A Tribute to Mary Erickson,
All Aspirations
1922 – 2010
From Gary: My mom, Mary, loved music, art, food, and family. She was born in San Francisco, the daughter of Greek immigrants with a deep connection to their cultural heritage – in particular, good food. Mom learned to cook as a young girl by watching her mother, Kalliope, so I grew up eating homemade Greek specialties like dolmas and spanakopita. My favorite was yohas: half-pierogi, half-croissant, stuffed with spinach and feta, or spiced ground lamb. My mom’s yohas became the staple of my first business, Kali’s Sweets & Savories. A couple years after I opened Kali’s, I decided to try baking my own energy bar. It only made sense to go talk with Mom. We spent six months in the kitchen measuring out variations of her oatmeal cookie recipe. After countless experiments – all sampled and thoughtfully critiqued by my dad, Clifford – we came up with the first Clif Bar. Mom was the guardian of our family’s food heritage. No one ever left her house hungry; most left with plates of yohas or dolmas or Greek cookies, kourabiedes and koulourakia. (Kit remembers boarding a plane once, wondering why she was carrying not only her suitcase but a plate of cookies.) Food was a sign of Mom’s love, her creativity, and her desire to give.
Annual Report 2010
While my dad encouraged me to get outdoors and explore the world, Mom instilled in me a love of music. She was an accomplished pianist and organist, and when I chose to study trumpet in junior high, she made sure I had lessons. Dad was a passionate gardener; Mom was a passionate cook. He was quiet; she loved to talk. They complemented each other perfectly for 60 years. We started the Mary Erickson Award at Clif Bar back in 2001 to honor my mom and her encouragement to follow my passions for food and music. The award recognizes a Clif Bar & Company employee who best demonstrates a passion for food, life, family, and friends; creativity and out-of-the box thinking; and a strong desire to learn, teach, and share. Over the past decade, we’ve honored 10 employees by donating $15,000 to charities of their choosing. Mom loved it.
Gary Erickson & Kit Crawford, Owners | Thao Pham & Elysa Hammond, Co-editors | Mija Riedel, Managing Editor | John Marin, Senior Creative Director Bill Ribar/Formative, Designer | Sandy Biagi, Print Management | Karen Drinkwater, Anne Hamersky, Photographers Special thanks to all our contributors: Ricardo Balazs, Rich Boragno, Kamber Briones, Kevin Cleary, Bryan Cole, Rick Collins, Paula Connelly, Candice Crawford, Chris Crowther, Cassie Cyphers, Renée Davidson, Matthew Dillon, Bobby Fay, Michelle Ferguson, Linzi Gay, Suzy Starke German, Brooke Golden, Lauren Hatfield, Sue Hearn, Tonya Iles, Jeff Johnson, Jennifer Kaplan, Sophia Kaylani, Bruce Lymburn, Carly Lutz, Ryan Mayo, Dave McLaughlin, Whitney Nelson, Abby Orellana, Katherine Peck, Claudia Perkins, Chris Randall, Dylan Seguin, Marla Streb, Tayfun Ucar, Ashley Ulkus, Eric Walle, Jennifer Yun
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