Apple Festival 2017 was one to remember!

Every Apple Festival has unique qualities to it. Different people come and go and play parts that may be significant while others simply lend a hand for a few hours. Other people work behind the scenes and never receive any recognition. Different strategies have been followed to draw extra attention in hopes of attracting new people and keeping the old ones. The weather, of course, is never the same.

This year the Newark Valley Historical Society capitalized on the women’s history theme that was being promoted in New York State because of this year being the centennial of women gaining access to the voting booth. In showing the expanding roles now open to women, Alexis Halstead came for one day to demonstrate timber sports. 

Of special interest and significance was the re-enactment of a suffrage rally that took place in Owego on Oct. 5, 1915, which was done by the local Girl Scouts. The original rally utilized the efforts of 13 young girls each carrying a placard of a state or territory where women could vote. The effort by the young ladies of 2017 was outstanding as they marched around the Festival each day and read remarks to educate the public regarding the meaning and significance of their actions.

Since its beginning in 1981, the Festival has taken and long and winding course as the Society has grown and expanded it programs and offerings. My recollection is that I was an attendee at the first Apple Festival and as I have repeated many times, my life has never been the same. I felt that there was something vitally important about having direct experience with the sights, sounds, smells and hands on experience of either more recent history or that of centuries ago. The Society celebrated its 40th birthday in 2016 and in the 37 years I have been with the Society these guiding principles are more important than ever.

Mounting a festival of this type is a major undertaking and doesn’t happen over the course of a few months. Our various committee heads will meet soon to assess this year’s event and by early spring we will begin our plans for 2018.

The Society utilizes the talents of all of its members who can help with this particular event and has been able to tap into a volunteer pool that goes far beyond its membership. For the food areas alone we have over 100 people who assist us whether it is the main food area, soup/salt potatoes, deserts, everything apple, the barnista or apple butter.

There were ample activities for children including various games, pastimes, candle making or pumpkin painting. There were 48 vendors, demonstrators and other activities available over the two-day event. All of our guild members engaged with the public: Cooking and Guides, Spindles and Shuttles, Blacksmithing and Old Hickory Long Guns. The Long Guns had another outstanding encampment. Our gift shop is run by volunteers. In total we probably have about 200 people that help us, some of whom most of us probably don’t even know.

I have been involved with the logistics of parking from the early days of Festival history and have more recently taken more responsibility for general placement of tents and facilities. Parking is a special challenge for us because parking for the general public it is on the opposite side of the road and we must accommodate two large hickory trees and various soccer games that often coincide with the Festival.

To keep people from parking on the shoulder we place about 65 pumpkins on both sides of the highway. These are donated by Stoughton Farm. The pumpkins are put into place between 6 and 7 a.m., and this task has been done in just about every kind of weather imaginable for early October. In recent years the local Boy Scout troop with their adult leaders have been invaluable in providing the necessary support for the hundreds of cars that will appear when the weather cooperates. One individual made the remark that our parking procedures were the best of any festival that he had attended. That made my day. Numerous people have remarked about how much they appreciate the authenticity of our event and its lack of commercialism. “This is a real festival not just a street fair.”

Once parking lanes have been established I have jumped into my time machine. I normally have played William Bement, who would have been the owner of the Farmstead in the 1840’s. This year, in keeping with our women’s history theme, I played James Mott, husband of Lucretia Mott. Lucretia was one of the organizers of the Seneca Fall Women’s Rights Convention. I accompanied Elizabeth Cady Stanton one day and Susan B. Anthony the next, portrayed by Patricia Yoder-Clark.

For many years, two musicians in period dress who played authentic music from the early 1800’s provided our music. We have made quite a leap since those days and have attracted some of the best musical ensembles in New York State. A volunteer coordinates all the scheduling.

The weather is one variable that is in someone else’s hands. We have never cancelled, even for one day, but we have had many close calls. One year we came on the Thursday before the Festival and were watching the tent of one of our re-enactors swinging back and forth in the floodwaters. Fortunately the water dropped to acceptable levels within 24 hours. Another year we had heavy rain on the first day and were amazed at the number of people who still came. The next day was when the crush was on and our numbers weren’t that far off from the previous year. We lease a bus from the school if the field is too wet.

At the end of the day all these fences, signs, markers, ropes, tents, etc. must come down and placed in storage for another year. There are new people who jump into these tasks but it often one more task by those of us who have already put in two long days. There has only been a few times where we weren’t putting the last tent and the last fence post in the dark. We want to thank Fred Goodrich of Goodrich Implement for the loan of a Kubota for the weekend.

One of the Festival traditions was a cider press run by an antique engine that had belonged to Clark Smith. Clark has left us but his family has continued this legacy by driving from North Carolina to keep this as part of the Festival offerings. Also want to thank the Sheriff’s Department both for their work to keep our Festival attendees safe while crossing the road and for the use of the ATI program for Festival preparations. A thank you to the Participation in Government students along with those who are part of the agriculture program at the high school. We also wish to thank State Senator Fred Akshar for attending this year along with Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo. Ms. Lupardo was also a participant in our suffrage rally.

One of the new additions this year was an Eastern European food, pierogi, filled with apples and made on the spot. Would the Bement’s have served this food back in the 1800’s? Not likely, but it is traditional.

As you can see there are plenty of volunteer opportunities just with Apple Festival alone, but wait, there’s more! You can be a guide at the Farmstead for regular tours on weekends, participate in our Guilds, be involved with our school tours or get involved with trail maintenance. We run a Folk Art Series for those who wish develop skill in some kind of traditional craft. (You guessed it: run by another volunteer). Recently two young women have come forward to revitalize our programming for children. And don’t forget our second museum site the Newark Valley Depot. There have been Depot Friday Night programs for many years that run from early June to early September.

On behalf of the Historical Society membership and the Board of Trustees, we wish to thank everyone who has supported us for all these years and look forward to seeing you once again at next year’s Apple Festival.

For more information on the Historical Society, visit www.nvhistory.org or call the office at (607) 642-8075.  Ed can be reached directly at treespirit441@gmail.com or (607) 642-8075.

Click here to view more photos from the event.