By Layla Bohm
News-Sentinel staff writer

At 6 a.m. on a Tuesday last month, 78-year-old “retired” Don Phillips was making apricot jam on his Lodi farm.

At 11 a.m. that morning, the sealed jars were still too hot to have the “Handmade by Grandpa Don” labels applied to them.

But in the meantime, Phillips was out riding around the farm that doubles as an unofficial visitors’ center on a golf cart, stopping to offer a cup of coffee to acquaintances.

Here’s a list of people and organizations that have served as grand marshals of the Lodi Grape Festival & Harvest Fair. 1934 Joey Brown 1949 Gov. Earl Warren 1950 Gov. Earl Warren 1951 Pfc. Bradley van Noate 1952 Maj. Gen. Walter Todd 1953 Maj. Gen. Walter Todd 1954 Capt. Francis B. Risser 1955 Rep. Leroy Johnson 1956 Bertha DeAlmada 1957 Sen. William F. Knowland 1958 Brig. Gen. William J. Lange 1958 Sen. Alan Short 1960 Mayor Jim Culbertson 1961 Supervisor Bruce McKnight 1962 Mayor Bozant Katzakian 1963 Mayor Bozant Katzakian 1964 Police Chief Emil Keszler 1965 Supervisor Vernon Lehman 1966 Police Chief Emil Keszler 1967 Police Chief Emil Keszler 1968 Mayor Richard Hunnell 1969 Assemblyman Robert Monagan 1970 Mayor Ben Schaffer 1971 Supervisor Dan Parisis 1972 Clarence S. Jackson 1973 Mayor Richard Hughes/Derby champ Bret Yarborough 1974 Marie Graffigna Bettencourt 1975 P.J. McLaughlin 1976 lsabelle Towne 1977 Lodi Jaycees 1978 American Legion Post No. 22 1979 Astronaut Vance Brand 1980 Maj. Gen. Frank J. Schober 1981 Craig Mathews 1982 Stan McCaffrey 1983 Rep. Clare Berryhill 1984 Supervisor George Barber 1985 Henry Glaves 1986 Jim Kissler 1987 Marie Graffigna Bettencourt 1988 Hap Pfeiffer and Van Lehman 1989 Ed DeBenedetti 1990 Antonio Montani and Chuzo Hara 1991 Bill Wieland 1992 John and Gail Kautz 1993 Bill Pisani and Nadene Aberle 1994 Guy P. Wakefield 1995 Peter and Annette Knight 1996 Pat Yankee and The Tokay Players 1997 Grape Festive Queens 1998 Lodi-Woodbridge Winegrape Commission 1999 Robert Mondavi 2000 Eastside Winery 2001 San Joaquin County Historical Society Editor’s note: No records for parade grand marshals could be found for the years not shown above.)

His humor and enjoyment of good conversation were two reasons Phillips was chosen as this year’s Lodi Grape Festival grand marshal, Lodi Grape Festival General Manager Mark Armstrong said.

Phillips feels honored to be the grand marshal, and he and his wife, Jean, will wear matching red, white and blue shirts as they ride through Lodi in a horse and buggy for the annual Grape Festival parade.

His grandchildren are equally excited because they’ll get to walk in the parade and throw candy, Jean Phillips said.

When asked how many grandchildren he has, Phillips replied with a smile, “Oh, thousands.”

Every year, the retired wine maker and his wife host fall events throughout October for school children. As many as 800 children come to the farm each day to take turns going on hay rides, visiting the pumpkin patch and admiring the animals, Phillips said.

The farm, Phillips Farms, at 4580 W. Highway 12, is almost like a gateway into Lodi, Armstrong said.

Visitors stopping to taste wine or pick 10 flowers for $1 can browse the store Phillips built himself years ago in which there is something for everyone. From baby bibs with grape pictures on them to homemade lavender soap, the Phillips cater to all sorts.

“We always try to pick someone who is a big part of the community and has done a lot for the area, and (Don and Jeannie Phillips) are great ambassadors,” Armstrong said.

A Purple Heart veteran, Don Phillips returned from the Navy in 1946 and was married a week later.

In the 57 years since then, the couple has raised two sons who now run the farm, adopted two more children and raised eight foster children. They’ve also hosted nearly 140 foreign-exchange students.

As if that wasn’t enough interaction with children, Phillips worked as an agriculture teacher at Linden High School for 17 years, then at Delta College.

“It’s nice to be with someone who enjoys life so much,” Jean Phillips said as her husband told stories of watching the Giants play baseball in San Francisco.

He’s more than willing to show any and all visitors around the shop, and he smiles when he looks at his pet turkeys kept in a cage.

“We have three turkeys. One of them is a duck,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes.

Sure enough, two turkeys and a white duck reside happily in a cage while other ducks waddle around on the grass outside the cage. The duck has no desire to be out with the rest of them, Phillips said.

Phillips loves to hold ducks and pigs for children to look at, and he has no intention of ending the annual Pumpkin Patch event at the farm. In fact, he plans to live until he’s at least 100.

“My, oh my, what a beautiful day,” he sang on sunny August day when he talked to a reporter.

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