Happy Fall from Lost Creek Hippies Vineyard (Orchard)!

Happy Fall to all!

Finally, we seem to be slowing down a bit. Our 4 established McIntosh apple trees produced several hundred apples, and 37 Honeycrisp newer plantings are growing, slowly. We’re expecting them to become productive in another 2-3 years… we’ve learned to be very patient.

On a much happier note, our 7th Annual Fun(d) Raising Party on Saturday, September 9 was really enjoyable for us and the 50+ attendees. So many warm, caring, fun, and interesting people were able to attend, including several who had not been at one of our prior events ( plantings, harvests, Fun(d) Raising parties ). Meeting and chatting with so many positive people was a joy for us… many pleasant memories… we’re motivated to do it again next year!

The music was outstanding ( I love folk music and Linda loves bluegrass ), so Dirk and Ben’s rendition of many classic tunes was appreciated by all. As a fan of John Prine, it was so good to hear. Cal, Don, and Terry of Trio Tipo followed with so enjoyable Latin Fusion Acoustic music… it was so mellow!

The Cornhole games resulted in considerable controversy! Things were going relatively OK until Linda started some ( light-hearted ) trash talking, thus throwing my partner, Steve, “out of his groove”, so we lost to Brad and Linda. We vow revenge next year!

The appetizers were many and delicious, and the many beverages, including our Altered States Apple wine, went well with them. Linda’s pork stew in the late afternoon was followed by several delicious desserts, again thanks to so many bringing treats.

Our charities did well by our efforts:

Central Asia Institute :      $650.00

Habitat for Humanity of Minnesota:   $400.00

Hope Coalition:    $2,075.00

As promised, we matched these donations, so that a total of $6,250.00 was sent to our charities. See the 3 receipts from our charities posted in our Financial Section of our website.

All who attended received a bottle of our Altered States Apple wine to take home.

Linda and I could not have had such an enjoyable and successful event without the help of Brad, Rori, Nathania, Oliver, and Pat… we thank them so much.

We can all be proud to be a part of making our challenged local and distant neighbors improve their lives:

Central Asia Institute ( Bozeman, Montana ): Helping girls and women in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan become educated, independent, and successful.

Habitat for Humanity of Minnesota ( St Paul, Minnesota ): Enabling lower income Minnesotans build and own affordable quality housing, thus stabilizing their entire communities and improving healthy and safe environments throughout our state.

Hope Coalition ( Red Wing, Minnesota ): Helping women in the Lake Pepin area who are challenged by economic or abuse issues, by housing and employment assistance and other appropriate social services in order to get onto tracts of success and well-being. Again, helping both individuals but also their communities become healthier.

We have and continue to believe that by helping our neighbors succeed, that our lives become fuller and more meaningful. We are all joined in One Human Family. Our help is making a meaningful difference in making our family healthier!

We will continue to do this as long as it works… the joy we get through these efforts is immeasurable. Plan to join us for our 8th Annual Fun(d) Raising Party, on Saturday, September 14, 2024 !

All have a warm and cozy winter, and Think Spring,

Love, Peace, and Charity,

James Lee and Linda Norris

Lost Creek Hippies Vineyard