Big on figs: Elma man turns his interest into a passionate hobby
by DEBBY ABE
One magical day on a river bank two decades ago, Denny McGaughy fell in love with the fig.
McGaughy (prounced ma-goy) was vacationing in California, moseying around the Sacramento River when he spotted a lone fig tree. He lowered a branch and plucked one of the world's most ancient and succulent fruits.
"It was wonderful," said McGaughy, a 67-year-old retired environmental biologist. "I said, 'This is God's candy.' "
McGaughy has been trying to raise figs ever since at his home in Elma, 30 miles west of Olympia.
His hobby recently yielded a jackpot of sorts. It turns out that one of the 100 fig trees he's been nurturing was a previously unidentified variety.
He's calling it the Olympian.
"I think it's exciting," McGaughy said. "It's a wonderful fig that grows wonderfully in Olympia."