GRAND RAPIDS, Ohio — A bright blue sky, jewel-toned trees, and the smell of freshly made fall foods provided picturesque, near movie-set perfection for the 38th annual Applebutter Fest.
An estimated 30,000 to 40,000 people converged Sunday on the village of Grand Rapids for the annual, one-day October bash. The event features historical re-enactors along the Maumee River, crafts, antique farm equipment, musical performances, and, of course, boiling pots of apple butter that give the festival its name.
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Festivalgoers gathered around several 50-gallon copper kettles and took turns stirring the mixture of cooked-down apple cider and peeled and chopped apples. Each batch is stirred for six hours by volunteers who hold onto long paddles and constantly circle the wood-burning fire pits.
Festival folks planned to make and sell about 2,400 pints of apple butter, including about 1,300 pints prepared a couple weeks ago.
“Where else are you going to see actual apple butter being made right [in] a copper kettle like that over an open fire,” asked Jeremy McCoy of Perrysburg.
He and his 7-year-old daughter stood nearby and watched as apples were pressed into fresh cider. They sampled the small, golden-hued glasses as the bubbling apple butter sent a cozy blanket of apple scent wafting through the area.
The smoke that clung to the air was the only really difficult part of using old-fashioned equipment to peel, core, and press apples into cider, said Derek Etzler, 13, of Napoleon. He joined other Boy Scouts in helping to run the cider press, a popular festival attraction.
“As soon as we get the cider out, then we get a huge crowd that just flocks to the cider,” he said.
The crowds in the Wood County community had plenty to eat, observe, and buy.
Vendors sold Christmas crafts, knitted hats, rugs, metal garden art, and dried flowers. People gathered on benches and straw bales to munch on an assortment of street food and sweets.
Others stopped to watch craftsmen demonstrate skills largely lost to time.
Lawrence Mavis of Alvordton, Ohio, restored the cane weaving on a chair seat as people drifted by to take a look at a technique he’s perfected over decades.
“Mainly my fun is just getting to see the public and discuss the family heirlooms,” he said.
At the other end of the quaint downtown shopping area, Dave Luttrell of Grand Rapids and Butch Bauer of Defiance showed how to take an ear of corn and make it into cornmeal.
He fields questions such as: “What are you doing with corn? Corn comes from the store. Cornmeal? I buy my biscuits a dozen at a time.”
Helping the public understand history and old-fashioned farm ways is part of what he and other volunteers enjoy about the festival.
Mr. Bauer operated a thudding machine as it sifted the coarser particles from the cornmeal, which was then bagged and sold.
“I like something like this so much better than a museum because once you see something move and see how it’s used ... it registers so much more,” he said.
The Historical Society of Grand Rapids organizes the annual festival, which requires the help of several hundred volunteers, said the organization’s president Steve Kryder, who also serves as the event’s co-chairman.
Contact Vanessa McCray at: vmccray@theblade.com or 419-724-6065, or on Twitter @vanmccray.
First Published October 13, 2014, 4:00 a.m.
