Apples a shining legacy for Johnny Appleseed.

Byline: George Barnes 

COLUMN: Barnestorming

Fall is the harbinger of winter, but as the air gets crisp and birds fill the sky to head south to spend the snowy months in a warmer climate, thoughts also turn to the region's most significant former resident.

Every time someone stops at one of the many fine orchards in this region and gets a nice, crisp bite of an apple, they should remember the man who spread apple trees to the Midwest

John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, was born on Sept. 26, 1774, in Leominster. Although not known for creating orchards locally, his fame as a key part of the success of settlers moving west in the 1800s has reflected well on the community of his birth.

When you think of Leominster, apples often come to mind, although the city had to rescue Sholan Farms, its last major orchard, from development. Sholan Farms became a city property in 2001; it is managed by the Friends of Sholan Farms and grows apples and berries. There is a family connection with Johnny Appleseed, in that a sister of a former owner was his mother. It is likely he spent time at the farm and may have learned some of the skills he used later in life when he traveled west planting trees.

Settlers in this part of the county planted their own apple trees for fruit and hard cider, but it was thanks to Johnny Appleseed that the people who settled Pennsylvania and the Midwest were able to grow orchards and survive on the fruits from their labors.

Johnny was more than a bit weird. There's no way around that. He wandered barefoot, slept outside and, although the legend that he used a pot for a hat is probably not true, he was not a sharp-dressed man. His clothes were more street urchin than what one would expect from an eminent agriculturalist. If seen on the streets of Leominster, he would have been viewed not as a significant horticulturalist but as something of a crazy person, and parents would hold their children close for safety as he passed by. He was deeply religious but a Swedenborgian, not a follower of the traditional New England Protestant creeds.

But what he did could be a lesson to all of us. He was a little loopy, but he gave value to the pioneering settlers who needed fruit trees much more than they would need other goods. He was a bit of an entrepreneur. He would try to outthink settlers by arriving well ahead of them in some location he thought they might pass through and plant a bunch of trees. When they arrived, he would sell them the trees and they would take them to their new homes, planting them and expanding their orchards with every season.

There are few things as tasty as apples whether eaten off the tree, cooked in a pie or made into applesauce. Hard cider is also not a bad beverage, if you drink it in moderation, and it was a significant part of the life of the pioneers of the 1800s.

The city celebrates Johnny's memory every year with a festival, and it is fitting: He was a major factor in the settling of the West. But more than honoring a local celebrity, the city should celebrate and emulate a man who, through an incredible work ethic, single-mindedness, some quirkiness and plenty of creativity, made the world a better place.

It's not a bad legacy.

Contact George Barnes via e-mail at [e-mail].