BY DIANE CHURCH STAFF WRITER SOUTHINGTON &mdash This is a special year at Rogers Orchards, a milestone event that even a governor could not
ignore. Rogers Orchards is celebrating two centuries in town, having survived natural disasters, weather fluctuations, several financial panics and recessions and the Great Depression. And it is still run by the descendants of Chauncey Merriman, who started the farm in 1809. To mark the occasion, Gov. M. Jodi Rell declared Friday as Rogers Orchards Day in Connecticut. She also took time out of her busy schedule and budget negotiations to visit the orchard’s Shuttle Meadow Road farm stand to deliver a proclamation and meet the family that made the farm a success. “These are tough economic times to be a farmer,” Rell said to the small crowd, which included several customers who had no clue that the governor would be making an appearance. “We value local agriculture in Connecticut and applaud the hard work and long hours you put in.” Rogers Orchards was started when Chauncey Merriman, who served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, bought a small farm on Shuttle Meadow Road in 1809 and planted some apple trees on it. Unlike potatoes, squash and corn, apples were not native to America, but were gaining popularity. Chauncey’s son Anson inherited the farm and decided to plant a thousand Baldwin apple trees, even though they were an untried variety. The gamble paid off and the Baldwin became a popular variety for the next century. Anson’s son, Josiah, inherited the farm and planted over one hundred acres of peach trees. Josiah had no sons, but his daughter Sarah married Elijah Rogers, who owned an adjacent farm. The two combined and the new farm, called Lake View Farm, had 3,500 apple trees and 7,000 peach trees, making it one of the largest commercial orchards in the state. In the 1960s, the farm expanded again when Frank Rogers, Elijah’s grandson, purchased an orchard across town in Marion with proceeds from the eminent domain sale of orchard land that became the Wasel Reservoir. He named the new venture Sunnymount Farm. Now, Frank’s son, John Rogers, runs the orchards with his wife Nancy and their children, Peter and Martha, and son-in-law Greg Parzych. Ironically, Nancy Rogers said Parzych’s father left his native Poland because he didn’t want to be a farmer. Both locations have a stand that sells the fruit, along with vegetables and other items grown or made locally, including the famous apple cider doughnuts favored by F. Philip Prelli, the state’s commissioner of agriculture, who visited the farm stand with Rell. Customers can also pick their own apples on fall weekends. Like all families, the Merriman’s have had some failed ventures. One year, Anson Merriman planted an acre of cucumbers and made them into pickles, but there was no market for them. For the rest of his life he was known as “Old Pickles.” In the 1940, Harold Rogers, John’s grandfather, invented an apple vending machine called the Fruit-O-Matic. In the 1950s, he and other local fruit growers produced an apple concentrate called “Apple Dapple.” Both failed to catch on, although today’s parents would much rather see their children snack on fruit than the usual vending machine fare and, according to John, China has cornered the market on apple concentrate, which is sold to apple juice makers in the United States and other nations. permarkets as wells as at the farm stands. For Cathy McKinstry and her friends Dan and Eileen Murawski, seeing Rell in person was a pleasant surprise. The three had just finished hiking at Crescent Lake when they decided to stop at the farm stand to check out the peaches. The Murawski’s retired from teaching in town and moved to Florida, but were back for a visit. They are looking forward to dining on local corn and apples. “I grew up in Bristol and lived in Southington for 34 years,” said Dan Murawski. “Rogers Orchards was always the place to go and pick apples.” The rest of the Rogers Orchards 200th anniversary celebration is low-key. On Sunday morning, a charity walk through the main orchard is scheduled to raise money for Bread for Life, the local soup kitchen. A bluegrass band is to play at the Sunnymount Farm location on Meriden-Waterbury Turnpike in the morning and the orchard on Shuttle Meadow Road in the afternoon. A semi-regular blog about the news and events in Bristol, Connecticut. Brad Carroll gives his latest take on both the local and national sports scene.
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