During a recent drive through Jamestown, N.Y., which was the result of getting turned around in our directions for a restaurant, my husband and I noticed several roadside stands and shops with displays of red, purple and yellow mums, bulging orange pumpkins and freshly harvested squash, fall apples, deep blue concord grapes among other area fruits.

This may sound corny, but I drank in the sights of these seasonal stands and displays, much as one might enjoy soaking in the beauty of a master painting at a museum of art.  

I typically make stops at such stands this time of year to make a few purchases and get my autumn fix. The stops to buy crisp, upstate New York apples that fill the air with sweet aromas on a cool fall day are what many of my autumn memories comprise.

My late father once purchased a bushel of such apples from a fruit stand in Bradford years ago to not only make a few pies, applesauce and desserts, but to feed the neighborhood children. All were welcome the following week or two to stop by the Day household, grab an apple from the bushel stored in the cool cellar and chomp away on the fruit while playing in raked-up leave piles.

Those types of memories, which have helped carry me through many cold winter months, can last a lifetime.

In any event, our return trip to Bradford via Route 86 provided a drab display of green and brown foliage and ended with a drive through our town which essentially has no seasonal fruit stands other than a few displays at grocery stores. This was not the case just a few years ago when there were at least one or two seasonal stands in the area.

It was at this point it dawned on me that fall has taken a hiatus from our community this year.

Granted we can’t do anything about uncooperative trees that didn’t give us their beautiful displays of crimson red, fluorescent orange and bright yellow leaves because of unusually warm, wet weather in late August and September. And this is not to overlook the many, many beautifully decorated private and business properties in the community that are bursting with color.

But there are many, like myself, who make drives to neighboring communities and across the state line to find the utopia offered by fruit stands while we’re filling shopping bags — and bolstering our spirits for the cold, hard months ahead.

While the economic reasons behind running the seasonal businesses may be prohibitive to some merchants, hopefully there is an entrepreneur or two around who will see the value in such an operation.

Here’s hoping the fall colors will return to our region full-force next year — and entrepreneurs will take a chance and open seasonal stands in our community.

(Kate Day Sager is a reporter for The Bradford Era. She can be reached at katedaysager@bradfordera.com)