March 2022 - 8

Pennsylvania salutes vegetable industry contributors
By Gary Pullano
Editor
A number of awards and recognitions
took place Feb. 1 at the Fruit and
Vegetable Growers Banquet at the
2022 Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable
Convention at the Hershey Lodge in
Hershey, Pennsylvania.
According to William Troxell, executive
secretary of the Pennsylvania Vegetable
Growers Association (PVGA), the group
periodically likes to recognize individuals
who have demonstrated a long-standing
record of service and dedication to either
the vegetable, potato and/or berry growers
of Pennsylvania or the association with a
Life Membership.
The Board of Directors voted to grant
this honor to John Esslinger in recognition
of his 40 years of commitment to growers
and the agricultural community. Brian
Campbell, PVGA president, presented the
Life Membership to Esslinger.
Troxell said Esslinger has been a trusted
resource for fruit and vegetable growers in
the Northeast and Central Pennsylvania
regions. Through the years, Esslinger
has worked with many growers in the
agriculture communities of Pennsylvania.
He was enthusiastic about his work,
promoting the newest research and always
looking for ways to be more effective.
Along the way, he has gained friends,
earned respect, and encountered a variety
John Esslinger, center, with PVGA President Brian Campbell (to
his right) with his wife, Eve, right, and son Daniel and daughter
Mary, left.
of unique pests such as jumping worms.
Esslinger is known for turning any
conversation into a lecture on composting
or fertilizing. His interest started as a
teenager working as a field laborer for a
vegetable farm in southern New Jersey.
His passion grew through his engagement
with farmers and in higher education.
He completed his first degree at Lubbock
Christian University in Texas. He moved
to Pennsylvania to work at the Columbia
County Crop Improvement Association
in 1982.
Dedicated to agriculture in all aspects
of life, he married a farmer's daughter
and settled in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania,
where they still live. He strived to make
David Miller, center, with his children and grandchildren and PVGA
President Brian Campbell, left, and Pennsylvania Secretary of
Agriculture Russell Redding, right. Photos: Gary Pullano
his three children as enthusiastic about
pulling weeds as he is, but he was
unsuccessful.
Esslinger worked at Columbia County
Crop Improvement Association until
1987, when he started at Furmano Foods
as a field representative. He worked at
Furmano Foods until March of 1995,
when he began his role as an educator for
Penn State Extension. He later completed
his masters in agriculture through Penn
State University. Esslinger promoted
optimal growth and success for his
farmers, providing support when new
diseases or pests arose.
Esslinger is known for his knowledge
and accessibility, and his passion for
agriculture showed through his time
and dedication to his farmers, including
working closely with the plain sect
growers in his area of the state.
In addition, he served for several years
on the board of directors of the association
and has been a regular volunteer at the
Farm Show booth and formerly at the Ag
Progress Days booth. Esslinger has been
involved in helping to plan to the program
here at the Mid-Atlantic Convention for
many years and serves on the PVGA
Administrative Committee. He was also
active in the County Agricultural Agents
Association.
Troxell said Esslinger is nearly a year
into retirement and has yet to slow
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March 2022

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