In 1976 Ray & Carol Johnson purchased a little piece of heaven overlooking Flathead Lake, Montana. Little did they know, they were creating a legacy. At that time the cherry orchard was over 600 trees and could produce as much as thirty thousand pounds of cherries. In January of 1989, the temperature dropped from 60 degrees to below zero in a few hours’ time. It was estimated that over 2000 acres of cherry orchards were killed in Flathead Valley. The older trees in the picture above survived that freeze, most likely due to the proximity of the tall forest trees. Over the years since the freeze, the orchard was slowly replanted. By the mid to late 90's, Ray's failing health prevented him from giving the orchard the attention it needed. However, with aid of all of Ray & Carol's children, Bob, Bill, Roy, Terry, Shana, & Gary, the orchard has been replanted.
