It’s that most exciting time of year again in Gays Mills when once again a crop of delicious apples is harvested, the apple orchards open their doors to visitors from all over the region, and Apple Festival is almost upon us.
Everyone’s favorite, the Apple Festival Parade, kicks off at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 28. Apple Festival activities take place Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 26-28.
On Friday, Sept. 26, visitors can enjoy the Lion’s Club Flea Market at the Crawford County Fairgrounds, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Main Street Vending downtown from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., music from the Hammond Experience from 6-10 p.m. at Dante’s Bar & Grill, and music from a DJ from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. at Halver’s Town Tap. The Flea Market will continue at the Fairgrounds on Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
On Saturday, Sept. 27, the day kicks off with the Apple Festival 2 and 5 mile Run/Walk at 9 a.m. Breakfast will be offered from Connect Communities at the Lion’s Park Shelter in Robb Park from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., with a free-will donation. From 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lion’s Club Shelter in Robb Park, Connect Communities will offer an ‘Apple Festival Information Booth,’ as well as grilled cheese sandwiches.
On Saturday, an American Legion Volleyball Tournament will take place at Dante’s Bar & Grill, starting at 9 a.m., and an ‘Adult 2-on-2’ Basketball Tournament will take place on the Park Street basketball court, starting at 11 a.m. A Library Book Sale will take place at 212 Main Street (old Community Building) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and will continue on Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The carnival will operate at the Fairgrounds from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be a ‘Mini Carnival’ in the Park downtown. An ‘Open Horseshoe Tournament’ will take place in the Log Cabin Park starting at 10 a.m.
Food available
Food will be available to Festival-go’ers as follows:
• Friday, Sept. 26- Sunday Sept. 28: Friends of Gays Mills Food Stand on Main Street, and 4-H Food Stand, Life Guardians Food Stand, and American Legion Food Stand at the Fairgrounds
• Saturday, Sept. 27: Pancake & Sausage Breakfast at St. Mary’s Church (7 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.), Kickapoo Exchange Burrito Bar, Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Ocooch Mountain Rescue Food Stand.
In addition, many food trucks will be set up offering a variety of delicious dining options up and down Main Street on Saturday and Sunday.
1913 Kickapoo Orchard
1913 Kickapoo Orchard, operating out of two locations since 2024, continues to innovate and bring new, exciting products and experiences to market. The business offers their products out of the former Kickapoo Orchard, located at 46490 Highway 171 and West Ridge Orchard, located at 52132 Highway 171.
Shoppers can kind all of their favorites at the Kickapoo Orchards–apples, cider, baked goods, canned goods, wine, beer, cheeses and sausage, squash, pumpkins, gourds and chrysanthemums, and an eclectic mix of household and gift items.
The Kickapoo Orchards are home to 105 heirloom and unique variety apples. They offer U-Pick-a-Peck, bagged apples, orchard run seconds, as well as bulk quantities of bushels and bins. Their ‘1913 Heritage Cider’ is the fresh-pressed nectar of the orchard. It is available in gallons, half-gallons, and pints. Cider is also available in case special pricing, and arriving soon their beloved half-gallon cherry apple cider.
The ‘Corn & Sunflower Maze’ at 1913 Kickapoo is Open for the season. Find the purple canvas hidden in the orchard, and add your masterpiece.
The Orchard also offers a ‘You-Pick’ option at both locations, for those seeking the authentic apple harvesting experience. 1913 Kickapoo Orchard West also offers a stunning three-acre you-pick sunflower field
“There's a lot of nostalgia when you come to an apple orchard, and we try to fulfill that feeling and that dream,” orchard co-manager Harrison Heilman said. “We had an excellent apple crop this year, and as a rising tide lifts all boats, the whole country's had an excellent apple crop, which is good. Agricultural producers need some good news. And, after two years of drought, it's been nice to have all this rain for the last couple months to replenish the trees.”
Also new this year, the orchard offers a ‘Paws Up, Bark Loud, Wag Loud’ option, where shopper’s fur babies are welcome at the Orchard’s Dog Walk, located in the big, grassy glen across the street from the store. This will also be a new parking area.
