The Grist Mill Apple Day pie baking contest had eighteen qualified entries. Ribbon and prize winners were:
First prize - Harold Biollo
Second prize - Doe Gregoire
Third prize - Marilyn Bergen and honorable mention to Josee-Anne Rouleau.
Judges were: Elef Christiansen, Yako Dearburn and Charlene Cowling. Prizes for pie baking winners were donated by Rustic Roots Winery and Similkameen Apiaries.
Weather made a pleasant old time garden party out of the day with music from the Sehnsations that set many visitors dancing and the Similkameen Senior Singers offered a robust mini-concert of old favourites followed by the Ernie Sykes and Jack Sevy duo called “Hot Apple Pie.”
Princeton Traditional Music Society members Jon Bartlett and Rika Ruebsaat performed for the lunch time crowd in the Grist Mill Tea Room with poems and songs from their recently published Dead Horse on The Tulameen. which features Similkameen literary and folk renderings gleaned from original sources.
Apple Day was especially heartened by the attendance of local member of the Provincial Legislature and Grist Mill Heritage Club member, John Slater, who has shown a particular interest in the future of the Grist Mill Heritage Site.
Residents from the Portage program at The Crossing were on hand to help with children’s games and enjoyed donning 19th century costumes from the Grist Mill collection.
Mill operators demonstrated juicing apples on the old hand cranked artifact and also brought out the newly restored 1947 Gibson tractor.
The primary artifact which is Barrington-Price’s 1877 flour mill and the white house store interpretation centre were busy all day.
A lot of interest was shown in a table display of apple varieties. A number of heirloom varieties were included.
Apple Day is the close of season event at the Keremeos Provincial Heritage Site which is owned by the people of B.C.
The Keremeos Grist Mill and Gardens have been operated under contract with the Province for the past three years by Millar Heritage Enterprises.
The Grist Mill Heritage Club is a local volunteer group dedicated to restoring and preserving the mill and the site. The club operates under the aegis of The Grist Mill Foundation, a non-profit society.
New members are welcome.