HADLEY — In the basement of her childhood home, Elaine Tudryn’s father would assemble wooden crates before filling them with bunches of asparagus from the family’s fields, bringing the Hadley grass to Boston to sell at Faneuil Hall, Quincy Market and Haymarket.
Once Tudryn was old enough to walk and safely carry a knife, she would go out into the fields with her sister and brother, starting a harvest as early as 5:30 a.m. Even as a retired elementary school teacher, it’s something she still does, cutting the stalks out of the ground one at a time and making a basket filled with the green spears.
“There’s a lot of tradition here, a ton of tradition, a lot of proud farmers,” Tudryn said, noting that while 50 to 60 crates of Hadley asparagus may not go to Boston these days, the streets of Hadley still have numerous roadside stands offering the vegetable.
Tudryn offered her reflections as testimony to the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight from one of the third-grade classrooms at Hadley Elementary School on Wednesday afternoon. It was the same classroom that both Sen. Jo Comerford and Rep. Homar Gómez had visited in December, inspiring them to file the necessary legislation to make asparagus the state vegetable.
“I encourage you to move on with this bill so that these children can see, not the fruits of their labor, but the vegetables of their labor,” Tudryn said.
With a large banner attached to the back wall of the classroom reading “Welcome to Hadley, MA: Asparagus Capital of the World,” the students from the two classes, taught by Charlene Desjardins and Erin Wang, filed in and positioned themselves so they could be seen on the video feed by the legislators, and, with some dressed formally for the occasion, waited patiently for the session to start. Then, noticing Comerford and Gómez on the large screen, the students were ready to start.
“That’s us,” a student shouted.
Comerford, donning a “Grown in Hadley” asparagus T-shirt under her jacket, praised the students for leading “a very creative, spirited, resilient, out-of-the-box campaign” to recognize a long and proud tradition.
“I couldn’t be prouder or more grateful for their policy research, advocacy efforts, dedication and really for also raising up their family stories,” Comerford said. “Many of these people come from farming families of many generations and they have watched their families grow, raise, sell and talk about the benefits of asparagus.”
Comerford said the bill is about honoring farms and their resilience, such as dealing with the frost that burned off the early bloom. She noted that the Greenfield Recorder recently quoted Hadley farmer Wally Czajkowski as calling asparagus a plant that won’t give up.
“The young people of Hadley are calling us to recognize their farming tradition, this vegetable,” Comerford said, adding that, like asparagus, the students also won’t give up.
Gómez, speaking in Spanish, said that is part of his heritage, just as asparagus is to Hadley.
“Asparagus is a western Massachusetts identity and we need to be recognized for the first time in the commonwealth,” Gómez said.
As the legislators spoke, there was some silent clapping in the classroom.
“We’re really, really proud and excited to listen to them,” Gómez said.
“We were so inspired when we visited that classroom, that afternoon we filed the bill,” Comerford said.
Gómez invited his colleagues to come out for the Asparagus Days event being held May 30 and May 31 at the North Hadley Sugar Shack, and to also try asparagus ice cream, which the students cheered for.
Another late-filed bill would make American lobster the state crustacean, prompting Hadley Elementary School Principal Jennifer Dowd to observe lobster can be paired with asparagus.
“Their dedication and enthusiasm have inspired our entire school community,” Dowd said, noting that community participation has included many families sending letters to their legislators, and the students hope to visit the State House at some point.
Desjardins told the legislators that her students learned that 80% of asparagus in the country was once produced in Hadley and that Queen Elizabeth requested Hadley grass for her garden parties. These are “extraordinary civic lessons” for the students, and she offered her deepest gratitude that the bill is being heard.
Sen. Nick Collins, who co-chairs the committee, said he loves asparagus, that it is healthy and tasty, and that on the economic side, making it the state vegetable could improve exports, as has happened with cranberries, which are the state fruit.
“My hope is with this, and driven by young people, which is fantastic, you learn about an important vegetable,” Collins said. “I like this idea because I think it can help promote Massachusetts’ leadership position. Every time we’ve been able to do that, we’ve done very, very well.”
Before Tudryn left the school, she brought the basket of just-harvested asparagus to the main office. She said all educators would have the opportunity to bring some Hadley asparagus home with them.
Tudryn, who taught at the school and continues to substitute teach, is excited by the prospect of asparagus becoming the state vegetable because of students’ motivation.
“This is quite a project,” Tudryn said.
