The Lynn Heidelberg Historical Society presented its annual Pioneer Apple Festival on Oct. 5 under blue skies.

“We do this every year,” said Bill Blayle of the Fellowship Community, Whitehall. The group makes and sells apple butter and talks to festival visitors.

He said last year they turned six bushels of apples into apple butter and sold out, so this year they were prepared with 10 bushels.

Blayle said Woody Green deserved special mention because he worked all morning.

Ann Dotterer and Mary Sierzegg prepared samples that could be eaten with a spoon or used with a square of homemade bread dipped into the treat.

The apple butter was termed “awesome” by one of the visitors.

A cabinet in the lower level of the barn featured more than 50 wheelbarrows from those that were less than a half-inch high to one that was 6 inches high. Out front of the barn was one in the size used in farm work.

Melanie Eckert looked at the printing press bought from a town member who used it for many years as a business.

Apple trivia provided 15 questions about apples with the answers hidden under ceramic apples. Other craft or useful items that had apple decorations were shown.

Keith Rodrigues was knapping (pressure flaking) a spearhead. He said arrowheads had to be much smaller because they must fly a greater distance. On his table were tools also made of knapped stone and with handles added.

Triple-flow obsidian is what he was working with. Obsidian is mainly brought in from the west because it is a lava rock. The color comes from minerals in the ground.

He had samples of man-made obsidian, which, when placed in sunlight, sparkles.

He will look at a stone and think of what it will make best. But when he starts chipping, the stone will tell him what it will be because of the natural fractures.

Rodrigues is of Navajo heritage, from Denver, Lancaster County, but originally from Colorado.

Val Kobin demonstrated the steps in flute making and also played one of his flutes. He said it takes about three days to complete a flute since he begins with a piece of wood and does everything.

Emily Walters made a vase on the potter’s wheel while answering questions. It is quickly changed into a bowl. When an item is finished, she smooths the rim and dries the inside before it is ready for the next step.

Walters said what she can make depends on the type of clay she is working. By feel, she has learned how thin she can make an item.

Scott Enck, a sutler, said Fort Everett was a place of refuge during the French and Indian Wars when the settlers would move in. Bill Jewell, an outdoorsman dressed for spending time in the woods, works at the Daniel Boone Homestead.

He said after an Indian attack the township would be a wasteland for a few years.

A French militia unit, the Conestoga War Band, is expected to attack the fort. Enck said they came but did not take the fort.

He said Fort Ligonier is the only place to see one of the original forts though it has been repaired so often it looks new. It is near Pittsburgh.

Inside the Zeisloff House, a fire was blazing in the fireplace while, in the next room a five-plate stove captured the heat through a hole in the wall to heat the remainder of the house. A Salen Fenster window, a square that can be opened, will let the soul escape when a person dies, was in that room.

A row of washing machines from a wooden one to scrub boards and wash baskets were getting attention.

Don Heiney, a member of the Lehigh Valley Beekeepers, said it takes about $800 to get started raising bees and extracting the honey which includes a suit for protection, short and tall hives, smokers, an extractor and other equipment but after the original setup it is not expensive.

He also had a 135-year-old cider press that was refurbished. Cider was being made with wife, Sandy, putting apples in the press. The press was turned by Ethan Pinguelo.

A Super 99 Oliver tractor led the tractor parade at the festival. Bill Mantz bought it from Georgia. The 1958 tractor originally had been in Iowa but he found it on the web in Georgia. He said it is unique with a 3-71 General Motors diesel engine. He has had it two years and shows only locally saying it is in its work clothes though he hopes to restore it.

New Tripoli Bank offered free ice cream from Ice Cream World. Marie Dean of the Northern Valley Ambulance Corps Auxiliary was selling apple dumplings made at the corps headquarters in Ormrod.