Stirring up tradition: Reedsville Apple Fest celebrates 10 years
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REEDSVILLE -- Long before vendors unfold tables at Bender Park or music carries across the grounds, there is work to do.
Bushels of apples must be peeled and cored, then sliced. Fires are started beneath old kettles, and the cider is brought to a boil. Through the night, somebody has to keep stirring.
That last part cannot stop.
"You have to stir it, or it will stick and burn," Jo Ann Smith said.
The process begins around 4 p.m. Friday, when volunteers gather to prepare the apples for the 10th annual Reedsville Apple Fest. Smith expects at least a dozen people to help with the first stage. Old-fashioned peelers, attached to tables, remove the cores and skins. Volunteers then "snitz" the apples, Smith said, cutting them into thin slices before filling five-gallon buckets.
By about 8 p.m., fires are burning beneath the kettles. The cider goes in around 9, followed by the apples, and the mixture cooks through the night. Sugar and cinnamon are added toward morning.
The apple butter takes roughly 10 to 12 hours to make. When the apples and cider first go into the kettles, Smith said, the mixture can reach nearly to the top before cooking down.
Volunteers work the long wooden paddles in shifts, stirring for about 15 minutes before rotating out. They stand near an open flame and a hot kettle, then step aside for a break while someone else takes a turn. Smith once set her alarm for 2 a.m., walked from her nearby home to the park, and brought coffee and doughnuts to the crew.
"They're all just down there talking and laughing and having a good time," she said.
That overnight ritual is the reason Apple Fest exists. Smith said organizers wanted to preserve an old tradition that has disappeared from many communities. Years ago, other area groups made apple butter in large kettles. Some no longer do. Reedsville decided to keep the practice alive and eventually combined it with the former Reedsville Community Day.
The festival started with one kettle. Smith said organizers now use three, sometimes four. The apple butter usually sells out. It will be sold by the pint and quart when Apple Fest begins at 9 a.m. Saturday.
The festival runs until 2 p.m. and will bring more than 50 vendors, music, contests, and children's activities to Bender Park. Smith said visitors will find a range of food vendors, including ice cream, cheesecake and cheesesteaks, along with crafters and other sellers.
Remember When will perform from 9 to 11 a.m. The Little Miss/Mr. Reedsville contest begins at 11, followed by the apple pie contest at noon. The Pep Rally Boys will perform from noon to 2 p.m.
The pie contest requires entries by 11 a.m. The overall winner will receive $50 in local gift cards and a commemorative pie tin. Awards of $25 in local gift cards will also go to the best crust and best-tasting pie.
Anyone coming for apple butter or apple dumplings has reason to arrive early. Smith said the apple dumplings have been known to disappear by 11 a.m., and the apple butter also sells quickly.
"If people want apple butter or apple dumplings, they better get there in the morning," she said.
The vendors arrive long before the public. Smith said her son, Matthew Smith, lines off the park and assigns spaces. Some vendors bring equipment on Friday evening. Others arrive around 6 or 7 Saturday morning, followed by crafters and food trucks settling into place before the festival begins.
The festival has no special attraction planned solely for its 10th anniversary, Smith said, but several community organizations will participate, including the Juniata River Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Master Gardeners.
The Little Miss Reedsville contest carries a history longer than Apple Fest itself. Smith started it in the mid-1990s. One year, 21 girls competed. The Mister Reedsville portion was added later, and Smith said recent contests typically draw between five and 10 children, with one or two boys sometimes participating.
The winners receive more than a sash and crown. They take part in community events throughout the year, including the Christmas tree lighting and Halloween parade. Smith said they can also appear at other town events.
"It's a community thing that we try to do," Smith said. "We try to instill our friendly little town of Reedsville and keep that going."
The apple butter carries the same idea.
The kettles require people. So do the apples. Someone peels and cores the apples. Someone slices them. Someone tends the fire. Someone takes a paddle for 15 minutes while another volunteer rests. By morning, after a night of heat, steam, coffee, conversation, and constant stirring, the work becomes something people can take home.
Apple Fest adds the rest: vendors filling Bender Park, music, pies, children in crowns, and friends and families coming together.
Smith said that is what she hopes people recognize after 10 years.
"Our sense of community," she said. "Our 10 years of planning and presenting an old-time tradition in our apple butter."
The festival may last five hours Saturday. Its centerpiece takes all night to make.