SHIRLEY — When Wade Lucas moved his family from Plant City, Florida, to Shirley, Arkansas, he brought with him a little bit of knowledge about growing strawberries.
“Plant City is known as the ‘winter strawberry capital of the world,’” he said with a smile. “We raised them when I was a kid in Florida.
I swore I would never plant them again, … yet here I am, planting them in Arkansas.”
Lucas and his family — his wife, Marlene, and their two youngest children, Mary, 17, and Luke, 15 — have been named the 2016 Van Buren County Farm Family of the Year. Wade and Marlene are also parents of Wade Lucas Jr., 24, who lives with his wife, Marissa, in Terra Ceia, Florida. Wade and Marlene’s older daughter, Janie, died in an automobile accident in 2006; she was 18.
In addition to strawberries, the Lucas family raises a variety of produce on the Wade Lucas Farms on Arkansas 16 just outside Shirley.
“It’s awesome,” Marlene said of receiving the recent honor. “Farming is a lot of hard work.”
Wade, 50, is the son of Kenneth and Betty Lucas of Plant City. He has one sister, also named Marlene, who lives in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Wade’s wife, Marlene, 46, is the daughter of David and Yvonne Barron, now of Shirley, but formerly of Plant City. Marlene also has one sister, Brenda White, who lives in Shirley.
The Barrons moved to Van Buren County first, and the Lucases came later.
“He had a construction business in Florida and was looking for land up here for hunting and fishing,” Wade said of his father-in-law.
“I worked in the underground utility business in Florida and was looking to change up … do something different. So after my in-laws moved here, we followed them,” Wade said.
“We’ve owned this land since 2001 and built this building in 2007,” he said of the farm, which includes 12 acres under irrigation, where they raise the strawberries and other produce. The building on the property includes a sandwich shop, a gift shop and a produce stand, in addition to serving as the hub of the farm, which includes a U-pick operation for the strawberries only.
“We should have strawberries until the end of June. We start picking around April 15 or 20; we were a little earlier this year. We will produce about 32,000 pounds of berries. That’s intense,” Wade said.
“People like to come here and pick them,” he said, smiling. The Lucases raise a variety of strawberries, including Sweet Ann, Chandler, San Andreas and El Cameron.
“We try not to grow all varieties each year,” he said. “Some are affected differently [by different things] than others. We have made it through pea-sized hailstorms. … Too much rain affects them, too.
“We are not organic, but we try to farm eco-friendly. I only spray when I have to.”
In addition to strawberries, the Lucases grow tomatoes, tri-color corn, purple hull peas, squash and cucumbers. They sell the corn by the bag — five dozen ears in a bag.
Lucas sells produce to some area restaurants, such as the Western Sizzlin in Clinton and Janssen’s Lakefront Restaurant in Greers Ferry.
Marlene operated the Stringbeanz Family Style Restaurant in Fairfield Bay for six years but has recently closed it and is now operating the Stringbeanz Cake and Catering business.
“I do a lot of pies and cakes,” she said. “Strawberry pie is the best seller. It is from an old family recipe.”
Marlene stays busy with her catering business, and Wade does so with the farming business.
“We try not to get in each other’s way,” Wade said with a laugh. The couple have been married 28 years.
Mary and Luke Lucas help on the farm when they have time. Both attend West Side Greers Ferry High School.
Mary attended the American Legion Auxiliary Girls State program this summer at Harding University in Searcy. She is a member of Family, Career and Community Leaders of America at West Side, as well as the art and drama clubs. She also plays tennis.
Luke plays tennis and basketball and is a member of the drama club at school.
“We like it here,” Marlene said of life in Van Buren County. “It’s a good place to raise kids.”
The family attends Red River of Life Church of God in Edgemont.