The Pickle Man strikes again
JAKE PARRISH/Press file Vic Eachon, 90, makes hundreds of jars of pickles a year, and donates many to auctions to raise money for charities. Two of Eachon’s jars recently sold for $600 each at a fundraiser for North Idaho Christian School. He is photographed here on Dec. 9, 2015, in his Rathdrum home.
Courtesy photo Finn Eachon, 1, great grandson of Vic Eachon, takes a bite of a pickle the day after the auction where his Grampa Vic's pickles were auctioned, for the NICS, (school at the Anthem Friends Church in Hayden).
By DEVIN HEILMAN
Staff Writer
The going rate for Vic "The Pickle Man" Eachon's famous pickles has passed the plausible pickle-procurement price.
The new record for these delicious dills is now $600.
"One lady came up at church and said she had paid $600. Vic was just sitting there with his mouth open, like, 'Are you kidding me?'" Vic's wife, Kathy, said Monday. "The very first ones sold for $25 at a fundraiser and we've been doing it ever since. It's always something different, but never quite like this."
Vic, 90, has a secret recipe for savory, crunchy garlic dills that he pickles and gives to friends and neighbors. He never charges for the pickles, but he has donated several jars to raise funds for various benefits throughout the years.
The Eachons donated two jars to North Idaho Christian School for its fundraiser Saturday night, where attendees generated more than $57,000 for the school.
Vic's pickles were responsible for $1,200 of that grand total. The previous record was set in December at a Veterans of Foreign Wars fundraiser where two jars were auctioned for $200.
"We were excited about trying them. We didn't know anything about them until my mother-in-law raved about them," said winning pickle bidder Darlene Canale. "It was fun. We got into the moment of bidding; I think everyone wanted to try them and I kept raising my paddle."
While the popular pickles live up to their palate-pleasing reputation, Canale said spending $600 at the auction was their family's way of supporting the school they love. She and her husband, Marc, and two of their children are NICS alumni and one daughter is presently a junior.
"We're big supporters of the school and thought, 'Well, we'll try a jar,'" Darlene said. "We were touched that (Vic) is a war veteran and married 60-something years. We know them from church. It's a neat thing that they put the pickles in the auction and a neat thing that we got them."
The other $600 jar of pickles was split between two couples who gave them to two mamas-to-be at the fundraiser, reported NICS financial director Marilyn Gross.
Gross said the pickles are a great symbol of generosity and the hearts that support the school, as well as a special World War II veteran who continues to amaze the community.
"Vic's pickles live on," Gross said. "He's the sweetest man. He's 90 years old and he's still making pickles."