LAKEVILLE — Lakeville State Representative Norman Orrall has been appointed as the new House designee to the UMass Cranberry Station Board of Oversight by Massachusetts House Speaker Ronald Mariano of Quincy.

Orrall will succeed Rep. William Straus of Mattapoisett in this position beginning Jan. 1. Straus, who did not seek reelection this year, has been the House designee on the Cranberry Board for many years along with the State Senate’s designee Michael Rodrigues.

The UMass Cranberry Research Station, located in East Wareham, is an outreach and research institution within UMass Amherst charged with maintaining and enhancing the economic viability of the Massachusetts cranberry industry.

Orrall, a University of Massachusetts Amherst graduate, was recently re-elected to his fourth term as state representative for the communities of Lakeville, Middleboro, Berkley, and Taunton. This position will be part of his duties as state representative. 

Although a registered civil engineer by career, he has been involved in the cranberry industry through family and friends for many years. 

Orrall’s father George Orrall grew cranberries in Lakeville and his great-grandfather Nathan Washburn, an early cranberry grower, picked natural cranberries in the famous “New Meadows” of Carver as a child in the 1870’s before bringing the cranberry industry to Lakeville, where he built bogs at Loon Pond and Puddin’ Brook on the border of East Taunton.

Orrall has been a strong advocate for cranberries in the Massachusetts Legislature and is often seen lending a hand to local growers during picking season. 

“We find ourselves connected to the land through the cultivation of this native fruit,’’  Orrall said in a prepared statement. “The cranberry industry plays an enormous role inpreserving our open spaces and aquifers while providing jobs and revenues that are vital to our economy. I will work hard in this position to promote our cranberries as the best in the world.’’

Straus noted that “the Oversight Board has been an important link for the cranberry industry, the science research  community at UMass, and the Legislature. It’s been an honor for me to foster those connections with legislation and facility improvements over the years and I am delighted that Rep. Orrall will now have a chance to succeed me and bring his unique background and skills to the future work of the Cranberry Station.’’