Dynamic form... field names and values...

Boy-Howdy. I wish I had the opportunity to stop by this forum and hang out at a time when I am not having issue, but, alas... I appreciate the brain power of the great minds that populate this forum.

I have an issue: I think I am close on this but cannot identify where my syntax is going awry. Here is a simplified edition of my situation.

I have a form with a set of dropdown menus that filter a recordset. The group of drop downs are dynamic from a database and will vary depending on what category of products a visitor is viewing.

If I browse to FRUIT: I get three options that let me filter for:

Fruit Type

- Apples

- Bananas

- Pears

Fruit Grown By:

- Organic

- Any

Fruit From:

- Domestic

- South America

- European

However, if I browse to LUMBER I get:

Wood Type:

- Pine

- Walnut

- Oak

Wood Prep:

- Pre Cut

- RAW Timber

Wood Origin:

- North America

- South America

- Europe

I have the variable naming and database values worked out. My only issue is when I browse to friuit and select apples I want apples to remain selected as I page through results.

So, the dropdown field names are dynamic. Currently set to zgen1, zgen2, zgen3. I set a variable named sr and increment it to build the progressive 1,2,3 after the field name zgen.

<cfparam name="sr" default="1">
<cfoutput group="ft_id" query="oompa2">
<strong>#f_ftrname#:</strong><br>
<select name="zgen#variables.sr#">
<OPTION value="">select...</OPTION>
<cfoutput>
<OPTION value="#ft_id#_#fs_id#">#ft_options#</OPTION>
</cfoutput>
</select>
<br><br>
<cfset sr=#sr# + 1>

</cfoutput>

But when zgen1 has a value (in this case "Apples") I can't figure out how to dynamically test for the presence of a value for each dropdown. I have dynamically created the field names (cfset xvalue="FORM.zgen#variables.sr#") to test against. However this creates a value of FORM.zgen1, FORM.zgen2, FORM.zgen3 as it loops when I want it to be Apples, Organic, Domestic.

Example:

The code:

<OPTION value="#ft_id#_#fs_id#"<cfif xvalue IS "#ft_id#_#fs_id#"> SELECTED</cfif>>#ft_options#</OPTION>

which is translating to:
<OPTION value="15_5"<cfif FORM.zgen1 IS "15_5"> SELECTED</cfif>>Apples</OPTION>

When I want it to be:

<OPTION value="15_5"<cfif 15_5 IS "15_5"> SELECTED</cfif>>Apples</OPTION>

I hope I am making sense. I would greatly appreciate it if someone could help me noodle this. I have a feeling it is not as complicated as my mind is trying to make it. Thoughts?