Hetlinger Developmental Services has oodles of apples these days. Thanks to a little pruning and spraying, the campus’ apple orchard is exploding with ripe fragrant apples.
In light of the very large crop, said Tamie Vahsholtz, marketing coordinator, the organization decided to have an apple festival on Sept. 30.
Hetlinger, at 707 S. Commercial St., serves people with developmental disabilities. The orchard was planted in 1976, using an anonymous gift of $500. To this day, nobody knows who donated the money for the trees, but consumers and staff alike are still reaping the benefits 30 years later.
The trees haven’t been at the top of the priority list in the past several years and weren’t producing much. But all it took this year was a little spraying and fertilizing and the trees exploded with fruit.
“This is the first year we’ve been able to spray the trees and fertilize them,” Vahsholtz said. “It’s amazing the difference it made.”
Some trees have so many apples on them that the branches are hanging low to the ground.
“The trees are loaded with apples,” Vahsholtz said as she stood among the fragrant trees as Hetlinger clients were busy picking the apples. “We started picking officially (last) Tuesday and all of a sudden we had apples.”
Vahsholtz said she went to get 20 boxes to store the apples in, but it was quickly apparent that wasn’t going to do the job. Hetlinger ended up getting a refrigerated truck, which now is packed with apples. Boxes and bags of apples sit outside the truck and line the halls of the building.
Seeing the trees go from blossoms to apples has been good for clients and staff alike, Vahsholtz said.
“Some of our population is older,” she said. “They remember when the orchard was in its prime. It’s been interesting to watch their faces and how excited they are about the orchard again. It’s here, why not utilize it?”
Clients picking the apples are paid by the hour, Vahsholtz said. Gary Smith, maintenance supervisor at Hetlinger, was busy running apples from trees to the truck.
“It’s been a very good experience for employees as well as the consumers,” Vahsholtz said. “It makes me feel good that somebody thought 30 years ago that this was a worthwhile project.”
The apples are for sale — 50 cents a pound for firsts (apples with no blemishes) and 25 cents for seconds (apples that are still good, but have some blemishes). The apples also will be available for purchase during the apple fest on Sept. 30. The apple fest will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Hetlinger campus. Booths will be available for clubs, groups, organization or individuals free of charge. Sign up deadline for booths is Monday.
“The apple fest is a way for the public to come down and see our facility,” Vahsholtz said.
At the apple fest, there will be music, children’s games (moon walk, face painting), food and crafts. There also will be apple cider, 2006 apple fest T-shirts, cookbooks and free popcorn.
People also can bring their aluminum cans for recycling on Sept. 30. They will be paid 50 cents per pound for cans brought in that day.
Many of the apple trees need to be cut down and replaced. Following this year’s apple fest, new trees will be planted, replacing some of the older trees. The new trees are being donated by Waters True Value Hardware.
“We plan on replacing about 10 trees a year,” Vahsholtz said.