Apple

Candy apple fundraiser to benefit WHS choral dept. The Williamsport High School Choral Department will hold a fundraiser for selling candy apples beginning Monday, Oct. 1, and running through Oct. 14. Apple selections include red candy and red candy with nuts, caramel and caramel with nuts, caramel with toffee bits, caramel dipped in chocolate and dribbled in white and milk chocolate, and pumpkin apple spice. To order, call Wendy Loveless at 240-527-9256 or send an email to wlbaskets@myactv.net.

Izaiha Wright, 1, of Hagerstown had his very first candy apple Monday night at the Hagerstown Carnival on South Potomac Street across from Bester Elementary School. Festivities continue through Saturday.

An "apple a day may keep the doctor away" is proving true, based on current research. Apples help in promoting cardiovascular health, maintaining a healthy weight and protecting against certain cancers. Children, teens and adults all can benefit from an apple a day. Apples are full of complex carbohydrates, vitamin C, potassium, calcium, iron and carotenoids such as Vitamin A, phosphorus, thiamin and magnesium. · Apples are sodium-free. · Apples contain no fat or cholesterol.

charlestown@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A line of contestants appeared on each side of 59-year-old Lorraine Davis during the apple-peeling contest at the 23rd annual Mountain State Apple Harvest Festival Sunday afternoon. But there was no way they could out-peel this country girl. The contestants were given 15 minutes to cut the longest apple peel. Using her favorite vegetable peeler, Davis cut a string of apple peel 22 feet, 2 1/2 inches long. Davis, who has won the contest about five times over the years, said she developed her peeling expertise while growing up on her family's dairy farm in the Nipetown area in northern Berkeley County.

An apple stack cake is as individual as the person who makes it. Apple stack cake is a traditional Southern Appalachian food whose purpose has changed over the years. "The story goes that the cakes were served as wedding cakes," said Norma Idom, a volunteer re-enactor at the Mountain Farm Museum at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. "There have been several books published (about Appalachia history) that tell how each guest would bring a cake layer and the hostess would stack the cakes up using dried apples as the filling.

scottb@herald-mail.com The Washington County Board of Zoning Appeals is holding a public hearing Wednesday on a proposed 199-foot cell phone tower that would be built in the middle of an apple orchard at 13840 Md. 64. The agricultural-zoned property is owned by John R. Martin. The tower would be on the 58-acre Ivy Hill Farm, which has been farmed by the Martin family for six generations, Martin said. Farming would continue at the site even if a tower is built, Martin said.

Brenda Sterling took this photo of a squirrel sitting on the train tracks eating an apple peel that was put in their yard on Sterling Road.

Queen Pomona XX crowned Lauren Michele Riley of Martinsburg, W.Va., will reign as Queen Pomona XX during the 20th annual Mountain State Apple Harvest Festival. She will receive her crown at Apollo Civic Theatre in Martinsburg Friday, Oct. 15, at 6 p.m. Lauren is the daughter of the Rev. and Mrs. James D. Riley Jr. She is a freshman at James Madison University, majoring in communication disorders and biology. Lauren was valedictorian of Martinsburg High School class of 1998.

The Washington County Soil Conservation District is conducting its 24th annual tree sale through March 21. Tree descriptions and pictures, as well as information about all the products being offered are available at the district website at www.conservationplace.com .  Trees will be available for pickup during early April, in time for spring planting season. Anyone ordering trees will be contacted by mail with the specific days, times and location of where to pick up their trees.

1800s - Thomas Edison creates a device that can play back and record sound mechanically. The device is made of a metal stylus and a foil-wrapped cylinder. Mid-1800s - Alexander Graham Bell develops a wax-coated cardboard cylinder that produced a better sound. Edison responds by creating his own wax-based device. Late 1800s - Edison forms the North American Phonograph Company. Early 1900s - Physicist Guglielmo Marconi lays foundation for modern radio. Emile Berliner introduces the shellac disc, which eventually became the standard for recording and playing music.

