Measured with the Hart

Community apple butter event remains a Hartsburg tradition

Kliff Bullard and Chip pour a cinnamon sugar blend into the apples as they cook on the fire-hot kettles

By: Tara Blue
The Hartsburg American Legion Auxillary has been cooking up their secret, German-recipe apple butter since 1973.
The event began this year on Friday with the delivery of 50 bushels of apples. A dedicated group of volunteers then peeled, cut into quarters, cored and sliced in preparation for cooking on the following day.

Marvin Hilgedick says the patent on the Lehman’s apple peeler is over 100 years old.

Tim Hentz and Vivian Nichols are two of the 20+ volunteers who core and slice the apples

On Saturday, the group fired up large, copper kettles and slowly cooked the apples until all the lumps were gone.

Kim and son Grady Hilgedick help stir the apples

The apples must be constantly stirred throughout the cooking process, and water is added periodically to maintain a certain consistency.

Edwin Nichols uses good ol’ fashioned elbow grease to stir the apples to the right consistency

A cinnamon sugar blend is then added, and the butter is finally jarred and sealed.

Debbie Berry mixes the cinnamon and sugar by hand

Auxillary member Barbara Hilgedick says that every jar is bought, and they use the funding for community events throughout the year. The process requires up to 12 hours of work per day, and makes about 525 quarts of apple butter.

Hilgedick says the only year they didn’t make the apple butter was because of the great flooding in 1993.

While the apple butter event produces funds for the group, it also creates something of immeasurable value: community bonding. Volunteers use the time to catch up with each other’s families, reminisce about old times, and throw occasional light-hearted banter. A dynamic that is unique to quaint, small towns such as Hartsburg.