Orchard

Orchard: The end of this apple season is bittersweet for Yates Apple Orchard owner Bill Yates of rural Grafton.
“The orchard has been in the family for 79 years, and I have had it for 50 of those years and just loved it,” Bill Yates said last month. “But it is time to plant new apple trees that would start producing in two to three years, and I would be pushing toward 80. So, I feel it’s time to get out of the business and will close.”
Yates, 73, said his father, the late Olen Hoyt Yates, purchased the property in 1931; at that time, it included 200 acres of apple orchards. His father also owned and operated Yates Produce in Godfrey until the 1960s.
Read Full Story: The USA News