Photo Credit to Will Bucquoy
Cadd’s unparalleled knowledge of the region has left a lasting legacy
By Jennifer Corriea
To know the story of Alvin Cadd is essentially to know the story of Alexander Valley for not only has he served as an eyewitness to its evolution over the past century, he has been an integral part of its history.
Truly a salt of the earth kind of man, Cadd, who turns 100 years young in April, not only embodies the sacrifices of the Greatest Generation to which he belongs, but additionally represents how the product of a simpler time fostered values and relationships that are few and far between in today’s fast-paced, highly materialistic world.
Recipient of the Sonoma County Farm Bureau’s Luther Burbank Conservation Award in 2012 and the Lifetime Contribution to Agriculture from the Sonoma County Harvest Fair in 2014, this year Cadd joins the ranks of some of the county’s other legendary agricultural leaders as an inductee into the SCFB Hall of Fame.
Although Cadd himself doesn’t consider his accomplishments all that extraordinary, a look into his story leaves no doubt that he belongs in such elite company.
Born in Healdsburg in 1926, Cadd grew up in a time when family and neighbors formed the nucleus of social groups, while the gatherings they attended featured potlucks, cards and dancing.
His grandparents bought the family ranch in Geyserville, which included 40 acres of hops and an old prune orchard at the end of World War I, however as Cadd put it, “Prohibition put an end to the hops and nobody ever made money in prunes.”
At that juncture, Geyserville boasted a population of approximately 300 and what we today recognize as Highway 101 or 128 were simply roads.
As a young man living in the midst of the Great Depression Cadd’s parents moved to Sebastopol for a number of years and operated a chicken ranch, but it was also a time that he developed ties to the land, enjoying hunting and fishing, although being a farmer was not his initial goal.
“As a teenager, I was going to be a scientist, but then I decided I really didn’t want to go to school.”
But as he recalled in his autobiography entitled Rambling On: A Life Story, by 1940 his parents had purchased the family ranch in Geyserville from his grandparents and Cadd realized that “the soil turning over under the disk was our own soil and that owning property was a dream come true,” thus sealing his fate.
Yet, World War II altered his path somewhat, when after his graduation from Healdsburg High School in 1944 he joined the Merchant Marines and served at great peril on a “Liberty ship” that carried 12,000 tons of ammunition along with other supplies to the Philippines, a location that the United States fought desperately to free from Japanese occupation.
As the war wound down, Cadd returned home on leave and on a family trip to Van Damme Beach in Little River, met Alyce, the love of his life, his best friend, business partner and the person who shared his adventurous spirit along with his enthusiasm for farming, the outdoors, travel and photography.
After their marriage in 1947, the pair worked on the ranch, which in addition to prunes, had expanded into the dairy business as a member of the Petaluma Co-Op Creamery.
When the couple bought the property outright in 1962, Cadd found his real passion in apples, building on what his father started by growing Rome Beauties and Golden Delicious varieties, while working for what was known at the time as Flood Control and today is the Sonoma County Water Agency.
To make the process of selling his boxed apples easier, Cadd obtained an apple polisher in Yakima, Washington and modified it so that it could be used as the fruit came off the tree instead of doing it later by hand.
Eventually, the Cadd’s were one of the top 10 growers selling to the Vacu-Dry Company and it was Alyce who drove their 10-wheel Ford to the cannery in Sebastopol two or three times a day, hauling approximately 10-12 tons of apples per trip.
With Alyce running the ranch during the day and Cadd doing his part before and after his day job, the duo operated on the premise that “next year will be great” and it turned into a “great team effort” as the couple’s daughter Cindy said, remaining so until Alyce’s death at the age of 96 in 2024.
In his book, Cadd credits Alyce as being “the secret to his success” during their 77-year marriage and teaching him that “a good life is more important than seeing how much money they could accumulate.”
However, despite his penchant for growing apples, the market ultimately became flooded with concentrate from China and as a result, Al and Alyce turned to grapes and signed a long-term lease with their son Larry and his wife Candy, who took over following Larry’s retirement from the Union Oil geothermal fields at the Geysers.
The first vineyard was planted in 1970, but Cadd pragmatic as ever, insisted that only white grapes be grown, because he and Alyce liked to flyfish and hunt, so the harvest needed to be over early so as not to interfere with their lifestyle.
Thus, to this day, the Cadd ranch still produces Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc varieties and is now managed by Cadd’s granddaughter Michele, the fifth generation to farm the property.
Cadd retired from the Water Agency and became what he calls a “full-time farmer” in 1979, but his work experience propelled him into the forefront of water issues in Alexander Valley as the president of the Russian River Property Owners Association, a position he held for 15 years.
In that capacity, despite his intense dislike of public speaking, he found himself doing just that before groups such as the County Board of Supervisors and California Fish and Wildlife in addition to negotiating with officials from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), although often times to no avail.
A plan intended to protect the people living along the river during the winter floods was proposed by the property owners, but despite their best efforts, Cadd and others were prevented from implementing their strategy.
Another issue arose surrounding a severe frost in which Mendocino County grape growers pumped water directly from the river to sprinkle on the vines to keep them from freezing, but at the same time lowered the water level and stranding a handful of steelhead.
In response, Cadd, working with Larry, gathered data about the impact agriculture had on the river by monitoring stream flows, determining through their efforts that agriculture did not have a negative repercussion, but NMFS disagreed despite scant evidence.
Albeit a setback, Cadd’s involvement contributed to restoration of the river including improved water quality and fish habitats.
Still, his knowledge and desire to work for the community made him an icon in Alexander Valley as SCFB President Pat Burns explained.
“Al has been the guy that everyone knows. His knowledge of the area, especially Alexander Valley and the Russian River, is real. He worked, learned and lived it. He knows the history, has seen what can and does happen when the river isn’t managed. What makes Al, Al is that his knowledge is life. He doesn’t use computer models to guess what will happen to our incredibly important water system, he has seen it and lived it. His stories are legendary. I’ve had the privilege to know and learn from Al and his experience. He is a truly great man.”
Today, although he no longer hunts, fishes or involves himself in the day-to-day vineyard operations, Cadd can be found out and about on the ranch, taking a spin in his Ranger while exercising the dogs.
Cindy says that her father remains a farmer at heart though, worrying about the weather, the crop and how the influx of people into the valley will ultimately impact it.
However, the example he has set through his work ethic, humility and genuine concern for those around him has created a legacy that Larry summed up by saying, “He is all about family, history and this valley.”
As he approaches his 100th birthday, Al Cadd still has a twinkle in his eye and can spin a story with the best of them.
He is not only a link to Sonoma County’s agricultural history, but is one of its genuine treasures.
Cadd, along with other “Stewards of the Land” award recipients, will be honored at the SCFB’s “Love of the Land” mid-summer celebration on July 9 at The Pavillion at Richard’s Grove, La Crema Estates and Saralee’s Vineyard and is open to anyone wishing to join in honoring those whose passion has contributed to shaping agriculture in Sonoma County.
