News
Apple Butter Frolic
Date: 9/13/12
39th Annual Apple Butter Frolic
Saturday, October 6, 2012 at the Mennonite Heritage Center
Click here for photos from the 2011 event.
The Mennonite Heritage Center invites the public to join in the Apple Butter Frolic on October 6, 2012 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at their 565 Yoder Rd, Harleysville campus. Visitors will enjoy the farming demonstrations, delicious food, children’s activities and colorful traditional crafts. Sheep herding demonstrations with border collies and horse and wagon rides are among the popular features. New this year is a Silent Auction featuring art work, a beautiful quilted wall hanging, sustainably produced meats, weekend getaways and other diverse items.
The Apple Butter Frolic opens at 10 am. but you can start the day at the event with a breakfast of freshly made pancakes topped with stewed apples and apple sausage, coffee and juice that will be served from 7:30 to 10:30 am. The cost of the breakfast is $6 or you can purchase a combination Breakfast/ Frolic Admission Ticket for $14.
Traditional Pennsylvania German food is one of the mainstays of the Frolic and this year is no exception. Everyone can have their favorite Pennsylvania German foods like fresh cooked scrapple, homemade chicken pot pie, funnel cakes, sausage sandwiches and ground cherry pies! Ten tickets are available for a 12:30 pm sit down farmhand’s dinner at the Grandma’s Kitchen demonstration.
Other highlights of the Frolic are horse drawn wagon rides and farming demonstrations like corn binding with horses and fodder cutting, displays of vintage tractors, old-time farm equipment and local Native American artifacts. Demonstrators in the “sheep to shawl’ tent will card wool, spin, and weave on a loom. Children will enjoy butter making, playing in a hay bale tunnel, watching small farm animals and visiting the schoolhouse.
Frolic visitors are invited to participate in a Harvest Baking Contest. Bring your homemade baked apple or pumpkin dessert entry between 10 - 11 am on October 6 along with a copy of the complete recipe. The contest has three categories – Pies, Cakes, and Bread & Muffins. Your entry will be good for one free adult admission to the Apple Butter Frolic. Gift baskets of Bauman’s Fruit Butters will be awarded to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners. Entries will be judged at noon and the winners will be announced at 1:30 pm. All baked items will be sold at the Apple Butter Frolic during the afternoon with the proceeds going toward the Mennonite Heritage Center.
Admission is $8 adult, $2 for children from 6 to 12, children under 6 are admitted free of charge. Handicapped Parking is available at the Mennonite Heritage Center along with limited general parking. Additional parking is available at Indian Valley Middle School, 130 Maple Ave., Harleysville with shuttle service to the Frolic. The Frolic will be held rain or shine. It is requested that visitors do not bring pets to the festival. For more information, call the Mennonite Heritage Center at 215-256-3020 Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or email info@mhep.org.
NOTE: The Mennonite Heritage Center museum, store and historical library will be closed on Friday, October 5, for Frolic set-up.