Jay Jackson
Articles by this Author
The Year the Apple Festival Ended Early
- By Jay Jackson
- Published 12/21/2002
- Sierra County , Southwest New Mexico
- Unrated
For most, Labor Day weekend in Hillsboro means Apple Festival - apple pie, arts, crafts, antiques and three days of fun on the banks of the Percha River. But for some like Sue Bason of Sue's Antiques and Bonnie Guess of Kingston's Camp Shiloh, the weekend also carries memories of a roaring wall of water - "like a freight train" - that hit town at midnight on Saturday during the 1972 Apple Festival. The deadly flood killed four, washed away seven businesses, destroyed 13 homes, damaged countless others, left behind $750,000 in loss and damages, and, as Sue dryly puts it, "ended the festival right then that year."

