River View Orchard’s Fall Fair: visiting the farm

It’s that time of year again: the trees are turning into a mosaic of colors and the weather is cooling off. It’s time to drag out those scarves, coats, and boots. And with autumn, comes apple picking.

 

At River View Orchards, families and friends gathered to celebrate their Fall Fair on September 21 and 22.

 

Andrew Lovell, owner of the orchard since 2012, says the Fall Fair brings around 5,000 people every year.

 

 

“Kids are always excited to come. It kind of exposes them to agriculture, which is really good because most kids think that their food comes from the supermarket,” Lovell said. “They have no idea where it actually comes from.”

During the day, Lovell drove a tractor and offered free wagon rides around the orchard. Along with seeing the many apple varieties, the wagon rides offered a bird’s eye view of the St John River Valley.

 

The 20-minute rides travelled about a kilometre each way and stopped halfway at the corn maze.

This year’s corn maze was a mix of corn and sunflowers – with many families saying it was more difficult than it looked.

 

Along with the corn maze, the Fall Fair included bouncy houses for children as well as different vendors selling handmade crafts and food.

 

Some families came for the activities, while others came to show their support for local businesses, like James Sprague and his family.

 

 

 

“We live locally here, so it’s good to support the local businesses, and most of the guys here are local so it contributes to the local economy,” Sprague said.

 

While the Fall Fair boasted many attractions to entice families, Lovell said he’s happy to see families visiting farms because he believes some people know little about farms nowadays.

 

“There’s a disconnect because I think we’re now about two or three generations average off of the farm,” he said.

“People forget where they came from.”