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The Furford Cranberry Museum in Grayland is once again open and showcasing the history of cranberry farming on the South Beach.
The museum’s showpiece is the Furford Picker/Pruner, an invention of long-time Grayland resident, Julius Furford, who passed away in 1999 at the age of 91. In addition to the Furford Picker/Pruner, the museum features other early cranberry harvesting implements and processing equipment.
Active in his two-man manufacturing plant right up until his death, Furford invented the machine that picks the red-ripe berries in the fall while pruning the vines at the same time. Built one at a time since he perfected his first machine in 1957 and, made to last, the pickers are still used extensively in this area, as well as across the country and in Canada. Some machines that are 40 or more years old are still actively productive in the industry.
In addition, the collection includes items that represent other facets of the community’s past, including historical displays of items related to logging, fishing and family life.
Museum hours
The museum is currently open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is by donation. All proceeds go toward maintenance of and improvements to the museum, as well as additions of items for display.
The museum is located at 2395 State Route 105, approximately a mile and a half south of County Line Road.
New owners
Aberdeen residents, Chuck and Gwen Tjernberg, purchased the Furford property in late December of 2010. The sale included equipment, patents, patterns and diagrams for the Furford cranberry picker/pruner, which has not been produced for the past several years.
Following Furford’s death in 1999, his son David decided to keep the plant going and Bill Bumgardner, who came to work for Furford in 1992, continued to produce the picker/pruners until the shop shut down.
The Tjernbergs spent most of 2011 bringing the business and museum back to life, including major repairs to both the production machine shop at the front of the property and the cranberry museum building that sits directly behind it. That structure now also has a new handicap-accessible ramp at its front entrance.
Parts production
By the fall of 2011, Chuck starting producing replacement parts for the famous machine. Once word got out that parts for the Furford picker/pruner were again available, orders quickly came in and Tjernberg now has customers in Oregon, Wisconsin, on the East Coast, and in Canada.
New picker/pruners
By September of last year, Chuck had produced and sold his first new Furford Picker/Pruner to local grower Mike Towle. This September, Matt Reichenberger, another local cranberry farmer, purchased picker number two. And Chuck now has two more ready for sale.
Museum revived
Gwen’s first idea for the building in back of the shop was to use it as a gathering place for family reunions and events, including creating sleeping quarters along one side. However, after encouragement from Chuck and other family members, she says she warmed to the idea of reopening the Furford Cranberry Museum.
Filling the space with many items that Gwen and Chuck had collected over the years, items that came with the purchase of the property and others on loan or donated from Julius Furford’s son David, area cranberry growers and local residents, the Tjernberg’s opened the museum last fall.
Lifelong harborites
Both Chuck, who is 80, and Gwen, 76, were born and raised in Aberdeen. The couple has been married for 60 years and will celebrate their 61st anniversary on Nov. 8. They have three children that have blessed them with nine grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren. along with another on the way.
Oldest daughter Cindy and her husband Steve Blair, a retired Hoquiam firefighter, now live in Tucson, Arizona. Daughter Cathy and her husband Scott Morgan are Grayland residents. Scott is a carpenter and Cathy volunteers at the museum. Son Steve, who is also a carpenter, and his wife Terri, live in Elma.
Chuck had a long career in the construction industry, and as a building contractor he honed the mechanical and welding skills that now serve him well in this latest venture building cranberry pruner/pickers. Gwen enjoyed a long and successful career as an employment counselor with the state Department of Employment Security. Until they sold the business a year ago, the Tjernbergs also owned and operated Ace Electric in Hoquiam for 22 years.
Both also have been active in their community and Grays Harbor, serving for many years on various boards and commissions.
Museum history
Constructed in 1932 by members of the local Finnish community, the museum building was originally a social hall until World War II. During the war years, the Grayland Cranberry Growers Association used the building to dehydrate berries for shipment to servicemen overseas. The current machine shop by the highway was constructed in 1943 and was originally a storage building.
In 1946, the Ocean Spray Cranberries Cooperative, which was formed in 1930 on the East Coast, bought out the Grayland Association and used both buildings to dehydrate berries until that operation was moved sometime in the 1950s to the cooperative’s Markham plant on SR105 that was constructed in 1946.
In 1966, Julius Furford purchased the Grayland property from Ocean Spray and converted the front building to a machine shop where he continued production of his Furford Cranberry Picker/Pruner. His first three machines, an experimental model, along with one for himself and a second for his brother, were produced in 1957. In 1958, Furford made his first sale when a grower in Canada purchased two pickers.
Because he wanted to chronicle and preserve the history of cranberry production in the Grayland area and the development of his picker/pruner, In 1986, Furford decided to convert the back building. where he had stored his collection of early cranberry farming-related equipment and tools, into a museum.
“I want it to be a museum for the people,” Furford said at the time. “I won’t give my stuff to an individual, because he might die or something and it would be sold. I want the people, especially kids, to be able to see it all,” he said.
The facility officially opened on Aug. 30 of that year with Clyde Mears serving as curator. Mears worked for Furford in the machine shop, generally a two-man operation unless a huge order came along. Half of the back building was converted to museum space, with Mears running a second-hand store on the other side.
The museum kept sporadic hours of operation until 1994, when Furford’s health began to deteriorate, and he decided to shut it down.
In the fall of 1999, with Furford’s blessing, his son David and five others formed a non-profit corporation with the intent of making the dream of a cranberry museum that could be open year-round a reality.
The Board of Directors for the Furford Cranberry Heritage Museum Association included President Bill Ripley, Secretary Bev Ripley, Treasurer Bill Bumgardner, and board members David Furford, Bob McCausland and Ruth McCausland. The group worked under the auspices of the Pacific County Historical Society.
Julius died on December 8 of that year, but was well aware of and pleased with the efforts of the Association to revive his dream.
Ripley volunteered his time as curator and docent with the museum open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays for the next several years, until it could no longer support itself.
And now, Furford’s dream of a cranberry museum “…for the people, especially kids…” is once again alive and thriving under the watchful eye of the Tjernberg family.