The New York Apple Association in Fishers, NY, saw great success in the 2008 Defense Commissary Agency display contest, sponsored by the association and T. Marzetti Co.

"This contest has allowed our apples to be promoted, displayed in a big way and opened up new markets," David McClurg, vice president of marketing for the association, said in a press release.

The House of Representatives voted Wednesday, May 21, to override President Bush's veto of the farm bill, but a procedural mixup apparently made that vote meaningless, according to published reports.

CALGARY, AB -- It may have taken 83 years, but the Canadian Produce Marketing Association has its first woman in the position of chairman.

Charles Edwin Gilb, long known as Southern California's "potato king," died Sunday, May 18, at his home in Arcadia, CA, of malignant melanoma. He was 83.

Mr. Gilb was born Nov. 13, 1924, in Cincinnati, but soon moved with his parents and sister to Twin Falls, ID, where he spent most of his childhood and began his love affair with potatoes.

Months of hard work and negotiations by the National Watermelon Association have proven fruitful, as both houses of Congress passed resolutions naming July National Watermelon Month.

"It is my pleasure to share with you the great news that National Watermelon Month is now officially complete through the vote taken by the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this week," Bob Morrissey, the association's executive director, said in a statement. "This has been a nine-month effort working with over 56 House representatives, and is very worthwhile for our watermelon industry."

PHILADELPHIA -- In recent weeks, three businesses have closed on the Philadelphia market, here. This follows the debt-ridden closing of Ellis Fleisher Produce Co. in April 2007.

The remaining merchants on the market are now left pondering the reasons for the closings.

One of the closings is simply the result of a shocking tragedy. Mark Stout, who owned Eckert's Produce Inc. on the Philadelphia market, was doing what he loved most -- skiing in Steamboat Springs, CO -- when he fell into a tree well as he descended a Colorado slope Jan. 15 and died of suffocation.