Steilacoom Squeezes Out Good Weather For Annual Apple Festival

For Amaya Peyton, 7, the hardest part was “pushing down the apples.”

Her brother, Auvey, 8, got the most enjoyment out of dropping the fruit into the old-fashioned press.

And little sister Aydrie, 4, was just excited to help.

“It was a little bit hard,” Auvey said in describing his first experience pressing apples to make a gallon of cider at the 38th annual Steilacoom Apple Squeeze. “And it looked like salad!”

The trio had never made apple cider before, but their mom, Melissa, said that they received flyers for the popular longtime event at their Steilacoom elementary school, and thought they would give it a try.

Their father is in Afghanistan, Melissa Peyton explained between snapping photos to send him.

“It was really fun for them,” she said.

It was that kind of enthusiasm that pleased members of the Steilacoom Historical Museum Association.

Come rain or shine, the annual event has lured apple enthusiasts from all over the region for the last 38 years, and good weather – nary a raindrop fell until the final moments – resulted in an excellent turnout on Sunday.  If one were to measure the event’s success in actual cider, the giant truck full of Lattin’s Apple Cider was empty before the Squeeze ended at 4 p.m.

That was the result about 100 gallons being sold every half-hour, said volunteer Susanne Bacon.

“It’s going to sell out,” she said happily.

As always, the most popular draw to the Apple Squeeze was the chance to make cider on old-fashioned presses for about $7 a gallon (apples included). Each press is a plaque of sorts, bearing the years in which it has been used at the Apple Squeeze. Volunteers from the museum association and local Boy Scout troops helped press the apples, haul the pulp and filter the cider into gallon-sized jugs.

“I like apple cider,” press operator Keith Sutherland said simply when asked why he has volunteered at the event for the last 37 years.

Smiling, he added, “And it’s fun to play here with the people.”

Sutherland and fellow volunteers Bill Zentner and Don Hall, both of whom have been participating for close to a decade, said that they had pressed thousands of apples by early afternoon. It was hard work, but very worth it, they said.

“It’s not cooked,” Zentner explained.

Sutherland added, “It tastes a lot different than the cider you buy in the grocery store.”

In addition to the apples, there were craft booths from local vendors selling everything from jewelry to hand-carved walking sticks. Children reveled in games and a bounce house run by the Steilacoom High School Key Club and a petting zoo hosted by the school’s Future Farmers of America program featuring turkeys, llamas and a very friendly horse.

But most, if not all, of the attendees were there for a taste of something crisp and sweet.

Inside Town Hall was apple pie -- $3.50 for a slice or $4 done a la mode with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. There were 80 pies in all at the beginning of the day, but the slices were snapped up at a fast rate by those in line. And along Lafayette Street, all other forms of apple were offered – caramel apples, apple cider, even apple-cider floats.

“It’s been nonstop,” said Fran Postma, who was manning the caramel-apple table. “It’s the weather.”

Postma said her favorite thing about working at the Apple Squeeze is interacting with the people.

“Everyone is happy,” she said. “They have smiles on their faces.”