Sunrise Orchard's Heritage & Tradition

A Story Mark Twain Would Appreciate.

Thirty-seven years after Mark Twain's character, Tom, avoided the tempting apple and continued his work whitewashing the fence, Sunrise Orchards, Inc. was created in 1913. At that time, our orchard was one of the original 40-acre Kickapoo Development Company apple plantings.

Ellery and Grace Teach, the first generation of apple growers in our family tradition of maintaining an orchard, moved to the Gays Mills area in 1934. After years of hard work, they were able to purchase Sunrise Orchard for sole ownership in 1956.

During 1956, our tradition brought the second generation of our family when Ellery and Grace's son Maynard and his wife Janet, began their orchard careers. Orchard work is a "farm life" and involved a great deal of hard work at a time when the economy was recovering from a depression. These first two generations witnessed many changes in the industry with increased automation and changes in the apple market. By the late 1960's, the orchard had grown to over 100 acres and produced more than 20 varieties of apples.

Our third generation came in 1978 when Maynard and Janet's son Allen joined the family tradition of orchard life. In 1979, Grace Teach who was a major part of Sunrise Orchards passed away. Shortly after in 1984, Maynard and Janet's daughter, Laurie and her husband Kevin Oppriecht joined the operation. That same year, Allen's wife Lynne became a part of Sunrise Orchards. In 1992, the orchard suffered another great loss with the death of Ellery Teach.

Today, Sunrise Orchard grows about 125,000 bushels of apples annually. The orchard is approximately 225 acres. During our harvest season, we employ more than 100 workers with approximately 15 of them working fulltime. Fruit from Sunrise Orchards is sold both wholesale and retail throughout the continental United States.

We will always appreciate the Mississippi River Valley and are blessed with the panoramic view of farmland rich for apple harvests. We can't wait to see where our story will go in the years to come.