back to map | previous grower | next grower
	Margaret Stricklen Umatilla Citrus Growers Association

• Margaret Stricklen in the same groves her husband's family started long ago. For over 28 years, she's kept the family business going and served on the board of the local growers cooperative.
• Margaret shows off the original charter for the Umatilla Citrus Growers' Association, drafted in 1909.
• Margaret and daughter, Joy, at her home in Umatilla. Margaret happily recalls running out to the groves in her slippers and bathrobe to check the temperature for frost conditions years ago.

It's not often that a Florida citrus grower is regarded as a charming, lively Southern belle. But that's just what Margaret Stricklen is. Even while speaking about grove afflictions like canker and greening, things that make most citrus growers spit at the mention, Margaret sounds just as eloquent as a pageant queen resolving world hunger.

Of course, if you ask her, she'll tell you she's no citrus farmer. That was her late husband Martin, who started working in the groves at the age of 9. He learned the art of citrus growing and eventually became a partner in Stricklen Bros. Citrus Company. Margaret recalls a healthy exposure to her husband's work while they were married. "Everyone used to joke that if Martin cut a limb off a tree, he told me about it." Being married to a grower for so many years is bound to rub off on anyone.

When Martin passed away, Margaret had no qualms about taking over the business. "They were all thinking I would sell all his groves," she says. "But I didn't, I just took them on myself." She acknowledges her transition into the role of grower didn't come without help. Local grower and grove caretaker Nick Faryna remains the primary aid in keeping the Stricklens' groves growing. Because they had known Nick since he was in high school, entrusting the family operation to him wasn't much of a stretch at all. "Whatever changes in the groves," Margaret grins, "we let Nick work with it."

That's not to say Margaret doesn't know her way around the groves. She'll even give you directions: "Get back on the highway, go right at the Umatilla house, just past the big orange ball, you'll see the second pump and you're there." It's just the way she is, always sharp with a great big smile.

With over 28 years on the board of the Umatilla Citrus Growers Association, Margaret has learned her way just like any other citrus growerWant to show your support?
Post an orange in our virtual grove.. When freezes in the 1980s took out most of the Stricklens' citrus trees and forced them to downsize their groves, she took it in stride and chalked it up to experience. "We just roll with the punches," she says, "and put as much in as needed to keep a good, clean fruit."

Her positive outlook is a big part of what has maintained the Umatilla cooperative into its hundredth year of operation. Margaret says the centennial celebration speaks highly of the rich citrus tradition in this region, and she will be the first to mention Mrs. Doris Mabry, who has run the offices of the association for 35 years, as an example. Sure, it might be a charming way of diverting the spotlight from herself, like a true belle, but her daughter Joy is quick to give her back the credit she deserves. "I think Daddy would be amazed at all that she's done," she says. "It's funny how it works out, but I think she has risen to the top."

It's true, Margaret Sticklen isn't a typical citrus grower. But she's doing what any grower would do to keep the industry strong, for her daughter's and grandchildren's future. Though no one can say for sure when, but somewhere along the way, her husband's work became her own.