Alumnus of the Year 2017
The Nielsen family settled in the Orland area in 1909. Erick Nielsen’s grandfather, Carl Gottfried Erickson (“Dot”) was born in America to his Swedish immigrant family in Nebraska, coming from the East Coast in covered wagons. Erick’s grandfather began developing the existing ranch with a small dairy and poultry operation as well as prune, olive, almond, and orange orchards. In the 1940s, Erick’s father, Lloyd Nielsen, leased the ranch from his father-in-law and continued to farm it until the mid-1970s.
While at Orland High School Erick played basketball. He thought about playing for Chico State and ended up playing all four years. A couple of years ago, he was recognized as one of the top 100 All-Time Basketball Players of Chico State. While at Chico State, Erick met a young lady by the name of Margie Call. She must have made a pretty good impression because they were married in July of 1972.
Erick stayed in Orland and worked on the family farm, starting a small agricultural business in 1972 that specialized in pruning and harvesting prunes and nuts. The business began to grow and Erick and Margie bought the family ranch in 1976 and further expanded the acreage, now farming prunes and olives, and developing innovative harvesting equipment for prunes and pistachios with reliability and efficiency, committing to addressing the many challenges the modern orchard growers face.
Erick Nielsen Enterprises (ENE) also created unique self-propelled mechanical pruners for topping, hedging and skirting for various orchards crops. ENE also provides experienced and talented personnel who are trained in safety, mechanical operations, and management classes to serve the customer.
This third generation Orland farmer is active in his church and community. Erick is a committed father. He and Margie have five children: Heather (and Don) Reed, Hilary (and Anthony) Porter, Gavin, Garrett (and Leanne), and Ashley (and Nate) Boom and twelve grandchildren. Erick has a huge heart and treats the many who have worked so long for him as family. In many ways his work mantra is his family mantra: “Do it right, Do it well, Make it right for our customers, Enjoy our work, and Provide for our families”.
Erick is an example of the outstanding alumni of Orland High School who exemplify that graduates of OHS can achieve their dreams, no matter what those dreams are. Thank you Erick!
