Gettysburg, PA 10/12/2019

55th Apple Festival in Biglerville, PA - Saturday 
10/12/2019

We arrived early with hopes of easy parking (we were rewarded) and walking, 

crossed over a bridge, looked up and...

...down the stream and ...

...entered the fairgrounds already quite busy with visitors.

What awaited us were hundreds of booths that provided, in addition to crafts of every kind, apple products. Place the word "apple" in front of each product:

Bread, butter, cider, cookies, cotton candy, crisp, daiquiris, fritter, pies, dumplings, guac, jelly, pizza, sauces, cider, slushies, sausage, strudel, syrup, and pancakes. There was candied apples, hot and cold apple cider, and Sue's moonshine.

Thank goodness I ordered just one pancake for breakfast.
9 inches wide and thick; an apple batter, of course with apple syrup.

A member of the Flohr family from East Berlin, PA, described their...

...1920 20/60 Russell Steam Engine which they purchased and restored. This engine generated the steam power that was in turn used by the booth behind it for coring, washing, cleaning, and steaming/cooking the apples...thousands of them.

If you haven't already seen the video of the single and triple apple peelers, you can click ON THIS LINK to view the single peeler and ON THIS LINK to view the triple peeler. 

A younger member of the family was in charge of stoking.

Using steam to crush corn...

Daddy's helper was hard at work.

If you haven't already seen the video of this little gal hard at work feeding corn into the hopper, you can click ON THIS LINK to view it now.

This fella made a V8 engine and fabricated all parts.

In a nearby booth they were making Friendship Bracelets using an old machine. If you haven't seen the video on the main blog page, CLICK HERE to view the intricate process. 

One of the spectators

I sat and watched the Chain Saw Art demonstration for quite some time. Sitting on a bale of hay protected in a tent from the short-lived drizzle that began around 2 pm, I was impressed with what could be done with a chainsaw.  I couldn't get up close to capture a video but from a cut of tree trunk this artist (Joe) created an eagle. Some details follow the photos.

Founder of "Appalachian Arts Studio", Rick Boni, right, poses with son-in-law, Joe. Joe was doing the carving in the previous photos. I enjoyed my short chat with him, a most pleasing, easy going fella with a fascinating background. He's been a chainsaw carver for almost 20 years. Check out the link I provided to his site.

What follows are some the finished products for sale that were created by these craftsmen. I was obviously impressed with their talents.

One of most fascinating demonstrations I've ever seen was at the booth of Scarves Happen. I was mesmerized by the process and the finished product was absolutely beautiful. If you haven't seen the video I took on the main blog page, you can CLICK ON THIS LINK and enjoy the demonstration.

In among this crowd were four gentlemen dressed the same. You knew they were some of the
street entertainment. One young lady inquired as to who they were and if you haven't see the video I took  on the main page. CLICK HERE to be entertained by the Past Time Harmonaires. 

The aromas were enjoyed throughout the day, at every stand. Varied and deeply satisfying.