Bob Barker
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| Cryptomeria japonica forest in its native Japan. Source |
On May 1 this year the Master Gardener program lost one of it’s most dedicated and talented members. To me, he was the ideal to which all of us should strive. I’ll come back to that.
When I went through the program, I think in 1994 or maybe ’95, Al was the program coordinator and had already been in that role for quite some time. To me he seemed to know all the problems and their solutions. After graduation, in the Plant Clinic, his desk was directly across from the clinic desk and it was a great comfort to be able to check things out with him before responding to a client. In those days books were the main source of information, the internet was in its infancy as the primary search source.
The program back then had around 40 people trained per year and was taught in the old fashioned way, with lectures during 20 full day sessions. Al had to recruit the presenters and make sure that all the topics were covered. He also had to arrange the Advanced Training program. Not so different today. And for Al, though paid for about a day a week, it was sometimes full-time effort.
Al also was a major participant in the grafting workshop. There are a lot of fruit trees in Whatcom that owe their existence to his efforts. For one lady with an heirloom Gravenstein he produced a dozen or so saplings for her relatives and friends.
He also spent quite a bit of time with his son Blair who established an organic products business. Al was an innovator, pushing the boundaries. At one point he attempted to graft cucumbers onto squash root systems, a way of combating one of the fungal diseases that hit cucumbers at ground level (now a method more widely used in the industry). This was tricky business, and with the onset of Parkinson’s symptoms, made much more difficult.
Al’s other great passion was fishing, particularly in Canadian waters with members of the family. I was invited along once and spent a couple of chilly nights in his camper, two fishless days on the lake and quite a few games of cribbage. Al won all of them.
For a decade or so before Parkinson’s took Al into The Christian Health Care Center, he and I spent one morning a week as plant clinicians. Al was perfect in that role. Though encyclopedic in his knowledge, we almost always checked things out before responding to a client. As Al said, information evolves and it’s best to check. He had any easy and friendly manner with clients and a commitment to be as helpful as possible. After our morning of solving gardening problems we had a pleasant lunch during which we solved the County’s, State’s, Nation`s and the World’s problems.
During our last year together we also tried (generally unsuccessfully) to propagate cuttings form his Cryptomeria japonica. All but one made it and I have a nice six-foot sapling to remember him by.
Al was born in Florida in 1929 and in high school excelled as a high jumper which took him to the University of Alabama and a degree in Engineering. After a stint in the Navy, he had another in the army where he was a member of the Army Olympic squad in 1952. He sprained his ankle in training, eliminating his chance to compete. He stayed in the Army reserves and retired with the rank of Colonel. His engineering expertise was put to work in the construction of I-5 between the Canadian border and Mt Vernon. He had some good stories about the politics of that project.
Al and Cleo were married for 63 years. Al was very proud of their three children, Blair, Kent, and Laurie, and his grandchildren.
Al was one of the foundations on which Whatcom’s Master Gardener program was built. Though he is missed, the foundation he helped establish is solid, for which I give thanks.
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| Al McHenry (left) and Bob Barker in the WSU Extension Plant Clinic. |
