This striking portrait of Obie MacAroon I was executed in 1954 by celebrated artist P.W.C. Magillicuddy. It shows our founder at the very moment he conceived the Advanced Rutabaga Studies Institute and its complex of laboratories, now located outside scenic Forest Grove, Oregon.MacAroon was born on June 16, 1904, at the family homestead near Trout Lake, Washington. As a child of five, he began to explore the inticate world of horticulture in the rutabaga patch adjoining his humble one-room cabin. Entirely self-educated, he went on to conduct experiments in rutabaga hybridization that attracted the attention of several neighboring farmers.
After an unsuccessful attempt to persuade the Pentagon to add rutabagas to C-Rations during World War II, he moved to Forest Grove, Oregon, and planted his first commercial rutabaga crop in 1951. After three years of successful harvests, he founded the Advanced Rutabaga Studies Institute in 1954.
On the 50th anniversary of ARSI's founding, a petition was filed to establish Our Founder's birthplace as a National Historic Monument.
Only days until June 16, 2007
ARSI's 53rd Anniversary!
The ancestral MacAroon Castle
is located near Drumsna, County Sligo, Ireland. Built in 1064,
it was abandoned in 1846 when the MacAroon clan immigrated to the U.S.
To see Obie MacAroon's birthplace and other scenes, visit
Images of ARSI, a photo essay from our
International Headquarters in Forest Grove.
Visit ARSI's state-of-the-art Live Rutacam.
Send An Email Message to Obie MacAroon III, ARSI President for Life,
at obie(at)rutastudies.org
[Fight spam: just replace (at) with @ symbol!]NOTE: Due to the huge volume of correspondence, we regret
that we are unable to guarantee a personal response.
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"Your Root in the Third Millennium"
Carved and dyed Finno-Ugrian
Rutabaga Deity
Rutabagas have enticed folks times to this site.
