A growing family: How many generations helped Szawlowski Potato Farms of Hatfield reach the 100-year mark
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HATFIELD - Brothers John, Chet, Frank, and Stanley Szawlowski have been farming since they were little boys and watched as their mother harvested potatoes and their father worked in the fields. This year, their children and grandchildren will be honoring them for their work and devotion in a centennial celebration of their family business.
Szawlowski Potato Farms Inc., the largest potato farm in New England, was founded in 1910.
The four men are the third generation of Szawlowskis to work on the farm. In 1900, first generation John R. "J.R." Szawlowski immigrated to the United States from Poland. He spent 10 years as a factory worker before he started Szawlowski Potato Farms in Northampton. At the time, the farm was a main supplier for A&P stores in New England. The supermarket took notice of his abilities as a salesman, and were so impressed that they wanted to hire him as their own head salesman, Frank Szawlowski, 71, said of his grandfather at the farm's current headquarters in Hatfield.
"He was like the potato king then in the '30s," Szawlowski said.
This year, Szawlowski Potato Farms Inc., is celebrating 100 years in business Saturday with a parade through Hatfield, and a private party afterward for their third generation to reconnect with friends and business partners. The parade will begin at 11 a.m. on Valley Street, where local farmers will showcase their equipment up through Main Street.
The parade will be led by Chet Szawlowski, 75. Szawlowski will be driving his 1965 John Deere tractor, which the family had restored for his 75th birthday.
But the third generation men prefer to be in the fields over the limelight.
"They actually didn't even want this (celebration). It was the fourth generation's idea to do this," said Shelley Szawlowski Smiarowski of her father, Frank, and her uncles. "Third generation is very shy; they don't like a lot of media, you know. They just love to farm."
The fourth and fifth generations, however, felt that the 100-year mark is a "huge milestone" that should be recognized, Melanie Szawlowski Wickles, one of Szawlowski Smiarowski's sisters, said.
Move to Hatfield
The Szawlowski Farm headquarters relocated from Bates Street in Northampton to its current location at 103 Main St. in Hatfield in 1972, when the family's land was seized for the building of an industrial park. Before this time, they grew their potatoes in Northampton and in Hatfield.
Since the relocation, their growing land has continued to expand.
They grow potatoes in Hatfield, Northampton, Hadley, Florence, Whately and Sunderland, covering 2,500 acres. This includes farms with which the Szawlowskis work in conjunction, such as Teddy C. Smiarowski Farm in Hatfield, which is run by Szawlowski Smiarowski's husband.
"People don't think of Massachusetts as a potato growing state," Szawlowski Smiarowski said. "But we've been here for ... 100 years."
National reach
In 1989, Szawlowski Farms began washing, grading and packing potatoes shipped from elsewhere in the country, so the company could continue to sell product during New England's nongrowing season.
This consistency has allowed them to serve customers year-round, Szawlowski Smiarowski said.
The farm grows several different cultivars, or varieties, of potatoes, which can each be used for different purposes. For example, Russet potatoes can be used in baking and in French fries, white-skinned potatoes are often mashed, and red-skinned potatoes are commonly boiled.
The farm supplies potatoes to many large companies in New England and surrounding states.
Among the businesses the farm supplies are Stop & Shop, Wal-Mart, Price Chopper and CNS Wholesale, as well as smaller stores.
They also supply to U.S. Foodservice, which provides potatoes to various restaurant chains.
Chester Szawlowski, of the second generation, took over the farm from his father, and managed the business until his death from a heart attack in 1972, Szawlowski Smiarowski said. He was never able to see the farm in Hatfield, she added regretfully.
The four men of the third generation took over the farm, and over the years gravitated to their own specialized roles in addition to all of the other daily responsibilities, said Diane Szawlowski Mullins, Szawlowski Smiarowski's sister.
John Szawlowski worked in pest management, in charge of spraying the fields; Chet Szawlowski was the "mechanical mind," in charge of making sure all the equipment was running, and Stanley Szawlowski was often in the packing house, grading and packing potatoes, Szawlowski Mullins said of her uncles.
Her father, Frank Szawlowski, worked on the "business end," managing sales as well as working in fields until 1989, when he began to market and manage the business from the current headquarters.
Szawlowski Smiarowski acknowledges that it is hard to determine whether the farm will make a profit each year because they are dependent on the corporations purchasing their product.
"We always just hope that we can get our money back that we put in the ground and a little bit more" to sustain the family, she said.
Szawlowski Mullins said she feels the third generation was the "pivotal generation" for the farm's success.
"The brothers work together; they respected each other - like this unbelievable respect," she said in a phone interview Friday. She also said they did "hard work" while displaying "guts and vision."
Other members of the third generation are the men's sisters, Marion Zgrodnik, 63, who works in accounts payable in the office in Hatfield, and Helen Von Flatern, 77, who worked as secretary to the clerk magistrate at the Hampshire County courthouse and is retired.
Frank's wife, Nancy Szawlowski, also helps out by bringing home-cooked meals to the employees at the farm.
Oodles of family
There are about 25 family members and three generations working at the farm.
The third generation, who range from their late 60s to mid-70s, still own the farm and make the important decisions, but have since stepped back and allowed the fourth and fifth generations to run many of the day-to-day operations, Szawlowski Mullins said - though it is not uncommon to see them out in the fields or on tractors. The farm also employs about 50 full-time and seasonal workers to carry out field and packing operations.
Among these workers is Ailsa Duda, who works full time as the office manager, and along with her other duties has researched much of the family's history.
Szawlowski Mullins lives in Virginia, where she does the farm's marketing and public relations. Her sisters and brother, Frank Szawlowski Jr., along with several cousins, work in the business and field operations at the farm. The fifth generation, many of whom are college-aged and are employed seasonally, work with every aspect from the harvesting in the field, to the grading in the packing house.
Sean Szawlowski, 25, of the fifth generation, served in the Marines for four years, and now handles farming operations in the farm's many fields across Hampshire County.
In conjunction with the centennial celebration, the family has started the "Szawlowski Farms Agricultural Foundation," which they hope to sustain forever, Szawlowski Smiarowski said.
The nonprofit foundation aims to provide educational scholarships and financial aid to people and groups of the Connecticut River Valley Region who aim to further the practice of farming and preserve agriculture in the area, according to a press release from Szawlowski Mullins.
Although the men of the third generation prefer the fields over a party, they have become excited for the centennial celebration, knowing that at this point, a lot of people want to support them and celebrate, Szawlowski Wickles said.
Szawlowski Smiarowski said that while she cannot be sure, she hopes that in the next 100 years, it will be the fifth, sixth and seventh generations running the farm.
Comments
Szawloski farm
Great write-up but why no mention of Agnes - the matriach?