Fannings celebrate 40th Anniversary at Harvest Foods
The five principal owners, with a combined 179 years of grocery experience, are Benjamin Fanning, Joshua Fanning, Andrea Visker and Leslie and Gary Fanning.
ROYAL CITY - Gary and Leslie Fanning opened Royal City Harvest Foods in the fall of 1974. They are celebrating their 40th anniversary this fall.
The Fannings included their customers in the celebration with numerous give-aways, and there is a long list of winners below.
Although there are officially four families sharing the ownership, all four are the Fanning family. There are Gary and Leslie, their sons Benjamin and Joshua and their daughter Andrea Visker.
Combined, the Fannings have 179 years of grocery experience. And they all started at the very bottom, cleaning and bagging.
"All three (of the children) started as box persons when they were 10 years old," Leslie said.
Benjamin is the manager now. Andrea was the manager from 1995 to 1999, when she assumed the role of office manager.
All three of the Fanning children added experience elsewhere before returning to Royal City.
In 1989, the Fannings opened a second store in Ephrata. Benjamin was store manager there until it was sold in 1999. Joshua was the meat cutter from 1995-1999.
Joshua returned to Royal City a year ago, after serving as a co-pastor in Keizer Oregon. He maintained a grocery connection while pastoring. He was self-employed with a Mission Tortilla route.
Benjamin, Joshua and Andrea are graduates of Big Bend Community College, and Andrea and Joshua graduated from Washington State university.
Ben worked for Terry Sparrow's Moses Lake Excell Food Store for two years after high school while he attended BBCC. Andrea worked at Dissmore's food store in Pullman while in college, and Joshua completed WSU during his stint at the Ephrata store.
door prizes & winners: Corona Party Umbrella - Jose Castro; Coleman Grill - Santiago Villafana; Sony Blu-Ray Disc Player - Clinton Shanan; Signed Guadalajara Soccer Jersey Framed - Efrain Gaitan: Foos Ball Table - Ashley Nunez; Rockstar Motorcycle Helmet - Lorisa Apolonio; Monster Motorcycle Helmet - Jose Sanchez; Mystery Prize of a One Shot Basketball Hoop - Bernabe Sandoval
Forty bags of groceries, valued at $25 each, were given away.
Thursday winners: Sherrie Rodriguez, Gabriela Ramirez, Michelle Peila, Consuelo Gaitan, Imelda Cuevas, Guadalupe Munoz Morales, Alison Gilbert, Ofelia Myrick, Emigdia Arceo, Maggie Hageman, Karina Valencia, Caludia Cervantes.
Friday Winners: Jose Sanchez, Trish Williams, Miguel Abarca, Cathy Shaw, Gilberto Aguilar, Shannon Coolidge, Rosalina Ramirez, Sonia Deras, Dora Salas, Martin Garcia,
Saturday winneRS: Beatriz Campos, Peggy Hoelscher, Stephanie Mininger, Bertha Martinez, Donna Craitendon, Chad Cole, Marisol Lozano, Shelly Wilder, Ana Morfin, Tammie Cochran.
Sunday & Monday winners: Jose, Erica Garcia, Shirley Stewart, Taurino Garcia, Mary Marmolejo, Deb Keeley, David Munoz, Ted Martinez.
Blue Hurricane winnerS: Emily Marcial, t-shirt; Abaz Marcial, 7-up bag, Stephanie Mininger, Pepsi Hat, Javier Ramos, Kevin Dorsing, Aurora and Frances Lutz, Tyson Visker, Hugo Ledesma, Jr. Marta Mayorga, Robert Parks, 2-liter; Carlos Barrajas, t-shirt, Jose Enrique, Alex Rodriguez, Salvador Cavazos and others.
Gift Certificate winnerS: Alicia Carmona, $75; Jesus Castro, $100; Jose Ponce, $75; Patsy Rex, $25; Rafael Ciscernos, $25; Heydi Sotelo, $25; Stanley Cox, $25; Raymundo Ponce, $25; Miguel Lopez, $25.
"Please like our page on Facebook - Royal City Harvest Foods - and view pictures of all winners, as well as pictures of staff from the past 40 years," Leslie said.
"It's been fun reconnecting with those who experienced their first job or began their business, education or grocery career with the Royal City grocery store that evolved from Royal City Market to Excell Foods to Royal City Harvest Foods. A lot of treasured memories have been shared."