Farm Family of Year

Pope County family earns top honor, raises fruits,vegetables

By Carol Rolf

LITTLE ROCK — For an "alternative farmer," Kenny Drewry thinks he's done OK.

"That's what the extension (Pope County Cooperative Extension Service) fella calls me," Drewry said with a laugh. "I asked him exactly what was an 'alternative farmer,' and he told me 'one who doesn't have cattle, chickens, hogs, soybeans or corn.'"

Drewry and his family raise fruits and vegetables near Dover. The Drewrys have been named the 2008 Pope County Farm Family of the Year. The family includes Drewy's wife, Nancy, and their three daughters - Crissy Williamson, 27; Angie Drewry, 25; and Tiffany Drewry, 17. Crissy and her husband, Blake, live in Pottsville and have two boys, Gavin, 6, and Dylan, 4.

Drewry started farming with one acre of land 25 years ago. His parents, A.J. and Wanda Drewry, are farmers as well; they raise cattle.

"Kenny has always planted a garden," Nancy said. "He never seemed to have enough room and every year it got bigger and bigger. He plants everywhere there is enough flat land."

Today, the Drewry family operates 60 acres; they own 45 acres and lease 15 acres. They call their operation Drewry Farm and Orchards, which is at 267 Vaughn Circle outside Dover. They raise green beans, sweet potatoes, red potatoes, okra, onions, corn, squash, bell pepper, eggplant, cucumber, tomatoes, watermelons, cantaloupe, strawberries, peaches, apples and pumpkins. They also make and sell homemade peach butter and chow chow.

They just finished with their strawberry crop, and are gearing up for peaches. They raise 28 varieties of peaches.

"July is our busiest month," Drewry said. "Everything will be in full production." The family sells the produce from a fruit stand on the farm. They also sell at the Pope County Farmers Market, which is open at the depot in Russellville from 7 a.m.- noon Saturday, 3-6 p.m. Monday and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Drewry is vice president of the farmers market and his wife is secretary. Their friend, Rick Holland, who is a beekeeper with bees on the Drewry farm, is president of the local market.

"We lost everything last year because of that late freeze," Nancy said. "Kenny kept going, but I got a little down about it. Rick put some bee hives out here to help us, and he's become a good friend."

Kenny and Nancy had planned to expand their operation last year by adding restroom facilities and more parking for the fruit stand, but the freeze put a halt to that. "We're still planning to do that, but not just yet," Nancy said. "We already have the electricity and septic tank ready, all we have to do is build the building. We hope to have that done in time for our pumpkin patch in the fall."

Kenny has planted a "u-pick" garden specially for the kids who visit the farm, and he invites them into the fruit stand to see an active bee hive.

Drewry is originally from Witt Springs in Searcy County. His parents farmed there, and even sold potatoes for Lays Potato Chips back in the 1960s. "We moved to Pope County in 1966," Drewry said. He is a graduate of Dover High School.

Nancy was born in Los Angeles, but came to Pope County when her father retired to the Russellville area. She met Kenny when both worked at Sportsworld bowling center in Russellville,where he was employed for 21 years. She worked there, too, for a short time.

"I got fired when we got married," she said with a laugh. "They had a policy about employees being married to employees."

The family has been farming full time now for about two years. "It's a good life," Nancy said. She had a full-time job off the farm until a few years ago. "They would call me at the office and tell me how busy they were," she said. "I finally quit about three years ago to devote all my time to the farm."

Each of the children has ajob on the farm. Tiffany, who will graduate in 2009 from Dover High School and from Arkansas Beauty College in Russellville, runs the fruit stand. Angie, who graduated from Dover High School in 2001 and has a full-time job off the farm, helps get the produce ready for market and does a lot of the cooking and cleaning "that otherwise gets neglected for lack of time," Nancy said. Crissy, who is also a graduate of Dover High School, brings her sons several times a week to help wash and pack produce.

Drewry said he has the same problems as any farmer - rising prices of diesel fuel and the weather. He said he's already lost25 percent of his crop this year because of bad weather. "I usually count on losing 25 percent because of the deer," he said. "Now I have to factor in that bad weather. You just can't count on everything going right; it never does.

"I always say we make our living in eight weeks," Drewry said, smiling. "That's when we make about 80 percent of our income."

Drewry has his own Web site, www.drewryfarmandorchards.com.

Drewry said they get a lot of traffic from Interstate 40. " People traveling to Branson (Mo.) stop here a lot," he said. "If they search for Dover, Arkansas, on the Web, they will find us that way, too."

"It's a good life," Nancy said again. "All of us enjoy being together, and we are proud of Kenny."

Nancy said she gave Kenny a sign for their farm a few years ago. On it is a reference to Scripture: Genesis 1:29-30.

"We know we are blessed even in hard times, and we appreciate the opportunity to live in the blessing," she said. "When we sit on the porch swing in the evening in the warm summer night, listening to tree frogs and watching lighting bugs, we know we are seeing a little of what heaven must be like."

River Valley Ozark, Pages 137 on 06/22/2008