James “Jim ”Jerue, a Dowagiac area beekeeper, small business owner and community volunteer, will run as a write-in candidate for Cass County commissioner District 1 in the Aug. 3 Democratic primary.

District 1 encompasses all of Silver Creek Township.

Incumbent Commissioner Ed Goodman will run as a Republican after switching parties earlier this year.

Jerue, a 1975 Union High School graduate, has a strong agricultural background and deep interest in farming issues in Silver Creek Township and Cass County.

He has been a beekeeper for 20 years, manufacturing and selling honey products throughout the Midwest, including at the Berrien County Youth Fair.

Goodman promoted the township he represents by giving out small bottles of Jerue’s Silver Creek Apiaries honey at Christmastime in 2008.

The Jerue family has lived and farmed in Silver Creek Township since 1915.

A family history of community service includes grandfather Leonard Jerue, who was township clerk and road commissioner, and father Joe Jerue, who was a member and chair of the Road Commission.

Jim is a Red Cross volunteer for Cass County and an active ham radio operator for RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service).

Jerue, who told the Daily News in January 2009 that he didn’t see himself becoming a candidate, said Tuesday, “It should be an interesting lesson one way or the other.”

“I‘m running for commissioner in District 1 to give people a choice,” Jerue said.

“I feel my deep roots in the community and my farming and small business background give me a broad perspective on issues, both in District 1, as well as all of Cass County.

“I am interested in every issue concerning Cass County, with emphasis on the Road Commission and emergency preparedness. I will be an advocate for developmentally challenged citizens. Senior services like the Medical Care Facility and security for seniors are high on my list of priorities.

“I pledge to listen, to learn and to make informed, principled decisions. Please write in James Jerue for commissioner in the District 1 Democratic primary on Tuesday, Aug. 3. I greatly appreciate it.”

Jerue is in good company with some prominent people who have been beekeepers in the Dowagiac area, from Wayne Township Commissioner Bob Wagel all the way back to James Heddon, a nationally-known apiarist even though history files him under fishing lures.

“I got interested in bees when I was a kid, but never had time between driving trucks and farming” cash crops such as corn, beans and alfalfa, Jerue said last year. There were five children in his family — three boys and two girls — but he was the only one interested in farming.

He and his father also had 300 head of sheep at one time, and Jim also bought odd lots of feeder cattle at Shipshewana, Ind. After high school, Jerue also worked for Laylin Welding.

He drove trucks until accidentally brushing against a power line.

“Shocking,” he makes light of an incident which almost killed him.

“When I was getting out of farming,” he recalled, “one of my neighbors and I were brainstorming different ideas. Mom saw this ad in the paper for a raffle. I went to the meeting and I think those old guys rigged the raffle because I ‘won’ the bee set” consisting of a hive and a package of bees.

The farm where he grew up is further north of Dowagiac. When Jim was 6 or 7, his folks sold their sawmill and built a brick ranch house on Middle Crossing, a few doors north of the Yaw Street corner where Russom Field Little League baseball is played.