LEVANT – Fall is in full swing, and people are heading to a local orchard to celebrate the season.
“We came to a very special place in my mom’s heart to have a little bit more autumn,” said Susie Smith, who visited the orchard with her family from Alaska.
CEO of Treworgy Family Orchards Jonathan Kenerson said this has been their busiest season yet.
“I think part of it is because there just aren’t as many things for people to do,” Kenerson said. “This is a real traditional thing, and when you don’t have a lot of other things to do, go pick some apples.”
Kenerson said they had to make some changes to their offerings due to the pandemic.
“We had to cancel our hay rides,” Kenerson said. “We weren’t able to do field trips for schools like we normally do.”
He said it is an outdoor business, but there are COVID-19 guidelines in place.
“We’re asking people to socially distance,” Kenerson said. “As you can see here, we’ve got lines with spacing, and all of our employees are wearing masks. We’re asking customers to wear masks in lines and congested areas.”
Despite the alterations this year, the workers say they’ve still had great business thanks to the corn maze, pumpkin patch, apple picking, and the apple cider doughnuts.
“We get a lot of people calling and making sure that we have doughnuts,” said Erin Barber, who makes the doughnuts at Treworgy Family Orchards. “They’re like, ‘oh, we came just for the doughnuts.'”
Customers are pleased with their visits.
“This is a great place,” said Sam Jones of Orono. “Very friendly people. They told us where to pick the best apples, so it was awesome.”
“Usually, when we come down here in the fall, we like going to corn mazes,” said Samuel Smith, Susie’s 11-year-old son. “We saw there was a maze here, so we decided to head down.”
Kenerson said apple and pumpkin picking will be available until Nov. 1.
