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Years ago, there
lived a good, hardworking, Christian man whose name was
William Tobe (W.T.) Pritchett. W.T. was an avid gardener.
His grandson, Barry, says he remembers ‘Pop’
standing propped up on his hoe…watching for weeds
to grow. While looking at his father’s Stark Brothers
Nursery catalogs, one of his sons, Marvin, would dream
about the colorful apples pictured there…of someday
raising beautiful apples like those.
Well, Marvin grew up and married
Rachel Evans (daughter of Ernest and Lela Sluder Evans).
They had a son, Barry, in July of 1961. In 1965, Marvin
planted his first orchard of 100 trees across from Liberty
Church in Gilmer County. In 1966, he planted 500 more
trees just a few miles away, on Tails Creek, on a farm
adjoining his father’s land.
Around 1971, they built a 20’ by 20’ Red Apple
Barn to sell their apples from. Barry remembers that they
used to sit and shine the apples ‘on top’
in the basket with a towel. Their cider was stored in
recycled 1/2 gallon orange juice jars after being cranked
out on a hand-powered cider press. One day, ‘grandmaw’
and ‘grandpaw’ Evans worked all day and made
a whopping 16 gallons!! The cider was kept cold and sold
from an old Coca-Cola cooler. Grandmaw sold apples and
made cider during the week while ‘grandpaw’
Evans tended the trees and picked apples. They all thought
selling $40-$50 on Sunday was good! In about 1975, they
built a back portion onto the Apple Barn. It consisted
of a bathroom, cider room and a room for storing and grading
apples. In 1976, Marvin became an Elder of the Ellijay
Church of Christ and started working at Astroturf in Dalton.
In June 1985, Barry married Rebecca (Becca) Huckabey (daughter
of George and Laura Huckabey of Athens, Tennessee). In
August of 1988, they were blessed with Joel William Pritchett,
and in November of 1990, with Zachary Tobe Pritchett.
The boys are following in their ‘Pop’s’
footsteps. They love to experience all the work and fun
of the -Borchard and the Apple Barn. In 1990, Marvin doubled
the size of the front of the Apple Barn. On some days,
he still has trouble keeping up with the demand for his
fried apple pies, fritters, cider and such. In 1993, The
Atlanta Journal and Constitution, did a ‘Cider Taste
Test’ of all the apple houses in the area. We are
happy to say that our cider won 1st place!!! Lots of folks
tell us, “We’ve been coming to your apple
barn for years!” We like to hear that!! Pop has
built his business on customer satisfaction, the quality
of his merchandise (after all, he’s had decades
of experience!) and friendly service. He gets lot of help
with the ‘friendly’ part, thanks to his two
grandsons!! Some of their favorite sayings are, “Welcome
to the Red Apple Barn!” and “Have a nice day!!”
Church friends, family members, and in-laws often help
out when it gets hectic – especially during peak
leaflooking times. In March of 1996, Marvin retired from
Astroturf and is now ready to devote his time to his ‘other’
full-time-job – growing his ‘dream’
apples. In the past few years, a new orchard has been
planted and is now bearing delicious fruit. The “1966”
orchard has been converted to pastureland for a few cattle.
And some alterations have been made in the back of our
Apple Barn to help make operations smoother.
On May 14th, 1997, we were blessed with a wonderful baby
girl named Breann Elizabeth. She is the little artist
of the family. You may see some of her artwork the next
time you come here. Joel, Zach, and Breann are growing
so quickly! Breann adds lots of spice to our lives and
the boys are helping out on the farm in a big way! They
are learning all they can so they can carry on the Pritchett
tradition. God has truly blessed our family! May He also
bless you and yours. Hope to see you soon!
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