If you go:
What: Apple Festival
Where: Kirby’s Mill 275 Church Road
When: Oct. 10
Cost: Free admission
How: No registration required
Nothing kick-starts that fall feeling quite like an apple. Whether it’s apple cider, apple doughnuts, applesauce or even apple butter, the Medford Historical Society’s Apple Festival has been a hit for as long as residents can remember.
“It’s very popular. People will tell you that no matter who you talk to,” Medford Historical Society President Bill Stauts said.
The apple festival has been around for the 38 years Stauts has been in charge.
David Vaughn, executive director of the Medford Business Association and trustee of the historical society, has recently taken the reins of the event but does not plan to mess with success.
“Apple everything has just been a winning formula. I don’t plan to fix anything that isn’t broken,” Vaughn said.
The only event the township puts on that can compare to the apple festival in terms of drawing thousands is the fireworks show. However, as Stauts alluded to, that is only about a 15-minute event while the apple festival is an entire afternoon. So it is not comparing apples to apples, if you will.
This event also takes a lot longer to plan for that exact reason. The folks at the historical society work on pulling the apple festival together periodically throughout the summer, and then the week before, they are at Kirby’s Mill every day setting up.
“It is an exciting event but it is definitely a relief and an accomplished feeling when it is all over and everyone has enjoyed another year of the festival,” Stauts said.
The goal of the event is to celebrate the coming of fall with the community and to help fund the historical society along the way.
“Every month, we have an event and we typically break even, which is usually OK in the grand scheme of things because of the apple festival,” Stauts said.
The society relies on this event to bring in most of its revenue for the year to go toward all of the little things that are necessary to keep Kirby’s Mill running.
Operating expenses tend to add up over the year, specifically when there are maintenance problems such as the gate they are looking to replace.
The mill plays a central role in most of the historical society’s events each year. It dates back to the earliest days of America, officially becoming operational during the Revolutionary War in 1778.
This year’s festival will feature approximately 100 craft booths that will be featuring crafts from all over the spectrum.
These folks apply to set up a booth at the festival and are required to send at least three photos of their craft that must be handmade from scratch.
“There is a long list of crafters. It makes it tough to pick the best ones,” Vaughn said.
Along with the opportunity to purchase the crafts that will be for sale, guests will be able to enjoy fun for all ages.
The bounce houses that have been a hit for the past couple years will be making another appearance. There will be live music by Jennifer Mylod and the Boys of County Ocean, and there will be plenty of food for everyone to enjoy.
“We have a vendor that starts making apple cider doughnuts at midnight the morning of the event and continues making them until about 4 p.m.,” Vaughn said.
Volunteers from the historical society will be running the event. There has been as many as 60 people from the society who have come out and donated their time to apple festivals in the past.
The festival is free to anyone interested in coming. The event will be held rain or shine. For more information, visit www.medfordhistory.org.
