Henry of Harcourt, traditional cider and perry makers, were heavily impacted by the January 9 fire at Harcourt and surrounds.
Co-owner and cider maker Michael Henry said they lost much of their well-established orchard, all of this year’s crop, and his home in the fire.
“Fortunately mum’s home, the original homestead, the cellar door and our stock are okay. But we have also lost a bottling plant which was stored at the Harcourt Cool Store,” he said.
Michael said the first 24 hours, they were shocked and devastated, and, like many, couldn’t see a way forward, with the family legacy created alongside his late father, Drew Henry, seemingly in tatters.
However, with his mum Irene safe and settled, Michael and many others quickly threw their focus and energy into the grassroots community response at the Harcourt Progress Association Fire Relief Centre, which started with a pop-up at the Victorian Miniature Railway and has now been moved to the Harcourt Leisure Centre.
“I’ve been fielding all the phone calls from the outset, dealing with media enquiries, channelling generous offers of help where it is needed. Thanks to the council, we now have a hotline set up (03 5415 3101), and I have been able to take a beat, along with others who have been impacted, and thrown their energy straight into supporting our community, and start thinking about what steps we need to take to move forward.
“A friend set up a GoFundMe page, and Mum and I have been inundated with offers of support including, GPI Resources, which has valuable data and research around the regeneration of apple trees after fire, Agriculture Victoria, who have offered the support of their microbiologists, and Heritage Fruit Growers from which we get our specific heritage tree varieties,” he said.
“Now, like so many other community members, we are no longer seeing ourselves as ‘victims’, we are ‘survivors’ and we can and will rebuild,” he said.
When mum, dad, and I first established the cidery 26 years ago, back in 2000, we planted 43 apple varieties as we didn’t know what varieties would work best in our soil and our climate and create the best ciders and perry. We now have all that valuable knowledge to work with and build on. We will assess what trees can be saved, and we know exactly what trees we need to replant if needed. It will take time, but we can rebuild, and we are committed to continuing to be an important part of the fabric of this incredible community,” he said.
“As far as the community goes, that remains strong. We have lost homes and businesses, but this community is indestructible and remains intact. We can’t be broken, and we will move forward together,” Michael said.
