Tradition lives on at Packer’s Orchard and market
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ADENA -- Nestled well within farm country, alongside U.S. Route 250, is a quaint market surrounded by rolling apple orchards.
The market's wood-paneled building is full of life. Shoppers pick through ripe and vibrant produce while employees in red polo shirts, emblazoned with "Packer's Orchard," hurry about to keep everything in stock.
It's another weekend for the orchard, and everyone there is working hard to keep its tradition alive.
The family-owned Packer's Orchard, which sells fresh fruits, vegetables and other goods, sits at 746 state Route 250 and is open late July through the end of October on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Owners Bill and Marty Packer have been running the orchard and its fresh produce market since 2007, following Bill Packer's parents, William and Lucie Packer, who took ownership in 1975. Before them were William and Edith Packer, Bill Packer's grandparents.
"We love doing it," Marty Packer said of the market. "It's been part of our lives forever."
The farm itself has been under the Packer name since 1842, Marty Packer said, but the market and orchard have been running since 1917. The orchard celebrated its 100th year in 2017 with a much-needed expansion to the market space.
Marty Packer said the farm used to grow all of its own produce, but it concentrates only on apples and tree fruits now. Apples are the orchard's staple, with multiple varieties being grown, including gala, honeycrisp, sweet Mia, McIntosh and many more, for which the market has a poster describing the varieties' differences.
"They have a totally different flavor," Marty Packer said, "Some are sweet, some are tart. ... There's a different taste in all of them."
Marty Packer posts on Facebook each week which apple varieties will be available, and she said many customers stay on the lookout for certain ones. All of the orchard's apples will have been picked and sold by the time October ends, Marty Packer said.
In 1917, Marty Packer said, the farm used to be filled with all types of fruit trees. However, the property was stripped for coal in the 1970s, resulting in replanting and downscaling.
A pillar of the market is its selling exclusively local and Ohio-sourced goods. Marty Packer said they pick up everything on Thursday and Friday so "everything is fresh for the weekend."
Some of the market's connections are because of Bill Packer's former job as a field representative and consultant for food and vegetable growers, Marty Packer said.
"He knew everybody in the Ohio area," Marty Packer said. "He knew then, when we started buying, who had the best peppers, who had the best corn, who had the best everything."
Bright and crisp produce, including watermelons, tomatoes, onions and more, attract shoppers' eyes from their displays. Other goodies alongside the produce are popcorn, salad dressings, honey, and candles -- all locally sourced, of course.
The orchard's two freezers are stocked full of produce before the weekend, Marty Packer said, but by the end they're completely empty -- a testament to the market's success.
Marty Packer recalled how they used to open at noon on Sundays, but people would line up outside of the market in anticipation while she and Bill Packer were at church. They started to open at 11 a.m., but when it became too much for Bill Packer to handle alone, Marty Packer stayed home too.
While the market is open, Marty Packer said, "We miss church for three months, which we don't like, but that's the way it is."
It's a necessary sacrifice to "keep the people happy," Bill Packer said.
Another pillar of the market is customer service, which Marty Packer said she tries to instill in her younger staff. The market's workers consist of about nine high school-aged teens, two adults and a handful of family members. Among them are Bill and Marty Packer and their three grown children: Gayle Packer, Brent Packer and Julie Packer, who is joined by her daughter Addie Erwin, a junior at Buckeye Local High School.
The farm has seen a "revolving door" of generations, Marty Packer said. Two homes currently sit on the farm, with one house being where Bill Packer's grandparents lived and the other being where his parents lived. When Bill Packer's grandparents passed away, his parents moved into their house, and Bill and Marty moved into the second house. The cycle continues today, with Bill and Marty in the first house and Julie Packer and her daughter in the second.
Each of those family members has a role to play at the orchard, with each of the three siblings having grown up on the farm.
Brent Packer travels in from Dublin, near Columbus, to help at the orchard, and Gayle Packer travels in from Kansas City.
Gayle Packer, an employee for the Cleveland-based consulting business Terracon, said she "grew up in the market" and would start working there every day after school.
"It's an important part of the community," Gayle Packer said of the market, which she called a "family affair."
"It's been here for such a long time," she said. "It's providing a great product to the community. It's a sense of community and, also, a sense of history."
Marty Packer said customers come from all over, even from as far as Akron.
Undoubtedly, one of the market's aspects drawing customers to return is its customer service, aided by friendly employees to whom Marty Packer gives occasional "inspirational" and much-anticipated pep talks.
Among those employees is Noah Jock, a three-year employee and high school senior. Jock said he got the job through his grandparents, who are good friends with the Packers. Jock, who hopes to pursue a career in architecture after graduating, said his favorite part about working at the market is customer interactions.
"Before, I was very anxious about talking to people," Jock said, "but ever since I started working here, it really put me out there to be myself while also helping the customers, and I take pride in that. ... Making the customers feel good makes me feel happy about what I'm doing."
Some of those happy customers are regulars Jon and Heather Gilot of Wheeling. With them was their daughter Emilia, 6, who received a free apple from the cashier.
Jon Gilot, who grew up in the nearby Mount Pleasant area, said he started patronizing the market as a kid and then kept coming back.
Heather Gilot said, "We can't wait for them to open every year, and we're always sad when they close."
It truly is the people that are central to Packer's Orchard, and, hopefully, the revolving door will keep spinning and the tradition will live on.
"You've got to like people," Bill Packer said.
Marty Packer replied, "That's the most fun part of all of it: The people."