Apples Offer Juicy Fall Fun
at Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks

LAKE OF THE OZARKS, MO --Autumn and apples are an a-peeling pair and the best opportunity to enjoy them both comes in October at Central Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks.  Not one but two good-old-fashioned family festivals have apples at their core: the Olde Tyme Apple Festival in Versailles, Oct. 6, and the Apple Butter Days Fall Festival in Linn Creek, Oct. 12-13.

The 28th annual Olde Tyme Apple Festival in Versailles celebrates the apple harvest with “a little bit of something for everyone,” says festival chairperson Steve Yoder.  “We work hard to offer a family atmosphere and a lot of variety for kids and senior citizens and everyone in between.”

Once again named one of the top three festivals in Missouri in the 2007 Best of Rural Missouri Readers Choice Awards, the Apple Festival typically attracts about 30,000 visitors.  “Last year was the biggest crowd we ever had and depending on the weather, we’re probably going to see just as many this year,” Yoder says. “It just keeps getting more popular.”

The event kicks off with a Car Cruise and Sock Hop on Friday evening at the Sonic Drive-In, followed up with a Car Show at City Park on Saturday, featuring 200 vintage and classic cars and 50 motorcycles.  Prizes will be awarded in several classes, Yoder says.  Visitors also will enjoy viewing old tractors and other farm implements also on display.

At 10:00 a.m. Saturday, the much-anticipated parade will wind along Highway 52 through downtown Versailles.  Dozens of floats, plus clowns, bands, horses, classic cars and more will reflect the festival’s theme, “United We Stand.”

Yoder explains, “We selected a patriotic theme because we were able to get the Vietnam Veterans Moving Wall here at the same time as the festival.  We expect about 10,000 people to visit Versailles just for that alone.” The wall exhibit will be open to the public 24 hours a day, Thursday through Sunday, at the City Park.

As in previous years, more than 400 booths around the town square will offer crafts, including many apple-related items.  Festival-goers also will find “just about any kind of food you can imagine,” Yoder says, from kettle corn and funnel cakes to turkey drumsticks and roasted corn on the cob, as well as apple goodies galore.  In addition, the crowds will enjoy the apple pie auction and the crowning of the Apple Festival King and Queen.  The 2007 Baby Dumplin,’ Apple Dumplin’ and Apple Darlin’ also will be selected.

The demonstration area will showcase skilled craftspeople, like glass blowers, and the Fun Zone on North Monroe Street will offer bounce booths, face painting and other activities just for kids.  Throughout the day, live music will be provided on four stages – gospel, jazz, country and blues.  And the crowd-pleasing Olde Tyme Fiddler’s Contest will pack the Royal Theatre starting at 2:00 p.m.  “This event always fills the house and offers some fabulous talent,” Yoder says. “We get a lot of the top fiddlers from around the region.”

Other activities will include a two-mile walk, a 5K and 10K run and a 10K Super Senior Run; free tours of the Morgan County Historical Society Museum; and performances of the much-loved musical, “Meet Me In St. Louis” at the Royal Theatre.  Trams will provide transportation from parking lots to festival event sites.  The grand finale will be the Figure 8 Tough Truck demolition derby, 7:00 p.m. Saturday, at the Morgan County Fairgrounds, sponsored by the Versailles Lions Club.

“We invite everyone to come early and stay late and have a great time in Versailles,” Yoder says.

If the Olde Tyme Apple Festival is like a delectable pie, the charming Apple Butter Days Fall Festival on Oct. 12-13 is a perfect slice of small-town celebration.  The event takes place 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., Friday and Saturday at the Camden County Museum located on Rt. V just off Highway 54 in Linn Creek. The highlight of the festival is, of course, apple butter, “made the old-fashioned way in a big copper kettle,” says Daphne Jeffries, president of the Camden County Historical Society.  Volunteers make the apple butter, an arduous process that involves peeling, chopping, stirring and jarring.  “Between our pies and the apple butter, we go through around 10 bushels of apples,” Jeffries says.  “Everyone seems to love our apple butter.”  A pint sells for $3, a quart for $5.  Sugar-free apple butter also will be available, as well as fresh-baked or frozen apple pies.

Chili and home-made soup plus corn bread and dessert will be served, and food booths will offer kettle corn, Indian fry bread and other goodies. “There’s always an interesting variety of food,” Jeffries says.  Crafts booths will feature woodworking, crocheted and knitted items and more.  A raffle will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday for a quilt made by historical society volunteers.  And numerous apple-themed contests and games will be held for children.

All proceeds will go toward maintaining the Camden County Museum, a former school built in 1930 in which each “classroom” is a mini-museum.

To find out more about the Olde Tyme Apple Festival and Apple Butter Days Fall Festival, as well as other Lake-area festivals, accommodations, dining, attractions, shopping and more, contact the Lake of the Ozarks Convention & Visitor Bureau at 800-FUN-LAKE (386-5253), or visit www.funlake.com or www.versailleschamber.org.