In 1971 myself and a friend went to Chico State to play tennis. It turned out to be too windy so we went into the gym for a little “pick up basketball.” At the other end of the court were two young ladies shooting hoops after their practice.
I asked if they wanted to play. One said she was too tired but the 5’4” cutie said she would. She beat us in “cut throat” and then my buddy said he was too tired to continue so we played one-on-one and she almost beat me! I asked her out for a Coke and she accepted.
I had been a bartender for the past four years while going to college, so I asked my buddy “where the hell do you go for a sit-down Coke?” We ended up at Jack’s Restaurant. After talking for two hours while having our Cokes I knew this was the one. We were married two months later and that was 53 years ago.
For the next 10 years we bought and moved into three different homes while fixing them up. In 1980 we received a small inheritance. I wanted to plant kiwis and we were looking at 5 acres on Rock Creek but it was mostly rocks.
My wife looked up the canyon and said “Look at that flat beautiful land, that’s what we want.” I said “You’re crazy, we can’t afford that and it’s not for sale.” She said “You don’t know till you try.
” The owner was Jack Hagen and upon talking to him he said that everyone wanted to buy that 100 acres but he liked our plan to plant kiwis. He said he’d take our small down payment, hold the paper while we parcel split, then as we sold the three parcels he would deduct from the original selling price and we would end up free and clear. After many, many hardships it was finalized and we were free and clear.
We moved into a 10’ by 50’ mobile home with two kids, no electricity or water for two months. I pulled a water trailer behind us and it gravity fed the toilet, shower and sink. The next year we planted our kiwis with the help of the Butte College softball team (my wife was the coach).
After five years we finally had a good crop, but so did everyone else. Kiwis didn’t have a good return for years but we kept working hard. Now many kiwi orchards have been pulled out and our return is much better.
In 2005 Donna started a wedding venue on the farm (White Ranch Events) because she wanted something to do after retirement. Now at 76 and 78 we are still hosting events and growing kiwis. You can reach Tom and Donna White at whitedonna@hotmail.
com.
