DUMMERSTON — This is the golden jubilee year of the Dummerston Church Apple Pie Festival.
The Oct. 13 festival, which takes place at the junction of Middle and East-West roads, is the church's biggest annual fundraising event. It starts at 10 a.m., and runs until all pies are sold.
Starting in 1969 and for its first four decades, the event was orchestrated by Gladys Miller, who died in 2013.
Dwight Miller Orchards, her family's business, provided the apples for the thousands of pies baked by church members and volunteers. The orchard remains the source of the Cortland apples that go into the pies.
Whole pies will be available for purchase, or for eating by the slice (with a scoop of homemade ice cream or a slice of Vermont cheddar on top).
Craft cheeses, fresh cider donuts, and locally pressed cider will also be sold.
Pancake breakfast
The festival also features a pancake breakfast prepared by the West Dummerston Volunteer Fire Department at the Dummerston Center firehouse.
Here, hundreds of hotcakes with maple syrup, sausages, biscuits and sausage gravy, and applesauce are dished out, with lots of coffee, orange juice, milk, and apple cider to wash it all down.
The pancake breakfast will be served from 7 to 11:30 a.m., and tickets are $11 for adults and $5 for children.
Lunch at the Grange
For those not too full of pancakes and looking for lunch to go with a slice of pie, hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans, and homemade corn chowder will be available at the nearby Evening Star Grange.
A tag and craft sale will run at the Grange. Approximately 30 crafters will be selling everything from alpaca socks and wool to handcrafted clothing, jewelry, soaps, wooden crafts, maple syrup, hand-knit hats and scarves, and many other items.