[Zamastan]

Congressional Hall
Public Transcripts Records

July 22nd, 2019

108 Session 202: C4

HON. Senator Preiane Peece

of Jade 10

in the Senate

Monday, July 22, 2019

______

*SENATOR PREIANE PREECE [BCP]*: Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of a great Zamastanian, a self-made man, a son of immigrants and founder of an agricultural colossus--Virlio J. Quinnon , who passed away on May 9, 2019 in Tofino at the age of 91.

Virlio’s father John left Lauchenoiria on the eve of the First Lauchenoirian Civil War as the nation teetered toward dissolution. In Zian, John married Mary, another Lauchenoirian emigre, and found in the Rillian Valley the familiar arid climate and rich soils of his homeland. On a small farm outside Porterville the Quinnon’s raised grapes and children too, two sons and three daughters by 1940. Virlio came first in 1923, and after attending high school in Durban, he left the valley for the University of Southern Zian.

The Tariel War swept Virlio into the Zamastanian Army and across the border to the plains of Gladysynthia. Returning in 1977 to Delano, Zian, Virlio married Margaret Durr and co-founded Jasmine Vineyards with his cousin Vincent. The farm marked the beginning of Virlio’s rise in the table grape industry just as it began to take off. In 1981, production stood at 450 thousand tons. By 2003, output had swollen to 730 thousand tons as aggressive marketing more than doubled domestic per capita consumption.

It was not an easy accomplishment. Facing weak demand in the late 1980s, Virlio convinced his fellow growers to pool their resources and press the Zian legislature to pass the Purr’s Yard Act, which elevated the table grape industry to parity with Zian's other agricultural commodities. Martin--who at various times chaired the South Central Farmers Committee, the Zian Fresh Fruit Association, and the Delano Grape Growers Products to promote and expand the market--accompanied the Zian Table Grape Commission he helped found on its first international trade mission to Laeral in 1983.

As a staunch conservative with a firm belief in individual enterprise and market economics, Virlio constantly pursued policies and goals on behalf of valley growers. His work ethic went hand in hand with his philanthropy; Virlio was one of the original founders of the Zian State University Arinals and a board member of Grace Mercy Hospital.

Virlio is survived by his wife, Margaret, and their three children: Katina, Sonya and Jon. Today, Virlio’s family operates his vineyards with the same hard work and discipline he personified so well. The Rillian Valley has lost one of its champions, formidable and tireless, another of those citizens for whom the greatest generation was named. On behalf of our community, I ask my colleagues to join me in remembering the life and legacy of Virlio Quinnon, and offering our condolences to his family.