On the first Saturday of October, Ontelaunee Park was teaming with people enjoying the summerlike weather at the Lynn-Heidelberg Historical Society\u2019s annual Pioneer Applefest.<\/p>\n
Over the loudspeaker, a voice boomed information out welcoming the ever growing crowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat cabin was built by the Zeisloff Family in 1746,\u201d the voice said. \u201cWe moved that cabin 20 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
The historic cabin was one of the centerpieces of the event.<\/p>\n
Inside, Joshua Fink welcomed children to try their hands at calligraphy with quills and ink.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is typical of a Pennsylvania Dutch log cabin with three rooms, in the 1700s,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re in a multipurpose room of sorts right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
In front of the log cabin, Cameron Kahl and Jalyssa Kubat were selling apple dumplings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is my first time doing this,\u201d Kubat said. \u201cIt\u2019s a good way to serve the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA local Amish group made the apple dumplings,\u201d Kahl said, as she handed two orders to a customer.<\/p>\n
Both girls were encouraged by their teacher, Pamela Peters, to participate in the event.<\/p>\n
In fact, Peters was able to recruit quite a few middle schoolers, most of them dressed in period costume, to fulfill a variety of tasks at the Applefest.<\/p>\n
Preston Bailey and Adin Breidinger encouraged young and old alike to try their hand at a variety of games and puzzles.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese games are kind of like grandparents to all our [current] games,\u201d Bailey said, explaining the rules of some of the games like Shut the Box and Captain\u2019s Mistress, a forerunner of Connect Four.<\/p>\n
The middle schoolers researched before coming to the Applefest.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo weeks ago, we were sent documents on the games, and then we got to play them,\u201d Breidinger explained.<\/p>\n
A number of demonstrators displayed their process and work throughout the park.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m making a mug,\u201d said Katherine George, an art teacher at the Annville Cleona School District outside of Hershey. \u201cI try to make something small so that the kids could feel what it\u2019s like to work with clay on a potter\u2019s wheel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under a tent, a clutch of women from the Fiber Arts Guild were busy weaving a shawl.<\/p>\n
The women were having a kind of practice session to prepare for the Pennsylvania Farm Show in January when they\u2019ll have two and a half hours to weave a scarf for the competition.<\/p>\n
The team meets weekly to share their skills and conversation at the Guild\u2019s center in Schuylkill Haven.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe specialize for the competition, but we can all do different tasks,\u201d Mary Sey explained.<\/p>\n
These tasks include carding, spinning and weaving, to name a few.<\/p>\n
Demonstrators dotted the park and welcomed questions so that visitors could get a full experience of what life was like a few hundred years ago.<\/p>\n
Eli and Theo Metzger were completely fascinated with the historical wagons in the big barn.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy neighbor has one like this,\u201d said first grader Eli, pointing to a large conveyance wagon with black velvet seating.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd this is a mail one,\u201d added his younger brother.<\/p>\n
The youngsters\u2019 excitement was irrepressible as they chatted with their grandmother, Chris Oswald, identifying historical items they found interesting. \u201cTheir pappy and their pop tells them a lot,\u201d she said, with a smile. \u201cWe live right down the road.\u201d<\/p>\n
Visitors also filed through the train station near the park\u2019s entrance.<\/p>\n
\u201cCraig (Weaver) put this display together,\u201d said an appreciative Chris Kacsor, president of the Lehigh Valley Garden Railroad Club. \u201cIt fits nicely on the luggage cart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Apples, apple cider, apple doughnuts, funnel cake and more tempted visitors and food trucks like Iron Grill and J Rads Wood Fired Pizza saw a steady business.<\/p>\n
The weather was so warm that free ice cream provided by The New Tripoli Bank was a very popular treat.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re running out of a few choices, but we\u2019ve sent out for more,\u201d said Lori Croneberger who was distributing the treats along with Karen Hantz.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just ordered more from Candy\u2019s,\u201d Croneberger said. \u201cWe do this every year. It\u2019s become a tradition, just like the Lynn-Heidelberg Historical Society\u2019s Pioneer Applefest.\u201d<\/p>\n
PRESS PHOTOS BY ANNA GILGOFFEli and Theo Metzger were full of enthusiasm as they explored the historic items in the big barn with their grandmother Chris Oswald.<\/p>\n
Lorraine Felker and Mary Sey were part of the team creating a shawl from rough fiber to finished product.<\/p>\n
Kim Morgan, from the Fiber Arts Guild, displays a shawl that won first prize at the Bloomsburg Fair.<\/p>\n
Potter Katherine George invites Leo and Alex Grim to work the potter\u2019s wheel. \u201cI love working with the kids,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Commerce was brisk at Cameron Kahl and Jalyssa Kubat\u2019s apple dumpling sale.<\/p>\n
Joshua Fink encouraged kids to try writing with quill pens and bottled ink.<\/p>\n
New Tripoli Bank provided free ice cream on the warm day and Lori Croneberger and Karen Hantz were busy providing the welcome treats.<\/p>\n
The charm of Craig Weaver\u2019s train display attracted visitors of all ages.<\/p>\n
Chris Hunsicker was one of the musicians adding flute music that drew folks to stop and listen.<\/p>\n
Preston Bailey and Adin Breidinger had an array of wooden puzzles and games that visitors could play.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On the first Saturday of October, Ontelaunee Park was teaming with people enjoying the summerlike weather at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44437,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":{"0":"post-44436","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bethlehem","8":"tag-bethlehem","9":"tag-bethlehem-headlines","10":"tag-bethlehem-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}