New offerings
New in the line of 1913 Kickapoo Orchard branded products this year are the Cider House ‘Cider Maple Drizzle’ and the ‘Apple Cider Dazzle.’ Packaged in three sizes of glass jars, the two products are intended for use as a syrup, cocktail mix, ice cream topping, and any other application you can dream up to enjoy their sweet goodness.
“This is cider that we press, and it's been boiled down to reduce the water. In our Drizzle, we’ve blended the cider with maple syrup, and there are only one or two ingredients, so they’re simple, clean products,” Harrison Heilman explained. “You can use this on ice cream – I had it a couple days ago, and it's phenomenal.”
Another exciting development, alongside the Orchard’s iconic ‘Cheese Curd Bar,’ is block cheese cut-to-order, and ice cream confections. The ice cream is sourced from Lamer’s Dairy, a family owned and operated dairy in the Appleton area. Like the Kickapoo Orchard, the dairy was founded in 1913.
Ice cream treats available include ice cream in a cone, cup or waffle bowl, ice cream floats made with Hank’s Caramel Apple Soda, Kick-a-Sip Slushies with apple or cherry cider, and lots of other special treats.
In addition, for hungry shoppers looking to take a break, the Orchard’s ‘1913 Café’ offers sandwiches, to be enjoyed with a breathtaking view over the orchard valley. Added to a scrumptious sandwich, diners can enjoy hand-breaded chicken tenders and bites, onion rings, fried white cheese curds, provolone slices or pepper jack curds, and French fries for a ‘Picker’s Pack Lunch.’
Sandwiches include the signature ‘Harrison,’ a delectable confection of a crispy chicken cutlet on a toasted brioche bun, topped with warm apple compote, fresh apple slices, and a smear of garlic cheese spread. Their ‘Hog Mac Smash’ features Iowa pork cooked for eight hours, hand pulled, and served on a brioche bun, topped with mac & cheese, two onion rings, apple butter barbecue sauce, and dill pickles. Last, but never least, is the ‘Cider House Sammy,’ with apple cider-smoked spiral ham, stacked high and layered with melted cheese on a brioche bun.
“We prepare all of our sandwich ingredients in-house,” Heilman said. “So, that’s why it all tastes so good.”
Exciting news
Perhaps the most exciting news of all – the orchard’s signature ‘Apple Pizza,’ invented by former orchard owner Marlene Meyer, has been nominated for a ‘Something Special from Wisconsin’ award. The contest, run by WMC, opened on Monday, Sept. 22, and you can go online at vote at: www.madeinwis.com/
Voters must furnish an e-mail address, and can vote once-per-day until the contest closes on September 30. So, for everyone who LOVES the iconic ‘Apple Pizza,’ this is your chance to help this beloved Kickapoo Orchard confection take its rightful place in Wisconsin’s product history. Since the Contest’s inception in 2016, it has garnered more than 1.5 million votes from Wisconsinites.
Sunrise & Hillcrest
The largest among Gays Mills operations is the Sunrise Orchard, located at 48340 Highway 171. In addition to their many acres of apples, Sunrise also recently purchased the nearby Hillcrest Orchard with a salesroom located at the intersection of 16602 Highway 61 and Highway 171.
We caught up with Sunrise Orchard President and Co-owner Allen Teach to see how things were going this year. Allen gave us the quick recap last Saturday of Sunrise in 2025.
“This is our busiest time of the year,” Teach said.
We asked have the ‘Road Closed’ signs for the Highway 131 construction had any affect on the business? It shouldn’t have since all the orchards except one are located on Highway 171, which is not experiencing any construction this year.
“No, it doesn’t seem to have affected our business,” Teach replied. “But, I am interested somewhat on what the effect of closing the Lansing Bridge later this fall might have.”
The Lansing Bridge is scheduled to be replaced in 2027 or maybe 2026. The current old bridge is scheduled to be removed later this fall. It does function as the only entry point to Wisconsin between the bridges in LaCrosse and Prairie du Chien.
So, let’s get back to the apples. What about the Sunrise apple crop in 2025?
“It’s an outstanding crop,” Teach said. “We’ve had a smooth growing year this year. There were no late spring frosts. We had the right amount of rain and the cool weather earlier was nice.”
