Bruce Church, T.R. “Russ” Merrill and Eugene Harden, major leaders in the history of the Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System (SVMHS), along with Bud Antle, have been named as the first inductees to the Valley of the World Hall of Fame.

The awards were established this year by the National Steinbeck Center Museum in homage to the agricultural heritage of the Salinas Valley. The first four inductees were key pioneers in the agricultural industry in the past century and their vision remains influential to this day throughout the Salinas Valley, California and beyond.

“These first inductees to the Hall of Fame made agricultural history each day they went to work,” says Sam Downing, President/CEO of SVMHS. ”They were truly legendary. They envisioned how to improve the crops and the fields as well as how to create a means to bring excellent health care to Salinas. We are indebted to them for such great leadership, vision and planning for the present and future health care needs for the people of the Salinas Valley.”

Bruce Church, a pioneer of community health care, worked in the 1940s and 1950s to establish Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital, which opened in 1953. T.R. “Russ” Merrill served on Church’s first committee formed in 1941. Church and Merrill and their heirs have continuously supported the hospital. The Harden Foundation, established to honor Eugene and Ercia Harden, gave the initial $1 million gift to build the hospital’s Harden Memorial Heart Center in 1987. SVMHS and its Harden Heart Center are recognized nationally as pacesetters in health care.

The National Steinbeck Center presented its first Valley of the World Awards at an event held at Quail Lodge in June. In addition to the four inductees to the Hall of Fame, the museum honored David G. Mills with the Emerging Agricultural Leader Award and Sylvia Panetta with the National Steinbeck Center Education Award.

Kim Greer, President and Chief Operating Officer at the National Steinbeck Center Museum, says, “The Hall of Fame awardees will receive permanent recognition in a visual display at the Museum in Salinas. Information about their accomplishments will also be included in the digital archives of the museum. Inductees will be added each year. It’s important that the history of the region be retained and the Hall of Fame will be a focus for that.”

The National Steinbeck Center opened in 1998 as a tribute to author John Steinbeck, who was born in Salinas, and the Valley of the World Agricultural Wing opened in 2003 to recognize Salinas Valley’s agricultural industry.

“When I reflect on the dedication of the men and women who were steadfast in their commitment to health care in Salinas, I think of the telegram President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent to Bruce Church when the hospital opened,” says Downing. “President Eisenhower’s words ring true to this day: ‘People of Salinas have every right to be proud of the admirable example of local self-reliance and initiative.’”

Hall of Fame Inductees
Bruce Church	T.R. “Russ” Merrill	Eugene Harden	Bud Antle
Church began his lettuce career in 1924, was a charter member of the Grower-Shipper Vegetable Association. In 1927 he formed the partnership Church and Knowlton. In 1936 he helped form the Growers Ice and Development Company, which provided the industry with much-needed ice-packing services. Current reliable refrigerated produce storage and shipments are due to these early endeavors. Later, in 1940, he organized Vegetable Growers Supply to pool the shipper’s buying power and to lower the cost of packaging materials. Sprinkler irrigation on his ranch in 1946 became the standard for the industry in California. In 1954 he spearheaded the formation of Growers Container Corporation in co-ownership with fellow grower/shippers as the first container plant in Salinas.	Merrill, taking over the operations of a local packing company during the Great Depression in 1933, formed Merrill Packing Company and shortly thereafter established his own lettuce growing company now known as Merrill Farms. He partnered with Bruce Church to establish the Growers Ice and Development Company. His company developed as the need for fresh produce increased and as technology advanced in transportation and refrigeration. Merrill was known as an innovative farmer with an interest in crop rotation.	Harden formed the E.E. Harden Packing Company in 1924, which later became Harden Farms, Inc. He was one of the founders of the Growers Ice and Development Company and was also active in the Grower-Shipper Vegetable Association. Harden pioneered modern growing, harvesting and marketing techniques for lettuce, carrots and cauliflower as these crops gained dominance in Salinas Valley. In 1963, the Harden Foundation was created to assist charitable causes in Salinas Valley.	The Bud Antle, Inc. company pioneered the introduction of vacuum cooling and the subsequent change over to practically a 100 percent corrugated carton-field packing (rather than packing lettuce in wooden crates with ice). Bud Antle was the first to use corrugated cardboard cartons for packing vegetables. Vacuum cooling was considered at the time to be a revolutionary change in the agricultural industry.