OCEAN VIEW — Saturday’s Applefest in Upper Township had apple-inspired treats, music and crafters. Many people who were there said it offered something more — a chance for the community to socialize and promote more upcoming events.
The 23rd annual event at the John Wesley Gandy Farmstead was presented by the Historic Preservation Society of Upper Township (HPSUT) and featured demonstrations by traditional craft artisans, tours of the historic farmstead, an apple pie baking contest and plenty of types of the signature fruit.
“For me the fun is seeing the community come together,” said David Jones, who was selling tickets for all the edible treats at the Applefest. He said that includes “people from the Historical Society and neighbors and even people who drive in from a distance because they know an apple festival in Upper Township is a good news event. It’s been a great thing to do.”
Jones said the Applefest is a counterpart to the HPSUT’s spring Strawberry Festival.
“I think people just like being outdoors with other people. They come with their kids. There’s a train across the street, an 18th century home to visit (the Gandy House/Farmstead) and music. It’s a great, great place to be,” Jones said, noting it’s also “great letting people know history is alive and well in Upper Township.”
Members of the South Shore Stitchers were promoting two events and raffling off a lovely quilt.
“We were formed in 1985, have 100 members and we make a lot of charity quilts for nursing homes and hospitals,” explained member Patricia Kline, who was under a tent with Crystal Smith and Sue Gill. “We do pillow cases for children who are seriously ill so they have something personal when they are in the hospital. We also do fidget quilts. People who have Alzheimer’s love those. We can’t make enough of those because they can feel the different fabric, even if they’ve forgotten how to do everything else.
“We do quilts for veterans,” Kline added. “We meet once a month on the second Monday at the Methodist Church in Tuckahoe. Everybody is welcome.”
They gather from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. … or 9 “depending on how long we talk,” she said, smiling. The group also meets once a month to work on charity quilts.
Heart 2 Heart Quilt Show,
Professional Craft Show
The Stitchers are promoting their Heart 2 Heart Quilt Show, which will be 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 18 and 19, and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 20, at the Upper Township Community Center, 1790 Rt. 50, Tuckahoe.
There are going to be daily demonstrations, a “Heart Strings” raffle quilt, country store, raffle baskets, a boutique table and expanded vendor mall. Admission is $12 for adults and free for children under 12.
To learn more go online to southshorestitchers.com or find the group on Facebook.
They are also promoting the Handmade in America Professional Craft Show that is 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 23, at the Upper Township Community Center. Admission is free, there is a Quilty raffle and Lucky Number Auction in the event sponsored by the South Jersey Vietnam Veterans to benefit South Jersey Quilts of Valor.
The professional craft show features the work of South Jersey artists including Anne-Marie Simon’s “Imagine!”’ Dave and Debra Shattuck’s “Focal Points”; Judy Lane’s “Dolls & Creatures,” Merry May’s quilts and other fun stuff; Kay Blinebury’s “I want It I need It”; Joan Berkey and Scott Smith’s “South Dennis Heritage Arts”; the Little Egg Harbor Soap Co. and more.
For more information call (609) 457-8879 or email SJQuiltsOfValor@gmail.com.
Artistans, crafters
Jody Clark of Hayburner Hollow Farms in Dennis Township was demonstrating a pedal-powered spinning wheel at the festival, using alpaca fur from the animals she keeps.
The former resident of Upper Township now lives in Belleplain.
“I have a little more room to put the animals. I have 12 alpacas and a sheep. He keeps one of them company,” she said.
Clark belongs to New England Alpaca Fiber Pool. She sends the fur from her alpacas to the pool and they make socks and other items, some of which she was selling at the festival.
Mary Faith of the Faith Flower and Mushroom Farm in Estelle Manor had a table packed with tiny plants, including cacti, in tiny little cups and other ceramics that she gets from thrift stores and that people give to her, saving them from the landfill.
She said her husband does all the growing and propagating. Faith said she loves taking her plants to events at Stockton University because the students love them. They’re perfect for dorm rooms.
The farm, as the name implies, also grows mushrooms — courtesy of her son — shiitake on logs in a hoop house and in the basement Lion’s Mane, blue oyster, yellow oyster and pioppino.
She explained she has a big property and a wood management plan. “We had to cut so many oak trees down so he (her son) looked up what to do with them and one of them was to grow mushrooms (on the logs).
“I also have organic popcorn. One-stop shopping,” she said, laughing.
Faith enjoys being at the Applefest.
“It’s a little relaxing to me. I get to see the public and what they like. I get to see people I know. It puts a personal aspect to it,” she said.
Green Team, UTBA
Ralph Cooper was manning tables for the Upper Township Green Team and the Upper Township Business Association. He has been with the two groups for about 10 years.
He was at the festival “because there are so few opportunities in Upper Township to get people together to socialize. We want to try to sit in the middle whenever we can. I think festivals like this are really important.”
Cooper was promoting multiple things involving the organization and that the groups support in Upper Township, including lock boxes for prescription medicine to keep it out of the hands of small children. The lock boxes are available at Township Hall.
The Green Team raises concerns about the “volcano trees” — when landscapers improperly pile so many wood chips up around a tree it looks like a volcano, but it harms the tree. “That’s the first thing when you go to tree training that you’re not supposed to do.”
They’ve been working for quite a while to prevent people from releasing helium balloons.
Cooper said Upper Township passed an ordinance in 2017 that actually put a $500 fine on people releasing groups of helium balloons. They want to discourage it because the balloons end up in the waterways.
They have stickers picturing a sea turtle and a pledge to not release balloons and the preventballoonlitter.org website address.
“We’re not opposed to one balloon for graduation. It’s the idea that everything goes east” to the bays and ocean, he explained.
He did a talk at the Strathmere Fishing Club and noted members were in favor of stopping the balloon releases “because all of that stuff gets wrapped around their propellers.”
Chat with a Trooper,
Community Night
Cooper made a point of promoting two upcoming events.
One is a community night from 6 to 8 p.m. Nov. 13 at Upper Township Elementary School.
The other is the UTBA Chat with a Trooper program done a few times a year. The next one is 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 24, at the McDonald’s in the Cedar Square Shopping Center on Route 9 in Seaville. There will be free coffee and conversation with Lt. Christopher MacNeill, commander of Woodbine Station Troop A.
“We try to get not only businesspeople but also residents. We also have a QR code for people to send questions if they can’t come.” The link is https://tinyurl.com/TrooperQuestions24Oct.
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
