The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON - The Green Giant has only been gone from Dayton since 2005, but people in town have already forgotten what a force it used to be in the community, says Dayton booster Ginny Butler.

"Growing up in Dayton, I knew it was the major employer for many years," Butler said. "I remember in the '60s, you could work all summer long and earn enough to pay for a whole year of college, at $3,000. There is no job a kid can get today that will pay for a year of college in just three months."

To remind visitors and residents of the rich Green Giant history in the Touchet Valley, Butler and her colleagues with the Dayton Historical Depot Society have set up a Green Giant exhibit upstairs in the depot to open on March 1 and run through October 1.

"It's just such an interesting part of the town's history," said Butler, who lives now in Spokane but continues to support Dayton through investments and involvement in improvement groups. "It seems like the more I learn about it, the more interesting it is."

Every spring around 2,800 migrants from Southern Texas and Mexico would come to Dayton to work in the cannery including families and single people. The company provided them with transportation, food on the way, benefits including medical plans, and a decent wage based on production, Butler said.

But they were also guaranteed a certain number days during which if they couldn't work because of weather or other production problems, they were paid at base wage for those days. They were also guaranteed three meals a day in the company kitchen and were cared for by a rotation of 24-hour nurses in a company infirmary.

"It was all a part of just how it was run," Butler said. "It was very above board, with the expectation of a decent job. I think people need to be reminded that those things used to be part of what we expected from our employers. We've kind of gotten away from that. We've gotten away from companies caring for their employees."

The vegetable processing industry had a home in the Touchet Valley from 1934 until 2005, with hundreds of local residents working in the fields and factories throughout the decades.

The operation began as the Blue Mountain Cannery, a jointly owned subsidiary with the Minnesota Valley and Central Wisconsin canneries.

"An interesting note: The first plant was constructed in 45 days, and a trial run was made on the 46th day with peas as the first pack," Butler said, quoting from her extensive research material on the history of the plant.

The Minnesota Valley cannery created the Green Giant label in 1928, and in 1950 the Minnesota valley company became the Green Giant company. Eventually Pillsbury bought the Green Giant name, and they had a contract with Seneca foods - Seneca would run the operation in Dayton and Pillsbury owned it. Seneca was just an operator of the cannery, Butler said. But after a time, Seneca became owner of the facility.

Canning started out with peas and continued with peas for a long time, but then in the late '40s or early '50s, farmers in the valley started planting asparagus.

"It was wonderful," Butler said. "They started canning, which was really profitable for those growing asparagus and those canning it. Pretty soon asparagus was the primary thing."

But asparagus can only be grown in the same soil for 20 years. Since "practically the whole valley was planted in asparagus," they started planting it in the basin around Tri-Cities. And then when Peru started planting asparagus, Green Giant discovered they could can there for a fraction of what they could in United States.

When the Green Giant Cannery closed in 2005, it was the largest asparagus cannery in the world. But Senece is still in Dayton today, Butler said, just in a different form. General Foods moved all the equipment to Peru, and a Peruvian corporation there cans for Green Giant.

Seneca's presence in the community, employing over 25 people, is its seed research and processing division.

The depot had a Green Giant exhibit about 12 years ago, but at that time the cannery was still operating, so that exhibit was more about the early history, Butler said.

The new exhibit, showing the full spectrum of canning history in the valley, is available to view during depot hours Wednesdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. In the summer, May- October, hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m.