By David Sharp, The Associated Press
BLAINE, Maine - Many northern Maine high schools are empty just weeks after the arrival of students as teenagers trade warm classrooms for cold potato fields to haul in the fall harvest.
The region that's home to roughly 50,000 acres of potato fields is clinging to the harvest break tradition in which hundreds of teen farmhands help get the potatoes into storage.
Many educators support the tradition, saying it benefits communities and teaches hard work. But farmers wonder how much longer it will continue as farm operations consolidate and become more efficient.
Wayne Garrison is the 72-year-old co-owner of Garrison Farms in Blaine. He predicts that the tradition now in its twilight will one day fade away. But he isn't happy about it, saying he'd "hate to see it go.''