Photos by Amber Phipps Tom Webster stirs chopped and peeled apples on the last day of the Apple Butter Stir Off Festival in Belpre on Sunday. The stir off is sponsored by the Belpre Lions Club.

BELPRE – The 47th annual Apple Butter Stir Off Festival at Civitan Park ended on Sunday with more apple butter, vendors, raffles and delicious food. The two-day event kicked off early Saturday for a weekend of apple cooking, tasting and buying.

The Belpre Lions Club has put on the event for the past 47 years rain or shine.

“Every year, the Belpre Lions Club handles getting all of the vendors and all of the music, we take care of all of it,” said Belpre Lions Club President Jolene Reeder. “The Pioneer Presbyterian Church is the one who actually makes all the apple butter and they keep all of the profits.”

This is Reeder’s first year as president, but she’s been a member of the Lions Club for three years. She said even though they don’t have an actual stir off for the festival, a few members of the club will have a friendly competition amongst each other.

“Every year we’ve tried to do something a little bit different, but as far as entertainment the main difference was having more entertainment for kids,” she said.

The Pioneer Presbyterian Church sells pints and quarts of fresh apple butter at the 47th annual Apple Butter Stir Off Festival in Belpre.

This year’s festival included all local vendors and food trucks like Tropical Taters, Steven’s Lemonade and Uncle Dan’s. Kids could participate in small activities all around the park.

Reeder said the weather was perfect this year and the dog pageant on Saturday went really well.

“This year we have dancers that’re performing and we’re going to have a free yoga session because it’s mental health awareness week,” she said.

She said they wanted to keep the festival affordable so they didn’t raise the price on the vendors despite inflation. Reeder said she wanted to make sure everyone could have a good time.

“I love the smell of apple butter and I love the smell of the wood from the fire,” she said.

In the final process of apple butter making, apple sauce is poured into a pot and mixed with sugar and seasonings. The final step cooks down the apples and evaporates the water, which leaves a thick mixture of apple butter.

The Pioneer Presbyterian Church has been making apple butter for 30 years. The process begins early in the morning on day one of the festival with volunteers cutting and peeling the apples obtained from various orchards.

Tom Webster was among volunteers helping stir apples.

“This year, we’re gonna make 250 gallons of apple butter,” Webster said.

He described the process which began with peeling and chopping the apples. The chopped apples are then stirred in a large castiron pot over a wood burning fire until completely softened.

The softened apples are then sent through a processor and made into applesauce. The applesauce was then poured into another pot and combined with seasonings and sugar before being stirred into a thick mixture.

Members of the Belpre Lions Club on Sunday participated in a friendly apple butter tasting competition at the 47th annual Apple Butter Stir Off Festival in Belpre. The stir off is sponsored by the Belpre Lions Club.

Cooking time depends on how many pounds of apples are being cooked.

Webster said the process of cooking down the applesauce removes the water, which then thickens it into a jam-like spread.

“Apple butter can be made all kinds of ways. Some people make it on their stove top, some people make it in their slow cookers,” he said. “But this is the way to get the traditional wood flavor.”

Webster has been attending the festival nearly all of the years it’s been held. He said sometimes the apples will take longer to cook depending on how rainy or dry the season has been.

Apple butter can be purchased from the Pioneer Presbyterian Church for $8 for a pint or $11 for a quart.

Pumpkins available for purchase at Civitan Park during the Apple Butter Stir Off Festival on Sunday.

Amber Phipps can be reached at aphipps@newsandsentinel.com

Along with the apple butter, pumpkins and gourds could also be purchased at the 47th annual Apple Butter Stir Off Festival over the weekend.

A pink tractor for breast cancer awareness stationed at Civitan Park during the Apple Butter Stir Off Festival over the weekend.

Attendees at the Apple Butter Stir Off Festival could pick from a variety of vendors and food trucks. Classic seasonal foods like kettle corn and barbeque were available for purchase during the two-day event.