Breakfast to celebrate icons of isle agriculture

A breakfast honoring legendary figures in agriculture will kick off the 10th annual Maui County Agricultural Festival on Saturday at Maui Tropical Plantation in Waikapu.

Richard “Dick” Cameron of Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. grew up on a sugar plantation on the Big Island, studied architecture and is a U.S. Air Force veteran who returned to Hawaii and worked his way up through the sugar industry.

Doug MacCluer of Maui Pineapple Co. and Maui Gold Pineapple Co. is credited with helping to save the Valley Isle’s pineapple industry following the closure of Maui Pineapple Co. in 2009, and served on the farm bureau board of directors for more than a decade.

Peter Baldwin, of one of Hawaii’s old-line missionary families, is a member of the Paniolo Hall of Fame. After retiring from Haleakala Ranch in 2000, he established Pi‘iholo Ranch as a family business that includes visitor attractions.

The late Dr. Wilbert Y.K. Lee was an optometrist, but some remember him best for the Goldenglow sweet mangoes he cultivated. They still are sold at the family farm stand in Kihei.

Hosted by the Maui County Farm Bureau and Maui County Office of Economic Development, the breakfast is part of the annual AgFest, staged to raise awareness of the broader agricultural industry on Maui and its importance to the community.

The festival is “an opportunity for our farmers, ranchers and our allies, partners and suppliers and related agencies … to get out into the community and show what we contribute to the economy as a viable industry,” said Warren Watanabe, executive director of Maui County Farm Bureau. “It’s critical that the community support all types of agriculture.”

The $10 adult or $5 children’s breakfast ticket price includes admission to the all-day festival, with entertainment, keiki activities, food booths and contests. Visit 808ne.ws/mauilegacy.