Harvest Fair Honors Bob and Shirley Dempel for Lifetime Contribution to Sonoma Co. Agriculture

News from Sonoma County Harvest Fair:

Two farm kids, one from Sonoma County and the other from Mendocino County, who met at 4-H camp, married, had children, succeeded in business and personal endeavors, and dedicated the whole of their lives to furthering the heritage and community they love.

This in short describes the 2015 Harvest Fair honorees for Lifetime Contribution to Sonoma County Agriculture.

The Sonoma County Harvest Fair gratefully acknowledges Bob and Shirely Dempel of Santa Rosa’s Dempel Farming for their decades of outstanding dedication to the County’s agricultural industry and community.

From their livelihood to their social life to their political involvement to their community contributions, Bob and Shirley Dempel have spent half-a-century at the heart of Sonoma County’s wine grape growing industry and as champions of agricultural education for youth.

They’ve served a leading role—at the State Capitol and in the board room and the classroom—as stanch protectors of California’s agricultural way of life, paving a path of Ag innovation and leadership for generations to come.

“We just did what we loved and had a passion for doing,” said Shirley upon hearing of the award. “Bob and I are actually pretty surprised and humbled by it,” she adds. “We live in such a unique place, where so many people are so generous in every way and we’re blessed to be a part of it.”

In 1977, Bob & Shirley started Dempel Farming with premium wine grape vineyards in Healdsburg and Hopland and later a large grapevine nursery—one of the first to be certified by the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Dempel Farming quickly became the go-to company for start-up vineyard development and during the ‘80s and ‘90s it played a key role in the shift from value priced to premium wine grape growing.

Today, Dempel Farming is among only a few growers certified under the Protected Harvest program, which uses an exceptionally high degree of sustainability criteria.

For her part, Shirley has played an equally important role for Sonoma County’s agricultural community by launching and shaping educational opportunities for youth. She is a leader in local and state 4-H education programs and established the 4-H Foundation of Sonoma County during the 1990s, with California’s only 4-H Center now located in Rohnert Park. She served as executive director of the foundation for 20 years, and remains a member of the board of directors. Shirley was also active with the Sonoma County Farm Bureau and launched a pilot program bringing agriculture into the classroom that continues today.

“We really feel like our greatest contribution has been our work to champion Ag education for youth,” says Bob. “Both Shirley and I are products of the 4-H program and we know those experiences are largely to credit for the success we’ve had in life.”

Bob is a graduate of the California Agricultural Leadership program and over the years has played an important role to shape statewide policy affecting the Ag Industry and Ag Education programs.

In 2013 when he lost his nursery to the Red Blotch virus, he got the USDA to recognize the disease and to include it in the 2014 Farm Bill, along with financial assistance for growers to replant statewide. Ever passionate about the next generation of Ag leaders, he served 12 years on the Agricultural Education Advisory Committee.

He also served on the Petaluma-Sonoma Fair Board and the Redwood Empire Fair Board in Ukiah, and is currently on the agricultural advisory committees for Elsie Allen High School and with the Santa Rosa Unified School District. He and Shirley are contributors to the building fund for Saralee and Richard’s Barn and are beyond excited to see a year-round home for Ag Education at the Sonoma County Events Center at the Fairgrounds.

The Sonoma County Harvest Fair will honor Bob and Shirley Dempel with the 2015 award for Lifetime Contribution to Sonoma County Agriculture during a ceremony and dinner to be held September 27 at Wells Fargo Center for the Arts. The celebration is open to the public with a limited number of tickets available at HarvestFair.org or at the Harvest Fair Box Office located at 1350 Bennett Valley Road in Santa Rosa.

The 2015 Sonoma County Harvest Fair is October 2-4 at the Sonoma County Event Center at the Fairgrounds. Visit HarvestFair.org or call (707) 545-4200 or find “Sonoma County Harvest Fair” on Facebook.

• Also see:
• Moonlight Brewing Co. Receives Harvest Fair Award for Excellence
• Sonoma Co. Harvest Fair Names 2015 ‘Outstanding Young Farmer’
• Trione Family Honored for Lifetime Contribution to Sonoma Co.’s Wine Industry
• Harvest Fair Names Clover-Stornetta’s 2015 Outstanding Young Person in Agribusiness
• Harvest Fair Names ‘2015 Friend of Sonoma County Agriculture’
• Tickets Available For Sonoma County Harvest Awards Gala