Apple Butter Festival 2024
My fellow volunteers,
We could not have had a more perfect day for the festival! But as you know, it takes more than good weather for a successful event. It takes hard work, dedication and a heck of a lot of extension cords. I heard so many compliments on the festival Saturday, and on the work Elk Creeks has done over the past few years. The work you have made possible.
Thank you all for the blood, sweat and tears you put into the festival. Thank you for your calluses, your aching backs, your smoke-filled eyes, fallen trees, vacation days spent splitting firewood, setting up tents, sending emails, making phone calls, answering every text, being ready to jar it when the apple butter is done and doing it anyway if you're not, for emptying trash, wearing the shirt, wearing the kilt, picking things up, dropping things off, loading and unloading without complaint, for appliances, for social media hype, for finding things at auctions and yard sales, for your beautiful artwork and handcrafted items, sign painting, sign posting, moving things a little bit this way and a smidge back, use of your property, use of your tractor, use of your trailer, use of your truck, the offer of your Honda Fit, setting up apple peelers, repairing apple peelers, washing apple peelers, apple peeling and peeling, so many apples, so much cooking and baking, so much cleaning, your ideas and creativity, sense of humor, excellent carpentry skills, not panicking when the cops show up, landscaping, finance experience, building expertise, organizational skills, reading and rereading of dry insurance paperwork, your wondrous gift of music, vast knowledge of history, your memories, loan of your treasured pictures and fireplace tools and baskets and barrels and furniture and three-way splitters, recruitment of friends and family, your patience with me, your patience with one another, your patience with the public, your willingness to learn a forgotten craft just so you can share it, your readiness to jump in and do whatever needs to be done. None of it goes unnoticed. Your collective commitment to our mission is profound.
When Elk Creeks purchased the Bee Hive property in 2016, we knew we were taking on a responsibility greater than any of us could manage alone. Yet we did so, believing in the importance of preserving this piece of history and community. We did so knowing we would be relying not just on those few board members in the room, but on future members and future generations. As a small nonprofit, our future rests within every volunteer. A grandfather stirring the kettle all day, smiling, when we were exhausted after ten minutes and had to hand the stirrer back. The long, perfect peelings accumulating in the bowl as a mother strips apple after apple, turning a mindless task into a symphony. An unlikely group gathered at someone's dining room table to stuff hundreds of envelopes, suddenly realizing they've all been addressed upside down. The roar of laughter then and kids peeking in the door to check on the adults. These are the things that connect us; past, present and future. This is how our dedication lives on - in the work of our hands and the memories of our hearts. We sometimes wonder if it's worth it, the hours of our lives we've given. When I see the smiles of people greeting long-familiar faces at our festival and hear the delight of newcomers experiencing it for the first time, for me, it's an emphatic YES. The Apple Butter Festival is a fundraiser. It's also a community. Thank you for being part of it.
Josey Poteet
President, Elk Creeks Preservation Society
We could not have had a more perfect day for the festival! But as you know, it takes more than good weather for a successful event. It takes hard work, dedication and a heck of a lot of extension cords. I heard so many compliments on the festival Saturday, and on the work Elk Creeks has done over the past few years. The work you have made possible.
Thank you all for the blood, sweat and tears you put into the festival. Thank you for your calluses, your aching backs, your smoke-filled eyes, fallen trees, vacation days spent splitting firewood, setting up tents, sending emails, making phone calls, answering every text, being ready to jar it when the apple butter is done and doing it anyway if you're not, for emptying trash, wearing the shirt, wearing the kilt, picking things up, dropping things off, loading and unloading without complaint, for appliances, for social media hype, for finding things at auctions and yard sales, for your beautiful artwork and handcrafted items, sign painting, sign posting, moving things a little bit this way and a smidge back, use of your property, use of your tractor, use of your trailer, use of your truck, the offer of your Honda Fit, setting up apple peelers, repairing apple peelers, washing apple peelers, apple peeling and peeling, so many apples, so much cooking and baking, so much cleaning, your ideas and creativity, sense of humor, excellent carpentry skills, not panicking when the cops show up, landscaping, finance experience, building expertise, organizational skills, reading and rereading of dry insurance paperwork, your wondrous gift of music, vast knowledge of history, your memories, loan of your treasured pictures and fireplace tools and baskets and barrels and furniture and three-way splitters, recruitment of friends and family, your patience with me, your patience with one another, your patience with the public, your willingness to learn a forgotten craft just so you can share it, your readiness to jump in and do whatever needs to be done. None of it goes unnoticed. Your collective commitment to our mission is profound.
When Elk Creeks purchased the Bee Hive property in 2016, we knew we were taking on a responsibility greater than any of us could manage alone. Yet we did so, believing in the importance of preserving this piece of history and community. We did so knowing we would be relying not just on those few board members in the room, but on future members and future generations. As a small nonprofit, our future rests within every volunteer. A grandfather stirring the kettle all day, smiling, when we were exhausted after ten minutes and had to hand the stirrer back. The long, perfect peelings accumulating in the bowl as a mother strips apple after apple, turning a mindless task into a symphony. An unlikely group gathered at someone's dining room table to stuff hundreds of envelopes, suddenly realizing they've all been addressed upside down. The roar of laughter then and kids peeking in the door to check on the adults. These are the things that connect us; past, present and future. This is how our dedication lives on - in the work of our hands and the memories of our hearts. We sometimes wonder if it's worth it, the hours of our lives we've given. When I see the smiles of people greeting long-familiar faces at our festival and hear the delight of newcomers experiencing it for the first time, for me, it's an emphatic YES. The Apple Butter Festival is a fundraiser. It's also a community. Thank you for being part of it.
Josey Poteet
President, Elk Creeks Preservation Society