Now, 44 years later, the festival lives on with the church's famous homemade apple butter as the main attraction along with a variety of artisans and craft vendors, a used book fair, children's book fair, bake sale, entertainment, opportunity drawings and snack bar.
There will be a bounce house for children at this family friendly event.
The event is open to the public.
Admission and parking is free at the church, 1207 W. Cypress Ave. in Redlands.
The fresh batch of apple butter will be offered for sale in
Zion Aimut stirs a 40-gallon pot of boiling apple butter in preparation for Saturday's Apple Butter Arts Crafts Festival at First Lutheran Church in Redlands. (Courtesy photo)
pint, half-pint and quarter-pint jars. The butter was created from natural ingredients and prepared by a couple dozen volunteers from the congregation on Sept. 28 and 29.Donna Barnes, who along with husband Mac Barnes, coordinate the annual festival, says it took more than 20 cases of apples (Braeburn and Grannys) along with more than 200 pounds of sugar and nine jars of cinnamon to create this year's apple butter.
The apple butter was cooked for almost nine hours in two copper lined pots sitting atop a hot wood fueled fire behind the parish hall that produced 70 gallons of apple butter.
As the volunteers stirred both pots, the contents gradually transformed from a light, runny liquid into a smooth, dark brown
spread suitable for spreading over toast, bagel or your favorite dessert.The original 30-gallon kettle used in the cooking dates back to 1959 when the late Norma Tee and her late mother Beulah Freebersyser had it shipped from Missouri to Oak Glen where the Tee family worked at Camp Yolijwa. They later sold the apple butter they made at First Lutheran as members of the congregation.
Church members then decided to host an annual fall event where crafts made by members and the Tee family apple butter would be sold at a big parking lot event that then Pastor John D. Foerster and member Florence Ford thought would be a good community outreach.
Matt Tee, a lifelong member of First Lutheran who jokingly recalls helping make apple butter while in the womb, was busy last Saturday helping stir the pot his mother brought to the church four decades ago and separating lids for the apple butter jars.
Current member Marilyn Pace was among the crafters at that first fair in 1968, two years after the congregation moved into its new sanctuary at San Mateo and Cypress across from Smiley Elementary School.
"Something like this helps the congregation," said Nolan Bolyarde, a member of First Lutheran for more than 40 years and a regular festival volunteer.
Current member Melanie Hendrickson remembers working as a teenager in the snack bar with her grandparents.
Starting in 1998, outside crafters, artisans and boutique vendors were invited to join members in having a booth at the festival, sharing a percentage of their profits with the church to help fund its various ministries, including community non-profit groups.
This year the booth operators will sell their wares in more than 30 new EZ-Up canopies that were donated to the church, providing shade and comfort for workers on a warm fall day.
For more information, call the church office at 909-793-2267 or visit the website at www.firstlutheranredlands.org
Source: Mike Murphy
Source: http://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com/ci_21690889/untitled?source=rss_viewed
No comments:
Post a Comment