Nehalem’s festival is crushing it

Make the Heritage Apple Festival the core of a fun weekend

By Chelsea Yarnell

For the TODAY

In the Nehalem Valley, 100-year-old apple trees are still producing fruit. Proof of early European homesteads, these trees were a coveted, rare source of sugar. Decades later, locals now refer to them as “heritage apple trees” and they are at the center of the White Clover Grange’s Heritage Apple Festival.

To celebrate the historical apples of the area, the grange will host its third Heritage Apple Festival this Sunday, Oct. 5. The event is free with donations encouraged to support the work of the grange. Tastings, food, kids’ games, a silent auction and more have all the makings of a fun, fall-themed day.

Old-fashioned presses will pump out fresh cider made from local apples. Guests are invited to bring jars for juice and, if they have them, apples from their own trees.

In addition to cider making, sample slices of local, heritage apples will be available, providing an experience that will delight tastebuds beyond the expectation of grocery store apples.

“Heritage apples have so much more flavor and grow well in this particular environment on the coast,” said grange member Jennifer Childress. “We’ll have probably a dozen different apple varieties giving people a chance to see what they’re like.”

A grant from the Tillamook County Cultural Coalition helped found the now annual event. Grange members have spent several years collecting oral histories of remaining heritage apple trees in the area and mapping their generalized whereabouts.

David Hendrickson assisted the grange in identifying heritage trees in the Nehalem Valley area and continues to be the main apple cider maker at the event. His Wheeler-based business, Carola Wine + Cider, is unique in that the hard ciders he produces are made from “found” and often heritage apples.

“He's been working with us and has identified all kinds of trees,” Childress said.

The White Clover Grange has produced educational panels and maps, which will be on display, tying the anecdotes and historical context of the heritage apple trees together.

Heritage apple tree varieties are also on the verge of being lost as seeds from each individual apple produce a slightly different version of the tree from which it came. The only true way to continue a particular variety is to take grafts from the mother tree.

“The second part of this project was for us to actually do some grafting of the old trees onto new rootstock,” Childress said. “That's a part of our goal to keep these varieties going.”

Want to grow your own heritage apple tree variety? Tree grafts will be available for purchase at the festival.

“I think the most important take-home for the whole project and the festival is awareness that these trees have a history and a value,” said grange member Travis Williams. “If people have heritage trees that are overgrown or they’re not tending to them, or if they’re buying local property and thinking about getting rid of them, we want people to know that there are others who care about the trees and might be willing to come and prune them and get them functional in exchange for some apples. Recognizing the value of these old trees is the most important thing.”

To cap off a pleasant and educational afternoon, enjoy food and snacks from Gnarly’s Tacos, Carola Wine + Cider and Blessed Donuts. Baked goods and treats featuring apples from grange members will also be sold.   

“This event is a perfect fit for the grange with its history and being so central in an agricultural valley,” Childress said. “We're a community hub. When you think about all the things that the grange has done over the years to bring people together, it really has been a focal point for the community for a long time. We have events that bring the public together. It’s a place that’s really just so welcoming. It should be a fun day; we’re hoping for sun!”

Sunday’s event runs from 11 am to 3 pm at the White Clover Grange, located at 36585 Hwy. 53 in Nehalem. For more information about the festival and other events hosted at the grange, go to whiteclovergrange.org.