When I was a small boy, Fall would never
pass without at least one stop at Orchard Lane. We would drive out
Rt. 235 and up the big hill to the orchard. The driveway used to be
a short distance down the hill and my mom would always hold her breath as
we turned left into the drive, hoping that some maniac wasn't coming over
the top of the hill. When we got out of the car, we could smell the
vinegary-sweet smell of the apples sitting in the barn in woven bushel baskets.
J.B. Lane was always there to talk to his customers and push small
cups full of his best cider into our little fists. We would get a bag
or two of apples and a jug of cider and head home munching on a tart, crisp
Jonathan or a sweet Red Delicious.
J.B. picked the hilltop just north of Xenia in the 1930's to plant his trees to avoid the early spring frosts that plague all orchards. He planted apple and peach trees that began to produce crops around 1940. In the early days, he would walk around at the Greene County Fair with baskets of peaches to sell, hoping to lure people to his orchard on the hill. His peaches were delicious and before long he had a loyal following. J.B.'s son Dan has been helping to run the orchard since he started working with his father almost thirty years ago.
They tended the trees with loving care and offered special prices on “U-Pick” fruit and strawberries and pumpkins for many years. This was always my favorite when I was a little older. We would take baskets into the orchard or strawberry patch and pick some, and eat some, and pick some more, and eat some more. Our faces would be sticky by the time we were ready to go.
Dan's brother Nathan learned the food service business at Pepperdine University and brought his expertise back to Xenia shortly after graduating. He built a fine restaurant up on the hill next to the Orchard Lane apple barn which he called the "Apple Tree." They moved the old dangerous driveway up to the peak of the hill and attracted dining guests from miles around to enjoy the fine food and the wonderful view out over the Little Miami Valley nearly 200 feet below.
For 10 years from the mid-70's to the mid-80's the restaurant was one of the better places in the area to get a fine meal. Nathan now operates a catering business in Cincinnati and the restaurant building was sold several years ago and is open for parties and wedding receptions, etc., operating as the Apple Hill Banquet Center.
A fruit tree only has a limited productive life and needs to be replaced every 20 or 30 years. Today's trees are modern dwarf varieties and are the third or fourth generation after those first trees that J.B. planted. Sometimes it comes time to transplant the humans as well in order for a business to carry on. J.B. passed away about 5 years ago, just a few days before his 95th birthday. Dan stepped up to carry on the family business and he has been keeping it going ever since.
Dan and his mother are planning to move to Florida and pursue other interests as soon as they are able. Next year will likely be the last year for them and they are searching for a buyer who will appreciate what they have built over the years on their hilltop. There are now 13 acres of apples and 4 acres of peaches, all in their prime producing years. They have planted a 2 acre vineyard, 2 acres of cherry trees, and each year plant 4 or 5 acres of pumpkins and sweet corn.
Another business in the Oldtown area with a long history is Focke's Meats. Walt Focke left his family meat processing business in Dayton and started his own butcher shop on Brush Row Rd. in 1974. He processed sides of beef and hogs for local farmers for many years and gained a reputation as the man to see if you needed to have your deer processed after a successful hunt in the fall. I've tasted the deer summer sausage and jerky that he produced and they were second to none.
Walt worked every day and ran his shop with an firm hand to make sure that things were done right. He trained young Rob Crane to be a butcher when he came to work after graduating from high school. Debbie Davis joined the team about the same time around 15 years ago and they have both been there ever since. When Walt became ill last winter, he still kept working as long as he was able.
When he passed away this past spring, Rob bought the business and renamed it the Oldtown Butcher Shop. Debbie stayed on and they are carrying on Walt's tradition as the place to take your beef, or hog, or deer for expert processing. They became an official deer check-in station this year and still turn out their famous summer sausage and jerky for lucky deer hunters. They sell custom cut freezer beef and pork, wholesale packaged meat products, and are now doing a small retail business in freshly processed meats.
It's good when someone's work and dreams can continue after they are gone. It seems that Walt Focke's creation is in good hands. I for one hope the Lanes also find a buyer who will keep Orchard Lane alive so that J.B.'s vision will still be here many years from now.
© 2000 Alan D. King
These columns are posted on the web at http://www.ShopXenia.com
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