collaboration with the Florida Blueberry Festival and marks the first time the 22-year-old organization has had a permanent home.

"Up until now, membership and board meetings have been held at various locations, mostly in Plant City," Calfee said. "But as the association has grown, we've realized that having a physical office would bring a lot of benefits we don't presently have."

Calfee said that the association will share space with the blueberry festival's headquarters at Brooksville City Hall, and that the two entities will share an administrative assistant who will oversee day-to-day operations.

Festival chairwoman Michael Heard called the arrangement a "win-win" for both groups as well as for the city, which has gained considerable attention as host of the blueberry festival.

"We've forged a strong partnership over the past few years," said Heard, who was once volunteer chairwoman and is now the paid director for the festival. "It made perfect sense to bring the growers association to an area that has worked hard to promote the blueberry industry."

The past decade or so has seen an explosion in the growth of Central Florida's 17-county "blueberry belt." Calfee estimates that between 5,000 and 8,000 acres are currently being used for cultivation of the fruit. The region's harvest season, which spans about eight weeks spanning March and April, places the first Florida-grown berries on the market each spring.

Calfee said that as the industry continues to evolve through the introduction of new hybrid varieties, more growers are likely to jump into the game.

"It's a relatively easy crop to grow once you learn the basics," he said. "Growers know that the berries are usually going to fetch a very good price at harvest."

The growers association has grown, as well, and now has more than 500 members that include growers, processors, distributors and others associated with the industry. The group's board of directors meets regularly and distributes a quarterly newsletter to members. The association's annual trade show and winter meeting are held in October at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa.

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Calfee said that he's not sure whether the association's board of directors has plans to hold future meetings in Brooksville, but said the topic likely will be discussed.

"Moving the day-to-day operations to Brooksville was a popular idea," he said. "I think everyone believes that we've built a strong relationship there that's going to grow as we move toward the future."

Contact Logan Neill at lneill@tampabay.com of (352) 848-1435.