Blueberry crop benefits from recent rainfall

MACHIAS — Washington County’s 1990 wild blueberry crop, that began attracting large numbers of applicants Monday for field labor jobs, has benefited from more than 1 1/2 inches of rain since the crop fields began receiving showers at about 1:30 p.m. Friday, July 20.

Keith Schoppee, owner of Schoppee’s Garage in Jonesboro, said his rain gauge had recorded .80 inches of rain on Monday before he reset it to measure rainfall and fog that continued into monday evening. Also, he recorded .70 inches of rain Friday, giving the Jonesboro area a minimum of 1 1/2 inches of moisture for most of the four-day period.

“It is a blessing,” he said. “People who have blueberries are saying that the rain has helped the crop a lot. The rain we got on Friday softened the ground up. Then we got this rain that really is soaking in. The best thing about it is the fog that keeps the ground from drying out.”

County residents first began noticing caravans of automobiles, trucks and camping rigs from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia on Monday. Many of the visitors, some of whom brought their families with them, hope to find jobs harvesting the crop. Migrant education programs and day care centers are to be provided.

The old wood-framed Columbia Town Hall will upstage the actual start of harvest. On Monday, it will house the Migrant Rakers Center, where a staff of legal, health, education and financial workers will screen applicants for welfare benefits administered by the Maine Department of Health and Welfare. Keith Small of the Washington Hancock Community Agency at Milbridge will supervise the rakers center.

Rick Morrow, director of DHS’s Special Services Unit, said that general assistance applications would be processed for three weeks, beginning Monday, July 30. Last year, the center approved 1,080 applications. In 1988, the center granted 995 applications and denied 110 applications.

Among the benefits available are food stamps, health services, family medicine, legal services, education programs and information concerning Social Security.