The week-plus period of low temperatures that began right after Labor Day helped to color up the apples. Cool weather created red apples.
“We have a full crop of every variety this year,” Teach noted. “Last year, we were down a little with our Honey Crisp crop, but not this year. The same for the Macs, Cortlands, Ambrosias and Ever Crisps. There are no weak spots.”
After the great growing season, the weather hitting a high in the 60s and lows in the 40s would be great going forward, according to Teach.
What about the labor situation? There are labor shortages in a number of businesses-what about apple pickers and the other orchard workers needed to pick and process the crop?
“Labor is good, we have our returning local folks who always do a real good job for us,” Teach explained. “We have groups of pickers who return every year and they’re all here.”
Of course, in the packing shed, Sunrise has been using South African workers, who have H2A Visas to work in agriculture in the United States. This started several years ago.
“We enjoy the company of the South Africans every year, working in the shed and grading apples,” Teach said. Sunrise has about 20 South African workers this year.
“There’s a lot of hoops to jump through to get the H2A visas but we have a lot of help to do it. The South Africans really enjoy doing this and interacting with everybody in Gays Mills,” Teach said.
In addition to some really great apples and cider, the Sunrise Orchard has another favorite product–apple cider donuts made fresh daily. Sunrise sells thousands and thousands of the donuts, mostly in 12-count boxes. Now, there’s something new in the world of Sunrise donuts. This year, in addition to the powdered-sugar-covered cider donuts, the orchard is offering a glazed cider donut that has gotten a great initial reception.
There’s also been some changes down the highway at the Hillcrest Orchard, now owned by Sunrise. There are new bathrooms constructed and a well has been put in.
The Hillcrest salesroom is still run by Terre Van Haren and Brenda Morga.
Customers can find almost everything at Hillcrest that can be found at the Sunrise Orchard–it’s just on a smaller scale at Hillcrest.
One thing that Hillcrest has is a large amount of potatoes and onions at a good price, according to Teach. Buying the potatoes and onions in larger amounts can help families save money on their stretched food budgets.
Speaking of prices, Teach noted that prices for apples at Sunrise has not increased since last year. That is a pretty unique statement for any business in the United States in 2025.
On a larger level, Sunrise does sell into the wholesale market.
“There’s a huge apple crop in Washington this year and it is expected this put downward pressure in the wholesale market,” Teach noted. “It’s hard to say what will happen in the future at this point.”
The orchard owner noted that apple prices were still going up in many stores.
There’s also something humorous afoot in the background at the Sunrise Orchard. This year, it’s the ‘Gourd Walk,’ outside the salesroom. Orchard workers created a trellis to grow the gourds on. This created the Gourd Walk, as in ‘Under the Gourd Walk,’ reminiscent of that favorite pop song ‘Under the Boardwalk.’
To make things even more interesting, there has already been an engagement ‘Under the Gourd Walk’ and who knows what might yet happen. The leaves of the plants have started dropping off now, but the gourds and the vines to which they are attached remain.
Other things that might interest families include the kids play area, the dog exercise area and some bean bag throwing areas.
So, what about the heavy rains earlier in the week? Well, the afternoon downpour Monday did end the picking for the day. However, Teach says the crews will pick through light rain. The orchard is getting pretty good at watching the weather and finding the hours when apples can be picked. Lightning and thunder will call for cessation of picking.
If you came to Gays Mills for apples, cider and the like and some pleasant conversations in the salesroom, don't miss Sunrise Orchard and the Hillcrest Orchard. The apples are good and so are the people.
Fleming Orchard
The Fleming Orchard is a smaller family orchard that started in 1937. It is located at 46054 Highway 171. Jim Fleming, the son of Jim and Ruth Fleming, owns and operates the orchard to this day.
We caught up with him on a rainy Monday afternoon to discuss this year’s apple crop and the Fleming Orchard. Finding Jim involved tracking him through the orchard and coming across a few of his pickers on the way to reaching him.
Jim rolled up in a UTV with a big German shepherd and another apple picker on board. The dog got pushed out and I took his place for a rather zippy ride through the apple trees and back to the salesroom.
We disembarked and Jim had a quick exchange with some the workers bringing in another UTV and a tractor, as the rain intensified outside.
