Youngquist, Waltner honored at Skagitonians breakfast

Preservation is close to the heart of Jeanne Youngquist – preserving agriculture, open space, secure elections and county history.

The greater La Conner resident, of Mike and Jean's Berry Farm, was honored at last week's Our Valley Our Future awards breakfast hosted by Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland. She received the Community Legacy in Agriculture award.

Daniel Waltner earned the Achievement in Agriculture Award, which comes with a $5,000 scholarship. The Mount Vernon resident graduated from La Conner High School this month and will attend Central Washington University.

Youngquist's contributions to Skagit agriculture – and life in the county in general – are numerous.

The lifelong Skagit resident picked for the Sakumas and other farmers when she was a girl. Growing berries and cucumbers with husband Mike, she hired many young Skagit pickers who rode to the fields in buses Youngquist painted with images of Snoopy, Woodstock and other Peanuts characters.

When migrant farmworkers needed daycare for their children while they picked, Jeanne and Mike started the Berry Good School with a grant from the Washington state Department of Commerce. The summer preschool eventually became a year-round preschool that almost 40 years later is run by HeadStart. "Most of the kids of the families that worked for us have graduated from college now," she says proudly.

They also sold their raspberry fields in Burlington to the Housing Authority of Skagit County to develop farmworker housing. Over the years the Raspberry Ridge complex has grown to almost 100 year-round and seasonal rental units.

Part of the first class of Leadership Skagit, Youngquist served as county auditor from 2007-2018. Under her leadership, the department aced its annual state audits and received many certificates of achievement for excellence in financial reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States. "I attribute that to my staff," she says. "My contribution was designing the financial report cover."

The county auditor also supervises elections. Using Help America Vote Act grant money, she purchased ballot drop boxes for Skagit communities and equipment to process ballots accurately and efficiently. The office's work educating the public about how the county conformed to all the federal and state rules designed to secure the election process was important to her. "We really need to impress our voters with the accuracy and the transparency of our elections," she says.

Youngquist has served on the board of the Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland and played a role in the formation of the Northwest Agricultural Business Center, whose portfolio includes helping agricultural producers connect to buyers. That kind of cooperation is essential for farmers, she says. "If you want agriculture to thrive in this area, we can't do it just on our own," she said. "We need regulations to preserve land and ways for farmers to support each and make farming affordable for the families doing it."

Preserving old barns is one of her biggest passions. As part of the advisory committee of the Washington Heritage Barn Register, she helped local barns gain historic status and qualify for grants for improvements. About 10 percent of 700-plus designated Heritage Barns in the state are in Skagit County and at least three in the greater La Conner area, including the Hedlin Andrew Johnson and ­Leander barns, have been repaired using state grants.

"We have the lion's share of barns in the state and have gotten the lion's share of funding for preservation, too," she says, pointing to agritourism as one reason. "It's another reason for people to lay their head on a pillow in Skagit County."

While she grew up on a dairy farm in Edison, she and Mike live in the Harmony District east of Beaver Marsh Road, where the Youngquist family has farmed since the late 19th century. During her 34 years on Kamb Road she has been a faithful member of the Harmony Birthday Club, whose members gather seasonally for birthdays and potlucks. She preserves its history, too, in scrapbooks of gatherings and members.

Youngquist can be congratulated at the Pioneer Picnic coming Thursday, August 1, because she's an active member of the Skagit County Pioneer Association and the Skagit County Historical Museum.

"Getting this award makes you reflect back on everything you've done," she says. Looking back, why has she been so committed to preserving farmers, farmworkers, farm building and the farming way of life?

"Looking over the valley, seeing the farmland and knowing that is why our valley is so beautiful. This land is all river silt that has come down from the mountains in flood after flood. If it gets covered with pavement, you won't have agriculture anymore.

"Go west young men, they used to say. Here at the Pacific Ocean, we can't go any further."