DUMMERSTON — Like a tote board at a telethon, a sign in front on the Dummerston Congregational Church is keeping track of the most important question on the minds of Dummerstonians this time of year: How many apple pies have been baked so far?
As of the evening of Sept. 28, the number was 602.
It is but a fraction of the 1,500 8-inch pies that need to be prepared for the annual Dummerston Apple Pie Festival on Sunday, Oct. 7.
The festival, at Dummerston Congregational Church at Middle and East-West roads, starts at 10 a.m. and runs until all pies are sold.
Church volunteers and friends have been working six hours a day every weekday peeling and slicing Cortland apples and rolling out pie crusts as part of the two-week run-up to the festival.
“We're right on schedule,” said festival organizer Bess Richardson during a visit by The Commons last week.
Most pies will be sold whole to eager fans in front of the church; a nearby tent will offer hundreds of slices of apple pie, each of which is in line for toppings of ice cream or slices of Grafton cheddar.
Pancake breakfast
Although apple pie dominates this day in Dummerston, the festival also offers a pancake breakfast at the Dummerston Center firehouse from 7 to 10:30 a.m.
Here, hundreds of hotcakes with maple syrup, sausages, biscuits and sausage gravy, and applesauce will move, washed down with copious amounts of coffee and apple cider. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children.
Craft fair
A craft fair will run at the nearby Evening Star Grange from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Approximately 30 crafters will be selling everything from alpaca socks and wool to hand-crafted clothing, jewelry, soaps, wooden crafts, maple syrup, hand-knit hats and scarves, and many other items.
If you're looking for lunch to go with your slice of pie, hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans, and homemade corn chowder will be available at the Grange.
The festival is the biggest fundraising event of the year for the Dummerston Congregational Church. All the events are clustered around the Common in Dummerston Center, and ample free parking is available.