Jan 16, 2019
Michigan fruit grower, weather watcher Teichman dies at 88

Herb Teichman, a lifelong Eau Claire, Michigan, fruit farmer and a true southwest Michigan original, is being remembered as a man who loved the land and loved his community, and helped to put it on the map with creation of the pit-spitting competition in Eau Claire that annually shines nationwide attention on the host Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm.

Teichman died Jan. 14 at a Stevensville, Michigan, hospice care facility. He was 88.

Herb’s daughter-in-law, Monica Teichman , also from Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm in Eau Claire tabbed in 2017 to be the first female president of the Michigan State Horticultural Society.

Monica and her husband, Bill Teichman, took over ownership of Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm with her husband, Bill from Bill’s parents Herb and Liz Teichman.

In 2018, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder appointed Bill Teichman to the Michigan Tree Fruit Commission.

The nine-member commission was established by growers in 2014 to improve the economic position and competitiveness of the Michigan tree fruit industry.

Widely known for the International Cherry Pit Spitting Championship, others knew Teichman because of his many years of service as a volunteer weather observer for the National Weather Service.

According to a report in the St. Joseph-Benton Harbor Herald-Palladium, The “Pit Spit,” as it is known informally, began modestly in 1974 as a neighborhood gathering. It is held every July at the Teichman farm on Eureka Road in Pipestone Township. It now regularly draws visitors from around the country and the world, and has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records and the Library of Congress.

“His death is definitely a loss to the community,” said Pipestone Township Supervisor Doug Davis. “He was a cool guy and Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm is a cool place.”

Added Davis: “He knew how to promote his business. … He came up with the Pit Spit as well as the whole concept of having people buy a tree and come out and pick their own fruit.”

“When you think about it, he did a lot to promote the community,” he said. “He certainly put Eau Claire on the map.”

Eau Claire Village President John Glassman grew up knowing Teichman, adding that he was sad to hear the news. “He and my dad were very close and I went to school with his son, Bill,” Glassman said. “Boy, what a man. He’s a good soul who’s been called home.”

Glassman called Teichman a “community man” who did all he could to promote both his business and his hometown. “I remember when the Pit Spit started, it was nothing,” he said. “He grew it into something that people now know around the world.”

Glassman also noted Teichman’s work as a weather observer. The farm was once known as Skyline Orchards, as it sits on one of the highest points in Berrien County. Teichman retired from the weather service in 2012 after 44 years of recording thousands of weather observations.