Family works together during cherry harvest

For most kids, a summer job means three months of scooping ice cream or flipping burgers.

For 21-year-old Tony Pereyda and his siblings, it means traveling all over the northwest to hit various fruit harvest seasons.

After spending several weeks picking fruit in Washington, the Pereyda family arrived at Bowman Orchards in Yellow Bay at the beginning of August. They will stay at the orchard for about a month.

There, amidst dozens of rows of cherry trees, the older Pereyda kids work alongside their parents as their younger brothers and sisters laugh and run circles around stacked crates of cherries.

This is the second Flathead Lake cherry harvest for Tony and most of his family members, who reside in the Tri-Cities area of Washington for the remainder of the year.

The Pereydas and the rest of the field workers must rise early to do as much picking as possible before the sun gets too hot.

“I usually start around 5:30 (in the morning),” Tony said. “But people can start as early as 5 (a.m.), once it’s light enough to start seeing the cherries.”

The workers head in for a break during the afternoon hours, then return to the fields in the evening for another shift.

“We rest during the afternoon, then we usually come back around 5 (p.m.) and go until 8:30 or 9,” Tony said.

For as long as Tony can remember, his parents — Pablo and Enedina Pereyda — have earned their living working in fruit fields.

At around age 7, Tony started helping out. Over the years, he has picked a variety of fruits and vegetables, including apples, pears and asparagus.

“I didn’t like that (picking asparagus) too much,” Tony said. “You’re bent over all day, and you have to wake up at about 2 in the morning because there’s no shade in an asparagus field.”

Although he enjoys traveling and spending summers with his family, Tony said he doesn’t plan to stay in the fruit business for the rest of his life.

“I want to start college next year, probably at CBC (Columbia Basin College),” Tony said, adding that eventually he would like to transfer to a four-year university.

One day, Tony hopes to become a counselor or possibly go into business with some of his brothers and sisters.

“I just feel like getting an education gives you so many options,” he said.

For now, though, Tony’s focus is filling up as many cherry crates — each worth five dollars of pay — as he can before the end of the harvest.

“It’s just eat, sleep, make money,” he said.