In the late 1990s Jonathan and Meredith Johnson of Lincoln, Vermont started a quest for fresh, succulent stone fruit.  They found what they were looking for in the Great Lakes Region and their fruit-filled excursions out “west” became something of a regularity.  Friends and neighbors of the Johnsons soon learned about their trips and asked if they would bring some of that mouthwatering fruit back to share.

Thus, Paradise Fruit was born.  Each week Meredith would phone everyone on her customer list with the available fruit and take their orders.  The four homeschooled Johnson children were actively involved in all aspects of fulfilling the orders.  Over the years Meredith started to communicate via email and Jonathan uncovered larger clients like fruit markets.  The small business grew, but so did their children.  In 2014, with all of their children grown, the Johnsons began to talk about finding another homeschooling family to take the reins of Paradise Fruit.  The transition to the Goodyear family began the following year.

Todd and Jen Goodyear, also homeschooling their three children in Lincoln, became the new faces of Paradise Fruit.  More fruit markets came onboard, more friends and neighbors (and friends of neighbors) joined the fruit party, and travelers on the Lincoln Gap Road found a tasty treat when they reached the Goodyears’ new roadside fruit stand.  In 2022 the Goodyears acquired a company truck to help transport the many hundreds of pounds of fruit they brought to Addison County each year.  And then, wouldn’t you know it, almost 10 years after taking over Paradise Fruit the Goodyear children had done what children do, and Todd and Jen found themselves with a thriving fruit business and three adult (or very nearly) children.  And so the search for the next family of torch-bearers began.

The Clevenstines moved to Panton, Vermont from Iowa in 2016 and got to know Todd a few years later through his work with Young Life.  It was at a camp fundraiser in the summer of 2020 that Todd first mentioned to the Clevenstines that the Goodyear time at the helm of Paradise Fruit was drawing to a close and they were on the lookout for the next fruit-loving family who might carry the business forward.

And now three years later here we are!  We are excited for what this summer holds and we’re looking forward to finding out what the next paragraph of this history will say in the future…