sweet cherries politics farm stands divides

#Sweet cherries politics farm stands divides series
#Sweet cherries politics farm stands divides free

Joyce Brodsky, 69, a painter and retired art teacher, spent the pandemic at home, occasionally passing time with a neighbor, a former auto salesperson, who also stayed isolated in his lakeside house, festooned with a large Trump sign. While court proceedings unrolled in the background, vaccines became the next yardstick for measuring which friends to keep and which businesses to frequent as daily life inched away from the pandemic. A human error in programming some of the Dominion voting machines in the county resulted in several thousand votes for Donald Trump being attributed to Joe Biden.Īlthough the mistake was caught immediately and corrected, it prompted one of the longest-running lawsuits over the results, with Trump cheering from the sideline. Vocal residents had also taken sides in a nagging battle over the results of the presidential vote in Antrim County. Last month, King Orchards dropped its mandatory mask policy after the state did. Both fruit stands claimed that they gained customers, even if some stormed away, while the need to eat at home drove a sales boom. Still, the Republican-controlled state Senate took the unusual step in April of blocking her appointment to the Michigan Cherry Committee.Īrea regulars chose sides, arguing endlessly over freedom versus public health. “For us it wasn’t about the party line or our personal politics, it was about being an advocate for mitigating climate change,” said Juliette King McAvoy, King’s daughter. (John King, the patriarch, moved to the area from downstate in 1980 to take up farming and bought the Route 31 farm stand in 2001.) Months later, the Biden campaign released a commercial about the negative effects of climate change on fruit farming that featured three generations of the King family in their orchards. Juliette King McAvoy, daughter of King Orchards farm stand patriarch John King, stands behind clear plastic shields wearing a face mask at the cash register in Kewadin, Mich., on May 12, 2021.

#Sweet cherries politics farm stands divides free

The farm stand constructed a hand sanitizer station in the gravel parking lot and distributed free masks.

“They come after us in the comments and call us ‘Grandma killers.’ Whatever they want to throw at us frankly leaves no room for personal responsibility and personal accountability, and that is not what America is all about.”īy comparison, King Orchards made masks obligatory after Whitmer issued her executive order in July.

“It is cancel culture, that is all it is - they did not agree with what we were doing so they desperately tried to muddy our reputation and discredit us,” he said. More online warriors fired nasty broadsides than regular customers, he insisted. Friske, 23, a member of the third generation to run the farm, said the family anticipated being attacked for making masks voluntary. An area newspaper profiling the ruckus dredged up the archconservative political past of Richard Friske, who died in 2002 he bought the family orchards some 60 years ago after serving in Nazi Germany’s Luftwaffe. The Friskes turned to Facebook to explain their position in videos that attracted both zealous supporters and harsh critics. Michigan’s health department issued a mask directive, which the Friske Farm Market defied until the state threatened to revoke its business license.

#Sweet cherries politics farm stands divides series

When the state Supreme Court nullified a series of the governor’s COVID-related executive orders in October, it effectively tossed out her mask mandate and made the lawsuit moot. Gretchen Whitmer, arguing that wearing masks should have remained a personal choice.īranded apparel at Friske Farm Market in Ellsworth, Mich., on May 13, 2021.

King’s is more homespun, with apples displayed in wooden baskets customers are encouraged to pick their own fruit from the orchards.

Friske’s, which bills itself as “Not Your Average Fruit Stand,” features the Orchard Cafe, a bakery and a store stuffed with curios as well as everything needed to make pie. Black letters on roadside signs spell out greetings like “Have a cherry day!”įriske’s and King’s are two of the most popular farm stands - both low, red, wooden barnlike structures with white trim. The abundant water tempers the climate and, combined with the low, cigar-shaped hills, creates ideal conditions to grow fruit.Ĭherries in particular dominate the landscape. Gretchen Whitmer last summer, arguing that wearing face masks should have remained a personal choice.Īntrim County, population 23,324, is known for its chain of 14 long, narrow, sometimes turquoise lakes spilling into Lake Michigan. The family that owns Friske Farm Market sued Gov. Evelyn Friske loads a tray of donuts for a customer at Friske Farm Market in Ellsworth, Mich., May 13, 2021.