Archbold, OH – The aroma of apples and spices mixed with the scent of wood fires and falling leaves marks a change of season and the celebration of the annual Apple Butter Making festival at Sauder Village in Archbold (OH). From Wednesday, September 23 through Saturday, Sept. 26 guests will have plenty of opportunity to enjoy apple-related activities throughout the Historic Village. The week is sure to delight all of your senses with activities including apple butter making, cider pressing, apple cooking demonstrations and hands-on activities. A new Fiber Arts Fest will also be held in Founder’s Hall this weekend.
Produced in the fall as a way to preserve part of the apple crop, apple butter was historically a community project – bringing families and neighbors together each fall.
Again this year, guests of all ages will gather to celebrate this time-honored fall tradition at Sauder Village. New this year, the delicious apple butter will be cooked in a copper kettle near the Stuckey Home in the Pioneer Settlement Area. Guests can enjoy apple schnitzing demonstrations and then watch as gallons of apple cider and bushels of the thinly sliced apples are simmered over an open fire and stirred until the mixture reduces to form the thick, sweet spread. Samples of the homemade apple butter will be available for guests to enjoy.
“Surviving the winter was a year ‘round activity for our ancestors,” shared Kim Krieger, Media Relations. “Crops were planted, food was harvested, meat was hunted and all was preserved with an eye towards the long winter months ahead. That is what our costumed staff focuses on in the fall, especially during our Apple Butter Making Week.”
Another way to preserve apples was to press them into cider. Throughout the week the 150-year-old wooden press will be put to use to make apple cider. There will be many other apple-related activities taking place as well. Guests can try packing apples in barrels for winter storage and watch apple cooking demonstrations in some of the historic homes. On Saturday guests can even help press apples into cider with an old-time, hand operated cider press! Guests can also enjoy a variety of delicious apple treats while visiting Sauder Village. There will be apple dumplings and apple pies and other tasty treats for guests to purchase.
A new Fiber Arts Fest is also being held in Founders Hall the weekend of Sept. 26 & 27. Artisans from throughout the region will gather at Sauder Village to demonstrate and share their love of fiber arts. Guests will be able to watch spinning, weaving, knitting, crocheting and tatting demonstrations. There will be fiber exhibits, looms and spinning wheels on display, hands-on activities and dying demonstrations. Select vendors will also be selling handmade items and fiber art supplies.
Saturday, September 26 is also Smithsonian Magazine’s 11th Annual Museum Day Live. A nationwide event, Museum Day Live allows free admission to Sauder Village to visitors presenting a Museum Day Live ticket (or other participating museum or cultural institutions)! Museum Day Live represents Smithsonian’s commitment to making learning and knowledge accessible to everyone, giving museums across all 50 states the opportunity to emulate the admission policy of the Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C. Last year’s event drew over 400,000 participants. Museum Day Live tickets may be downloaded at Smithsonian.com/museumday. Visitors who present the Museum Day Live ticket will gain free entrance for two at Sauder Village. One ticket is permitted per household, per email address.
For more information phone 1-800-590-9755, visit www.saudervillage.org, like Sauder Village on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
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