Bear Aware, winery seeking apple donations

Northern Lights Estate Winery and the Northern Bear Awareness Society are continuing their partnership to collect unwanted apples from local homeowners.

This year, the partners are hoping to collect 25,000 pounds (11,340 kg) of apples. Residents can drop their unwanted apples off at the winery, or there is a small crew which can pick apples for homeowners unable to pick their own fruit.

The goal of the program is to prevent bears from being attracted to trees with unpicked fruit.

“Every fall bears are needlessly destroyed due to human negligence,” Northern Bear Awareness Society president Dave Bakker said in a press release. “In addition to programs like these, our community needs to be mindful of all types of fruit growing in our yards; as well as garbage cans and other attractants which can bring unwanted guests to our neighbourhoods.”

This year, in addition to donating apples to the winery to make wine, residents can bring fruit harvested from their yards into Hobby Brews by Northern Lights.

“The wine produced from these northern hardy apples is a beautiful blend of sweet and sour,” winery operating partner Doug Bell said. “You can now get the same professional wines found at Northern Lights Winery using your own fruits by bringing them to Hobby Brews. This is a great way to use up excess fruit and restock your wine cellar at the same time.”

For more information, go online to www.northernbearawareness.com or www.northernlightswinery.ca.