Tough Mudder's event team is expected to meet with Berkeley County officials this month to discuss plans and resources for endurance series' fall event near Martinsburg, which is slated for the same October weekend as the Mountain State Apple Harvest Festival. “They are aware of the Mountain State Apple Harvest Festival in Berkeley County on the same weekend and are looking forward to working with the community then to ensure both events are fully resourced,” Tough Mudder spokesperson Ashley Pinakiewicz said Friday via email.

Heather Placie got choked up on Emma K. Doub Elementary School's stage Thursday afternoon as she looked out at about 270 students and dozens of teachers and staff while being honored for her volunteer work for the school. “I'm going to try to hold this together,” Placie told the crowd, while Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot and Washington County Public Schools officials looked on. “I have strived every day to be here for you,” Placie told the children. “The purpose, in my heart, of a volunteer is to do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, even though you know that no one, or very few people, are going to notice,” Placie told the crowd.

Back in the late 1950s and early '60s, the school ground in Dargan was the place to be if you wanted to play a little baseball. All the kids in the community would enjoy their summer vacations from school by playing the most popular sport. Nothing quite like a good baseball game or two and a slice of Grandma's homemade apple pie later. As we prepared for a big game, I would often toss a bat to another player and while we both grasped the bat we would place one hand above each other's until the last hand rested on the top of the bat. That person would then have first choice on choosing his team.

Ed Poling remembers little waffle-like cookies baking on the stove during Christmas time at his home in Windber, Pa. Poling, now senior pastor at Hagerstown Church of the Brethren, remembers those cookies, known as Pizzelles, as having a distinct taste due to anise that was added to them. Poling figures the treats probably have an Italian origin, which makes sense given the diverse background of Windber, a community outside of Johnstown, Pa. Windber was known for its coal mines and steel mills, and people from throughout Europe immigrated to the community for jobs, Poling said.

Alisha Hanlin owns and operates Pressed Flour, a food-related business based in Shepherdstown, W.Va. She produces custom cakes, cupcakes, pies and pastry platters, among other things. This recipe for mulled cider is hers. Hanlin said cider is perfect for the holidays because of the harvesting season of the apple. "I believe the original conception of cider as a fall and winter beverage goes all the way back to wassailing in old England," she said. "And wassail was traditionally a hard drink.

Thousands of eager festival-goers flocked Saturday to Chambersburg to sample the tasty treats and handmade crafts at the annual AppleFest. The festival, sponsored by the Downtown Business Council of Chambersburg, featured hundreds of craft and food vendors lined along North and South Main streets and Lincoln Way. Organizers estimate that between 15,000 and 18,000 people attend the event each year. Apples took center stage at the festival, and definitely were a hit with 18-month-old Ethan Elbertson of Shippensburg, Pa. It was love at first bite for the toddler as he chewed on a caramel apple purchased from Olympia Candy Kitchen in Chambersburg.

The B&O Roundhouse in Martinsburg finally found a place Saturday in the city's annual Mountain State Apple Harvest Festival - almost 150 years to the day that Confederate soldiers set fire to the original structure. For the first time in the 33-year history of the event, organizers used the historic roundhouse at 100 E. Liberty St. as the venue of the festival's arts and crafts show. Barbara Frankenberry, president of the festival's board of directors, said the arts and crafts show initially was held at the West Virginia Air National Guard base in town.

Alivia Lauren Ayers, 17, of Martinsburg, W.Va., presides as Queen Pomona XXXIII of the Mountain State Apple Harvest Festival on Friday night at Apollo Civic Theatre in Martinsburg after being coronated by West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture Gus Douglass. Upon being enthroned, Ayers officially proclaimed the opening of the festival, which began Thursday and continues through Sunday.

Francesca Giustini gestured emphatically as she read her poem called “Sheen Heard Some Voices,” inspired by many of the “winning” yet bizarre comments made by actor Charlie Sheen when he denied having psychological problems in a 2011 television news interview. “Sheen heard voices who were duh, winning,” Giustini read aloud. “... Sheen heard voices who had veins filled with tiger blood.” Numerous Hagerstown Community College students and faculty members joined Giustini for an open mic reading session Thursday night during a launch party at HCC's student center to celebrate the release of the school's annual literary magazine, Hedge Apple.