Pleasant View - Residents of Pleasant View and North Ogden have the opportunity to do some amazing community service thanks to the North Ogden Orchard. The orchard, which is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, produces peaches that are used to help out the Church welfare program and other humanitarian programs as well, both LDS and non-LDS. Seven stakes from the Pleasant View and North Ogden area are responsible for sending volunteers to the orchard to help prune, thin, and pick the peaches. Missionaries with the Church also help out at the orchard. Bruce Liston, manager of the orchard, says this area is the perfect spot to grow peaches because there is a natural air flow so they don’t have to use wind mills or air machines. The orchard produces 500,000 lbs. of peaches a year.
Bruce also mentioned how this crop is going to be the best one yet. He talked about how this last winter was really cold, which should have resulted in a bad crop, but it didn’t. “The Lord makes up the difference,” he said. Bruce, along with other service missionaries, stressed the importance of all the volunteers who help out at the orchard. “They have an amazing level of commitment. They really are the salt of the earth.”
Not only do volunteers develop a sense of comradery while working together at the orchard, but they also show how they are becoming true disciples of Jesus Christ. After all, Christ’s whole ministry was devoted to helping the poor and the needy, which is exactly the motto of the Church’s welfare program. “Everyone always feels better doing service for others,” Bruce said. Needless to say, this orchard will be in good hands for years to come.
