The Michigan Apple Committee’s board of directors recently elected a new chair and vice chair and appointed two new board members.

During its June meeting, the MAC board elected Michael Dietrich of Conklin as chair and Kimberly Kropf of Lowell as vice chair. It also appointed two new board members: Christopher J. Alpers of Lake Leelanau and Philip Schwallier of Sparta. Grower Mark Youngquist ended his nine-year, three-term service on the board, having served as chair since 2019, according to a MAC news release.

“Mark Youngquist has been an exemplary board chair, and we appreciate his service, as well as that of Bob Gregory whose term has also ended,” said Diane Smith, MAC’s executive director.

Dietrich, who previously served as vice chair of the board, is a partner with Leo Dietrich & Sons, a sixth-generation family farm with 400 acres of apples, 70 acres of cherries and a fresh cherry and apple packing line. Kropf is co-owner of Hart Farm.

Alpers, the vice president of operations for Redpath Orchards, succeeds Robert Gregory. Schwallier, the owner of Schwallier’s Country Basket and a recently retired district horticulture and marketing agent at Michigan State University, succeeds Youngquist.

The Michigan Apple Committee is a grower-funded nonprofit organization devoted to marketing, education and research activities. MAC’s board of directors is made up of seven Michigan apple growers appointed by the governor of Michigan to represent growers in four different areas of the state. Terms are three years, according to the release.

—by Matt Milkovich