2015 Commentary
Originally Published 4.5.15 in the Wenatchee World
Recently, the majority of the apple trees at Vin du Lac winery were removed in preparation for the next phase of the Lookout neighborhood. If you drive along the north shore of Lake Chelan you will likely have noticed the activity.
Apple tree chip piles on former orchard land.
I remember the first time I encountered the wholesale removal of an apple orchard over 15 years ago. I rounded the corner of Highway 97A on the south shore and where once had stood neat rows of our family’s Red Delicious trees, now there was just a blank field. Even though Dad had warned me the week before, I wasn’t prepared for the sight and felt a wave of sadness.
And 15 years later, after having gained some sober grit from farming with my father for a decade, it still is an emotional experience to witness changes in the landscape. Whether it is a forest burning wild or an orchard removal, we feel deeply when the hills change. And for the farmer, it is especially hard since this is a change he does himself, or at least authorizes.
In this case, The Lookout has authorized the removal of these trees for its next phase, the Winery District. In the place of the orchards, all residents and guests of the Lake Chelan Valley will have access to trails, parks, and vistas that were never available during the farming era — a big positive. But it is still change.
My great-grandfather, Ray O’Neal, was the initial agent of change on the Vin du Lac hillside. In 1927, he hitched up his two horses and wrapped a chain around each trunk of sagebrush to clear the land. Soon, water and apple trees followed. He and my grandfather, Toad O’Neal, farmed the block until 1976 when Grandpa sold to Al Marcear. Al in turn sold to Larry Lehmbecker in 2003, owner of Vin du Lac winery, and Larry has recently sold the majority of the farm to the Lookout. At each sale, an examination of the land’s value and best use took place.
If you’ve heard me speak about the vision of the Lookout, you know I am passionate about its vision of bringing a walkable neighborhood to the Lake Chelan Valley. As a fifth-generation native, I’m convinced this vision brings the appropriate use to my great-grandfather’s original farm. And were he or Grandpa alive today, knowing the realities of today’s tree fruit industry, they would both say the same thing — make way for something new. A successful farmer is pragmatic if he is anything. And if you lined the whole family up, from great-grandpa down to myself, we would also become a bit somber as we watched the trees coming out. After years of cultivation, a relationship grows between the caregiver and the cared for. Anyone who has put down a good dog knows this to an extreme. And while most of us don’t love trees as much as dogs, we do love their blossoms in spring, their leafy shade in summer, and their amazing sweetness at harvest.
The Lookout has incorporated grapes into its landscape plan to honor the land’s agricultural past. Already the kids flock in September to eat this fruit. Such designs will continue and other fruits may be woven into the mix. But there will no longer be a working apple orchard on this land. We say goodbye to this chapter — not without looking forward to the next — but goodbye nonetheless. We say it today.
