DUMMERSTON-Last year, the Dummerston Congregational Church had to search far and wide for apples for its annual Apple Pie Festival after a May freeze wiped out nearly the entire crop throughout the county and the region.
This year, when volunteers began baking pies on Sept. 30 for the 55th annual edition of the church's pie fest, the familiar big wooden crate of Cortland apples from nearby Dwight Miller Orchards was sitting by the church's kitchen door.
While last year the pie makers were forced to make some pumpkin, blueberry, and maple walnut pies to make up for the lack of apples, there will be plenty of apple pies for sale at this year's pie fest, which begins at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 13.
Bess Richardson, who has been baking pies for the Festival for more than 40 years, said the goal this year is to produce anywhere from 1,000 to 1,100 pies.
For the two weeks leading up to the day of the fest, volunteers gather at the church weekdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and again from 5 to 9 p.m., assembling and baking the apple pies that have made Dummerston famous.
Volunteers run the apple peelers, core the apples, slice the apples, roll the pie dough, fill pie plates with apples, keep up with the apple peelings and cores, and place the pies in the church's three pizza ovens, each holding a dozen 9-inch pies at a time.
"Apple Pie Sunday" begins with an abbreviated Sunday church service, followed by the laying out of whole or sliced pies on long tables under a big canopy beside the church.
When the church bell rings at 10 a.m., that's the signal that the festival has begun.
Pies will be available (whole pies for $20 and slices for $6) until 2 p.m. or until they sell out, whichever comes first.
People from all over the Northeast line up to buy a pie - and then, perhaps, sit under the canopy and have a piece, with a slice of cheddar or a scoop of ice cream on top.
Beyond the pie
• Pancake breakfast: Whether you have room for a slice of pie on site will depend on whether you have already stopped at the West Dummerston Volunteer Fire Department's all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast at the station in Dummerston Center from 7 to 11 a.m.
The firefighters will have pancakes (plain, apple, blueberry, or raspberry) and sausage with Vermont maple syrup, homemade biscuits with sausage gravy, and fresh applesauce. They will have plenty of coffee, cocoa, fresh cider (hot or cold), orange juice, and milk to wash it all down. The cost is $12 for adults, $5 for kids 5–12. All proceeds benefit the fire department.
• Craft fair and cookout: At the Evening Star Grange's craft fair and cookout, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., more than 20 crafters will sell goods such as alpaca products, jewelry, pickles, jams and jellies, wool knit creations, and wooden crafts.
A food area will offer hamburgers, hot dogs, chili, homemade baked beans, and corn chowder.
• And more: There will also be an open house at the Dummerston Historical Society from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and yard sales taking place around the village center.
The festival is a major fundraiser for both the Church and Grange.
For more information about the pie festival, call the church office at 802-257-0544, the Grange at 802-254-1138, or Grange Master Larry Lynch at 802-310-0799.
This Special section item by Randolph T. Holhut was written for The Commons.