Two Legendary Washington Apple Growers Get Star Treatment

Posted by Brian Sparks|December 20, 2013

Two new short documentaries starring the late, legendary Washington tree fruit growers Grady Auvil and Tom Mathison have been released on DVD by Howell at the Moon Productions.

“Gee Whiz: The Apples Of Grady Auvil” tells the story of guru, saint, sage, and occasional pain-in-the-appleseed, Grady Auvil, the pioneering orchardist who brought, among other fruits, the Granny Smith apple, the Rainier cherry, and the Fuji apple into mainstream production in the U.S. “Tom Mathison: The Growing Season” is the biography of the much-loved, hard-working family man who, through perseverance and a willingness to take big risks, founded what would become one of the largest tree-fruit companies in the world, Stemilt Fruit.

Filmmakers Jamie Howell and Jeff Ostenson started the project in 2006 and released an hour-long version of the Grady Auvil documentary two years later. This latest release is a completely new version, half as long, featuring a new narrator and animations. “The goal of the re-edit was to make sure these movies make it into classrooms around America. These are fascinating men and there are important lessons to be learned from their lives,” said Howell. The documentary about Tom Mathison was completed in 2013.

Each documentary short runs approximately 30 minutes and includes a Teachers’ Guide aligned to the newly adopted Common Core State Standards. They also include Spanish subtitles. The documentaries are part of the Community Heritage Documentary Series created by Howell at the Moon Productions, and are non-profit projects made in affiliation with the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center.

The documentaries are being distributed free of charge to Central Washington schools and teachers courtesy of Stemilt Fruit and the Auvil Fruit Company and are being made available for purchase via the Howell at the Moon website at www.howellatthemoon.com.