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New plan of attack for Rice Township’s Ice Lakes fix

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Vice President Joe Biden to stump for Hillary Clinton on Friday in Luzerne County

<p>WAPWALLOPEN &#8212; For area apple growers, 2016 hasn&#8217;t been the best of times.</p><p>According to Greg Heller, of Heller&#8217;s Orchard, it&#8217;s been a challenging year due to several factors.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not just me,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s everywhere.&#8221;</p><p>Cold weather in the spring mixed with an abundant crop last year led to a much smaller crop this year for apple growers in Pennsylvania and New York, Heller said.</p><p>Heller had added trouble when his crop was hit with a hail storm in late June. The storm, Heller said, hit in the early morning and left damage on his apples.</p><p>It hasn&#8217;t exactly been the worst of times either, Heller added.</p><p>&#8220;We were able to work through it,&#8221; Heller said.</p><p>Apple lovers may not even notice the struggle Heller and his fellow farmers have gone through this year, however. Heller said that despite the smaller crop, prices of apples and apple products should remain fairly stable.</p><p>He said most of the damage from the storm was cosmetic. Aside from some dents, the apples were fine.</p><p>And, he and other orchard owners aren&#8217;t done picking apples just yet. Fuji apples aren&#8217;t picked until the end of October.</p><p>Heller&#8217;s also grows peaches, and while some of those crops were affected by the hail, the fruit was damaged less than the apples.</p><p>&#8220;They&#8217;re pretty durable,&#8221; Heller said.</p><p>Despite the crop troubles, Heller&#8217;s is still hosting its 28th annual Apple Festival this weekend. The festival, which features entertainment, craft vendors and plenty of apple foods, benefits churches in the community. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the orchard.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a pretty unique event,&#8221; Heller said.</p><p>The event&#8217;s coordinator, Barbie Smith, and and Heller both expect good crowds for the event, especially with warm weather predicted for Sunday.</p><p>&#8220;I anticipate we are going to be swamped,&#8221; Smith said. &#8220;It&#8217;s a wholesome event.&#8221;</p><p>In the past, the festival has seen crowds in the thousands, Smith said. She said there are added kids activities such as face paintings, pony rides and bean bag toss.</p><p>&#8220;The event has actually gotten bigger,&#8221; Smith said.</p><p>The festival benefits St. John, St. Peter, St. James and St. Mark churches. Admission is free and shuttle service is available.</p><p>For those looking for plenty of apple products, Heller said the festival won&#8217;t disappoint.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll have lots of apples,&#8221; he said. &#8230; Even if it hasn&#8217;t been the best of times.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Hellers Orchard apple stand selling a variety of apples and pumpkins at the apple festival in Wapwallopen ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 10-15-16</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_apple5_faa.jpg</photo0><caption0>Hellers Orchard apple stand selling a variety of apples and pumpkins at the apple festival in Wapwallopen ----------------Fred Adams|for Times Leader 10-15-16</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Despite small crop, prices should remain stable, says grower</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Brigid Edmunds</p><p>bedmunds@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Brigid Edmunds at 570-991-6119 or on Twitter @TLNews</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Apple harvest has been a bit down this year