Morgantown >> The Hay Creek Apple Festival celebrated the season of fall and, of course, apples this past weekend at Joanna Furnace off of route 10.
Hosted by the Hay Creek Association, the festival Oct. 11 and 12 held many activities for people of all ages. There were all kinds of family and children’s activities such as apple barrel rides, pumpkin painting, wagon rides and scarecrow making.
“The purpose of the Apple Festival is to raise funds for Hay Creek, but it also provides a community service and people come down here to Hay Creek and get to know a very important piece of history,” Treasurer of the Hay Creek Association, Alan Harris said.
Many families weren’t just there to enjoy the day with each other, they were also there to volunteer and help out. Volunteering at Joanna Furnace is always encouraged and in need.
Built in 1791, Joanna Furnace is now a privately owned historic site, not funded by the government, so in order to keep the property in great condition and continue to use the land, volunteers are needed. The funds to hire people would be too high to keep, so it is completely done by volunteers. The festival can take up to 800 volunteers to run because there is always a lot of work to do, whether it is preparing for the festival or running it. Many people help out at the festival such as adults, teens and even young children help out, according to Harris.
Lauren Williams, age 5, helped out with her Daisy Scout Troop at the festival this past weekend.
“We made the scarecrow,” said Lauren. “Made the hay, handed out string, and made the faces.”
The Twin Valley Daisy Scouts helped prepare the supplies that were needed in order to create the scarecrows. The scarecrows were made by first choosing a pair of pants, a button down shirt and some accessories such as hats and ties. Then the face details, such as eyes, a nose and a mouth needed to be chosen. The girl scouts helped to make the faces and then the families would create their scarecrows by putting the faces together and stuffing them with the hay. The girls also got to make a scarecrow.
Lauren says her favorite part was “Making the head.”
A group of older girl scouts had also volunteered at the Apple Festival. They contributed to the food portion of the festival. They sold candied apples, which were made fresh, right there. They had many different kinds such as s’mores and caramel. All the stands at the festival were full and filled with apple products.
Harris also said his favorite part is “Eating the food, of course. I think everybody enjoys eating the food.”
They had many different foods consisting of apples. There were pies, candied apples, cider, fritters, pancakes, dumplings and deserts. The apple cider was made at the festival. The apples were fresh, pressed and made right in front of you. Also, anyone who enjoys baking, there was an apple baking contest and the first place winner received $25 and will be featured in next year’s Hay Creek Apple Recipe Booklet.
Alyssa Bolger, age 17, attended for the first time since she had lived in Elverson.
“My favorite part was seeing how much fun all of the children had doing the activities such as the scarecrow building, pumpkin painting, and the rides they had,” said Bolger. “It makes me wish I lived around the area when I was younger.”
Bolger had been invited to go with a few friends since she had never gone before and they had really enjoyed it.
The Hay Creek Association has one last event to come to finish out the 2014 year. There will be Christmas at Joanna held Dec. 5 through 7 from 5 to 9 p.m..
