Kalona Fall Festival a tradition for volunteers, crafters

KALONA — Ruby Miller stirred apple butter in a caldron large enough to hold 135 pints of it at the Kalona Fall Festival on Saturday, Sept. 29.

While this was the first time Miller, of Kalona, had volunteered to assist in making apple butter for the Mennonite Historical Society, she isn't new to donating her time during the annual festival. Over the past 25 or more years, she has served tacos for a local youth group, sold pies with a church and volunteered in other ways each year at the two-day Kalona Fall Festival.

'It's just a chance to bless people,' Miller said. 'It's a great fundraiser. The fall festival gives people a chance to see how things happened long ago. History is in front of you.'

Miller is just one of many volunteers, crafters and cooks who find themselves at the historical, family-friendly Kalona Fall Festival each year. While some have history with the event and recall growing up on the grounds, others are taking their chances as vendors, spending hours upon hours creating unique art and long days on their feet selling it.

Ready to make the most of the chilly, fall weekend, Friends of the Bunker Mill Bridge set up a makeshift coffeehouse complete with an outdoor heater. In the rain on Friday, Sept. 28, Bunker Mill Bridge served 25 gallons of cocoa and coffee to raise money to restore the bridge, which burned in 2013.

The Kalona Fall Festival is the Friends of Bunker Mill Bridge's one organized fundraiser a year to bring in money for the restoration of the bridge. Travis Yeggy, of Washington, said the booth was the only one at fall festival to sell coffee in 2017, and they wanted to continue to make themselves known in Kalona through the event.

'Everyone in the community has a story about (that bridge). Its is all of ours,' Yeggy said.

Tinisha Hughes, of Des Moines, who grew up in Kalona, continued Yeggy's sentiment, saying the bridge is important to the community and it's a dream to get it crossable once again.

For Yeggy, the Kalona Fall Festival is the perfect community to fundraise for a project like the bridge. Originally from Kalona, Yeggy recalled attending the festival in elementary school. He and all of his friends would bring as many rubber bands to the festival as they could find and purchase homemade rubber band guns that were sold on the grounds.

'We would have an all-out war across the whole place, running wild,' Yeggy said.

Now, Yeggy watches his daughter, eight-year-old Aryia Yeggy, run on the grounds with the carefree spirit of childhood. 'You don't have to worry about stranger danger,' Yeggy said. 'It's a small community. It's OK letting the kids run a little bit.'

Hughes, who also grew up in Kalona, was enjoying her first fall festival in 15 years. 'I told my husband we have to go this year, no question,' she said.

While Hughes appreciates the historical village just as much as the next person, it was the food she raved about, specifically the apple fritters and apple butter.

Across the grounds, vendors were in good spirits despite a couple of drizzly days and hopeful for sales. Richard Pech, of Fairfield, was selling for the first time at the fall festival, but he wasn't new to the festivities. Pech was selling his woodcrafts, designs of which included eagles, chickens, raccoons, pilgrims and Santa Claus.

While shows like Kalona Fall Festival won't rake in a lot of profits, it's more about the hobby for Pech and the community, he said. Newly retired, Pech enjoys the chance to get out of Fairfield to talk to other woodworkers and meet new people at the fall festival.

For Cyndi Champlin, of Mt. Pleasant, the fall festival is one of 30 shows she attends each year where she sells her home décor art.

'I enjoy the people,' Champlin said. 'I meet the nicest, most interesting people from all over.'

By Saturday morning, Champlain had already spent 14 hours on Friday setting up her booth and selling her painted glass windows and was looking forward to a long day of the festival Saturday. It's her neighbors who keep her going.

'If it's cold out, we're all cold. It's a different kind of work environment. These are your work friends,' Champlain said. 'It's a hard business, but it's rewarding. The biggest honor is when you get repeat customers.'