It’s all about apples
Lois Toomey of Hickory peels Ginger Gold apples for the Hickory Apple Festival that will take place Saturday and Sunday. More than 1,800 apple pies are made for the festival, along with apple crisp, dumplings, cake and other goodies.
From left, Sheila Carter, Norma Kelso and Lucille Ringer, all of Hickory, volunteer their time peeling and slicing apples for the festival.
Sara Herriott of McDonald peels apples for apple crisp for the Hickory Apple Festival. The fesitval starts Saturday with food, entertainment, crafts, vendors and an apple pie eating contest.
Emily Harger/Observer-Reporter Pictured is the apple pie made by Kim Newland for the apple pie baking competition at the Washington County Fair on Saturday morning, August 10.
The core of the Hickory Apple Festival is no doubt the tasty treats made from the namesake fruit.
Organizers planted in kitchens over this past week hope those unfamiliar with the annual celebration will sow a new tradition this weekend as chain saw sculptors, bands and crafters vie to be the apple of any newcomer’s eye.
More than 1,800 apple pies made over four days are among the offerings awaiting visitors Saturday and Sunday at Mt. Pleasant Township fire hall. And it’s all thanks to volunteers.
“Doughers, rollers, fillers, crimpers and bakers – we have a whole assembly line just for pies,” said Kathy Farner, an organizer and volunteer for the past 25 years. “What’s special about this festival is there are no outside vendors. Everything is homemade.”
“We have a central group of about 75 volunteers that make this happen,” she said. One of them is her husband.
“When this thing started, we had people donating already-made pies. They didn’t seem to realize what this festival was about, because, well, we took the blackberry pies just the same,” Gary Farner said.
Blackberry and apple may also be smartphones, but volunteers haven’t been phoning it in. Calculate this on a Blackberry device: 130 bushels of Ginger Gold apples from Dawson’s Orchards (Gary said they’ve dealt with the Enon Valley orchard since 2010, and the Ginger Gold holds up best in pies); 2,300 jars of apple butter; 75 pans of apple crisp; and 14 large sheets of apple cake. It all adds up to a sweet time.
“We don’t advertise that goodie, the apple cake,” said Kathy Farner.
“But it’s moist and delicious,” baker Rita Bongiorni said of the cinnamon-infused cake. Those favoring savory over sweet can chow down on homemade barbecue chicken, roasted pork sandwiches and other fare.
Entertainment starts Saturday at 10 a.m. with the Fort Cherry Band followed by Banjo All Stars and the Jason Craig Band, as well as the Mon Valley Cloggers and apple pie eating contests at 3 p.m. Admission is free and all food purchases benefit Mt. Pleasant Township Volunteer Fire Company.