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Springfield tradition continues Saturday with Vermont Apple Festival | October 02, 2017 By Lori Evans Joe Langton with his handcrafted bowls, which will be for sale Saturday, Oct. 7 at the Vermont Apple Festival. SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — A favorite Springfield tradition continues Saturday, Oct. 7, with the 35th Annual Vermont Apple Festival, organized by the Springfield Regional Chamber of Commerce. The free, family-fun event runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Riverside Middle School, 13 Fairground Road, Springfield. While crafters from all over Vermont and the rest of New England are the main attraction with their one-of-a-kind handmade items, the festival also features pony rides, apple-cider making, food vendors, a beer and wine tent, live music, a farmer’s market, a balloon artist, kids’ races, pie- and doughnut-eating contests and much more. Miss Vermont 2017, Erin Connor of Bridport, will be one of the judges of the pie contest. For Jeff Perkins, Springfield chamber president, the festival provides the opportunity to showcase all that the region has to offer. “It gets all the local artists and some vendors you might not see at the bigger stores out in front of the community,” he said. “We have some awesome artists.” While the apple festival attracts visitors from all over the country, the event’s core is all about community. Perkins, for example, likes the Fastest Kid in Town Race because “it gets families to show up and gets kids involved and they get to see what’s going on in their own community.” The festival also is becoming a foodie event that features favorite fair food and more. Among the items this year’s food vendors will sell are kettle corn, cotton candy, fried dough, jalapeno sweet pickles, burgers, hot dogs, steak and cheese subs, sausage subs, chili, chowders, apple crisps, apple pie, cupcakes and doughnuts. Some new elements will mark this 35th milestone year. Trout River Brewery and Vermont Vines on the River will be on the softball field, pouring beer and wine from noon to 4 p.m. for patrons 21 and older. Popular local band DV8 will add to the festive atmosphere with their performance of classic and southern rock near the beer tent. A wide variety of established and new crafters will show and sell their wares. Among the returning vendors is Joe Langton of Unique Turning VT. Langton, who spent 38 years as a machinist for Lovejoy Tool, is a wood turner known for his handcrafted bowls into which he incorporates shadow lines and a colorful ring of “eyes.” He will sell his specialty salad bowls, knitting bowls, candy dishes and bottle stoppers at the apple festival. His work is made of Vermont woods and maple, which he buys in Vermont but may come from elsewhere. Each bowl is hand sanded and signed by Langton. Langton, who has been selling his products at the apple festival for the past eight or nine years, started wood turning about a decade ago after reading a book and watching a video on wood turning. “I haven’t done anything flat since,” he said. “It’s the most fun thing I’ve ever done with wood.”
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