Apple Harvest Day (Now with Pictures!)

Today, the Chili family – along with Bruder Chili, who’s up from Ally-Bammy for a wedding we’ll go to this evening – will head to our little downtown to partake in the annual Apple Harvest Day festival.

Every year, right around this time, the double-lane, one-way strip of road that runs right through the middle of the older part of town (the part that was considered “downtown” before the big retailers came in) is closed down and the sidewalks are lined with tents.  Lots of people (and lots of dogs) turn out to walk up and down the street, browse the tents, and chat amiably with friends and neighbors.

There are retailers, food – mostly fudge, fried dough, and – duh! – candy and caramel apples – and even massage – oh, and my chiropractor, who I might stop in to see because I missed my appointment on Thursday.  I felt rotten in the morning because of the shingles, so I blew my appointment off (updated; I found him and sweet-talked him into doing a quick adjustment of my neck, and we agreed I’d be in to see him on Tuesday).  There are some shows and demonstrations at the band stage in the park by the river – last year, we watched a jump-rope team.

There are a lot of community awareness activities during the day, too.  One of them – my favorite to watch – is that the cops bring “the Convincer.”   The Convincer is essentially a car seat bolted to a sled.  People, usually kids and cocky teenagers, are put in the seat, belted in, and pulled up the ridiculously short and gradual slope of rails the sled sits on, then are let go to “collide” with the padded stop at the bottom.  The idea is that this recreates something like a three- or five-mile-an-hour crash, and the force with which one hits the bottom is, hopefully, enough to convince people that, hey!, seat belts really ARE a good idea!  Imagine that!

The cops bring the horses from the mounted patrol for the kids to pat (but by the time we got to them this year, they were taking a break in their trailer or I’d have gotten a picture.  Sorry).  The PTA sets up a tent where they sell cookbooks and ask for donations.  The hope is that the day builds a feeling of community togetherness and, for the most part, I think that works.  I know *I* leave Apple Day feeling happy I live here (even if winter IS coming…).

While we make it a habit to go to Apple Day every year – when it’s not pouring rain and 40 degrees out – we don’t really have many things that we MUST do to make the experience complete.  Our one tradition for this day is that we make sure we end up at the tent put up by the paint-your-own-pottery store in town so the girls can put their hand prints on a tile.  We’ve managed to make it every year for the last three, and the tiles are mounted on the door lintel between the dining and family rooms.  I’m loving the visual representation of the passage of time, and I like that it’s something we do at the fair.

Gerry and Mimi, does anything in this picture look familiar?

Once we’ve had our fill of Apple Day, we’ll do a little shopping (Bruder still has to buy a wedding gift and I’m on the hunt for a chocolate-brown wrap to go with my dress), then we’ll head halfway across the state to see Mr. Chili’s cousin get married and spend time with the extended family at the reception.  That part could go either way.  I’ll write and post pictures of the wedding tomorrow.

I hope your day is half as fun as mine.