My favorite photos from Applefest weekend and a little story

As for this photographer who has witnessed a handful of these Applefest, this year's foray was truly a blessing for a community that has been strugglingfor normalcy, as all responsible community's have, amid this pandemic. Yes they have had successful summer activities in the park and through the busy summer, but Applefest is a very special time in Franklin as thousands of people travel to the city for this three-day festival each year.

And this year they most certainly did come.

Below are some of my favorite photos from the weekend, some you may have seen in previous posts. And another little story I had fun writing

​I love my job.

"Hey Mabel."
"Yes Meg?"
"You make a pretty good apple pie, I always thought mine was really good too!"
"Oh my Meg, I think your apple pie is best around!"
"Thanks sweetie, but I think yours is just to die for!"
"Thanks Meg, have you ever tried Betty's? She uses a few nuts in hers and its pretty darn good too."
"I have, You know what we should do, we should have a contest and invite everyone to it!"
"Oh Meg, you always have the best ideas.

In my mind it was a conversation something like this around 40 years ago that started what has turned into one of the top fall festivals in all of Pennsylvania - Franklin's Applefest. What started humbly has turned into a boisterous three-day event that draws hundreds of thousands of people annually and even more dollars to the region. 

It's a big deal. This isn’t just an event it’s a happening. It has a life of its own as this past weekend clearly illustrated as Applefest returned after a year hiatus due to COVID shutdowns in 2020.

"Holy Moly! What a weekend." said Jodi Baker Lewis,Franklin Area Chamber director. She said that Friday and Saturday of this, from the vendor's standpoint saw record crowds. The weather those two day was perfect, almost summer-like and sunny. "The core committee and I couldn't be happier with the way things went she said."

The Franklin police officers and chief walking around the festival agreed that this was a good year with few issues.

Sunday's forecast seemed to slow things down a bit for the car show, but as the rain's held off, more cars seemed eager to join in. Still thousands of folks showed up to take advantage of the final day of the festival. Some light drizzles happened, but the temperatures were warm and people shopped, ate and conversed with friends they may not have seen for awhile.

Franklin is obviously defined by far more than just one festival, in fact they are remarkable in their ability to have some thing going on all the time, but AppleFest is something special. It draws people from miles and miles around and for three days people get their Christmas shopping done, decorate their homes for the fall and winter, grab a funnel cake, get their kids exhausted in the bouncy houses and listen to free music all day long.
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​And if you’re a savvy business understanding it's a time to get exhausted, but shine... you will make bank as so many more people get a chance to know what you have to offer and visit your shops.

For me, I have covered this festival now for 6 years. When at The Derrick, I would pop in for a few hours each day and make a handful of pictures and leave knowing I made photos to help give context to the story in the next day's paper. This year I did the same thing in a way, but for Eight & 322, my own venture into communicating the community's story. This year I felt like Applefest was my own, not just something I covered. This year I felt the pride of community and a job well done of putting on an event people really want to attend.

​ I felt like part of the Applefest family.