Like other growers, Jim liked the extended period of cool weather that helped the apples to ‘color up.’ Jim was less favorable about the warmer weather lately.
The Honey Crisp crop is being harvested and looks good and the Ambrosia crop looks good, however, Fleming’s Mac crop was really light this season.
Fleming’s U-Pick has been fantastic, according to Fleming. It grows more popular every year and people keep returning year after year.
“COVID really changed things for us (with the U-Pick),” according to Fleming. “People needed to be distancing themselves from others and outside and that’s where the U-Pick put them.”
Another important part of the orchard salesroom is the amazing bakery created by Jane Jacobsen. Her baking talents are unsurpassed and her creations are perfect.
The commitment to quality runs deep at the Fleming Orchard. Jim explained their commitment to freshness for the customers in the salesroom.
“We pack fresh every other day,” the orchard owner told us.
Like Allen Teach at Sunrise, Jim Fleming had the help he needed.
“The help is awesome as usual,” Fleming said. “They come back year after year.”
Despite all of the good news at Fleming’s this year, the orchard business is not for the faint of heart. We stood in the packing shed garage door, watching the rain intensify.
“We’re not supposed to get any hail,” Fleming said. And, luckily the rainstorm remined a rainstorm and there was no hail in the orchard.
Turkey Ridge Orchard
The Turkey Ridge Organic Orchard, is located at 50350 Turkey Ridge Road, Gays Mills, WI, 54631
The Turkey Ridge Organ-ic Orchard (TROO) recently launched a new website as ‘TROO Life Farm.’ The website can be reached at troolifefarm.com. There, they espouse “teaching the ways of nature,” and commit to that learning and teaching in their work.
The website reads, “Nestled in the heart of the Driftless Region, Turkey Ridge Organic Orchard spans 97.2 scenic acres of rolling hills, rich soils, and pure dedication to organic farming. Since its founding in 1988, TROO has stood as a steadfast advocate for sustainable agriculture, rooted in the belief that nature knows best.”
Since last Apple Festival, the farm has sold their Village Greenhouse location in the Village of Gays Mills. Now, all of the farm’s great organic produce can be found in one scenic location.
TROO is one of two apple orchards located on a ridge on the west side of the Kickapoo River. The orchard is the only organic orchard in the Gays Mills family of apple orchards. Visitors will see signs for the orchard as they drive on Highway 171 from Gays Mills toward Mt. Sterling.
This year, due to excessive spring moisture and summer heat, only the Orchard’s Enterprise apple variety is available for sale as a fresh apple. Other varieties are being pressed for the orchard’s delicious organic apple cider.
The orchard grows 13 unique apple varieties developed at Georgia State University for their natural resistance to apple scab. This allows the farm to grow healthier fruit without use of synthetic sprays.
“We experienced a weird growing season this year with excessive spring moisture and summer heat,” orchard worker Kodiak explained. “The spring moisture resulted in more budding, and in our orchard we don’t use chemical sprays to address that.”
Kodiak said that the excessive summer heat also resulted in apple varieties maturing sooner, for instance they are harvesting Enterprise now, which usually comes in later in October.
The website continues;
“Every apple grown here is a reflection of our commitment to organic principles, nurtured with care for the land, the trees, and future generations. With deep respect for ecological balance, TROO produces flavorful, nutrient-rich apples that speak to the power of patience, purity and purpose.”
On their website, visitors can enjoy a TROO Video Gallery, become a member of the TROO Family, shop at a soon-to-be-launched ‘24/7 Farm Market,’ available nationwide, schedule a you-pick session or a school field trip, and receive announcements about ‘What’s Poppin’ at the Farm.’
The orchard is open seven days per week, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visitors can shop for organic Enterprise apples and cider, organic jams, jellies and honey, cabbage, pie pumpkins, and acorn and butternut squash.
The Orchard’s you-pick sessions welcome families and friends to wander the orchard rows and fields, filling your own bucket with crisp apples and seasonal produce straight from the tree and vine. Prices vary with market value, but are always kept affordable for families who want fresh, local food on their table. Just bring your own bucket, enjoy the farm air, and make lasting memories together.
To schedule a you-pick session, fill out the form on the TROO website.
