Preparations are underway for the 48th annual Applebutter Festival in Grand Rapids on Sunday, October 12.
The event has grown from a small fund-raising event by the Historical Society of Grand Rapids, Ohio, to a fall tradition that welcomes tens of thousands of visitors to the small town south of the Maumee River each year on the second Sunday of October. Saturday Evening Vesper Service
Applebutter Fest weekend begins with a 7 p.m. vesper service on Saturday evening with prayer and music at the M.J. Wright Pavilion on the canal towpath between the Maumee River and the Miami-Erie Canal.
All of the music played is period appropriate to the American Civil War era. The musical pieces were either written for the Civil War or well before it and were used during this time period. Napoleon Community Band provides a mixed ensemble to play the prelude and hymns. This year is the band’s 40th anniversary. The Henry County Chorale supports the congregation in singing the hymns.
A prelude starts off with the bugle Call of Attention and Call to Church, which are taken from the Bugle Call Manual of 1861. They are followed by several Civil War pieces. The prelude ends with a solo trumpet playing “Just Before the Battle, Mother.”
The service is introduced by a member of the Historical Society of Grand Rapids, and a reenactor who portrays Abraham Lincoln relates the events and political climate of the country during the time leading up to the war.
Lincoln’s address is highlighted by more hymns, and the service closes with “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” Lincoln’s favorite.
Not long after the service ends, there are two nighttime cannon fires.
Let the Festival Begin Early Sunday morning, the decorating team transforms the village with flowers and pumpkins and fall decorations. Signage is placed, the applebutter stir is started.
The festival officially opens at 10 a.m. Sunday and closes at 5 p.m.
Parking is located outside of town–in lots both north and south of the Maumee River– and buses provide transportation to the festival grounds on the town streets and parks. The parking fee is $20 per vehicle and there is no admission fee to the festival.
History, Crafts, Shopping And More
Visitors can find crafts, vendors and live music as well as food booths to benefit nonprofit organizations.
At the west end, historical society volunteers will be stirring and selling applebutter in the area of the Old Town Hall, and food will be sold inside the Old Fire Station.
There’s an area set aside for children’s activities and an area where you can see antique farm equipment and demonstrations. There is also a vintage car show.
On the Towpath Trail, reenactors demonstrate oldtime skills and crafts as well as lots of education on the way pioneers and early settlers lived.
Festival History
The Applebutter Fest has provided historical reenactments, handmade crafts, live music, delicious food and applebutter since 1977.
In the bicentennial year of 1976, communities across America were inspired to look back into their history. For the village of Grand Rapids, that meant the pioneer settlements of the Maumee River Valley. In that spirit, the Historical Society of Grand Rapids was formed in 1975 with the mission to provide education on the region’s rich history, draw the community together through historical and cultural events and help fund the activities of other local nonprofits.
As former Grand Rapids Mayor Jim Carter points out, the Applebutter Fest began as a gathering to demonstrate pioneer and farm-life skills. During the planning of the first community get-together, Carter said, “Why don’t we do something in the park and maybe show our younger generation what used to happen on the farm.”
As a fund-raiser, Pat Kryder (a future fest co-chair), suggested selling applebutter using an old Kryder family recipe. The apples available to settlers were unlike the hybrid varieties today. Instead of eating them, farmers pressed them for cider (which could be also fermented into hard cider), and then boiled the apples with cider and sugar to make a thick, sweet fruit butter.
This was an economical way to turn the apple crop into products that could be preserved by bottling or canning. It also was a time-consuming and labor-intensive chore that was made easier when everyone pitched in to help.
Copper kettles were set up on tripods in the park next to the town hall, and folks took turns stirring apples that others had peeled and cored.
The early fest also featured reenactors demonstrating pioneer skills and crafts and playing music.
Other attractions were antique farm equipment and vintage cars, which formed their own parade as the owners drove them down Front Street. Quilts were raffled, brats were grilled and handmade crafts were sold.
