WESTMINSTER STATION â Russell Allen knows his apples.
On Friday, he turns the ripe age of 90, but he still has the passion for the fruit that has dominated his working life.
Walking with just a little hitch in his gait, Allen and his grandson Brandon Allen head out to his small home orchard to check for possible damage from this weekâs cold temperatures. He heads to rows of Zestar, McIntosh and Honeycrisp, which ripen at staggered times starting in the late summer to early fall.
The buds are still in what Allen calls âtight cluster,â but cold temperatures can spell doom, months in advance, for any crop. In 10 days, weather willing, he said, there will be âpetal fallâ signaling the apple crop has been pollinated.
Russell Allen, apple man, celebrates 90 years benningtonbanner.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from benningtonbanner.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
BELLOWS FALLS â Thereâs house proud, and then thereâs â
house proud.â
Rockingham has been giving awards every year to the owners of restored homes and other buildings for close to 30 years, and in 2020 everything from a Victorian painted lady, to a 1950s split level modern home, to one of the oldest houses in the town won recognition.
The Rockingham Preservation Commission recently handed out five awards, and gave honorable mentions to four other properties.
Walter Wallace, the Rockingham Preservation Commissionâs coordinator, said the awards have been given out since the early to mid 1990s, and he said they were created to recognize efforts to maintain and preserve the historic character of the buildings in the town, including homes and businesses.