Enon couple have front-row seat for Apple Butter Festival

Enon residents Elmer Beard and his wife, Delores, both had to take time off from work last week to get ready for a party at their place — a really, really big party.

“I told them at work that I had to mow the yard to get ready for a big yard party with about 10,000 guests,” Beard said.

Getting ready for the Enon Apple Butter Festival is just part of the life of this couple who live in a house that once a year is surrounded by the festival.

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Frankly, I don’t know when he had time to mow.

Currently Elmer Beard is an Enon Village Council member, transportation supervisor for Greenon Local School District, and deputy chief at the Enon/Mad River Fire Department. Delores continues to work at Developmental Disabilities of Clark County, where Elmer was transportation director before retiring.

When the festival sets up, the Beards have craft booths in their front yard along the street, food booths along their side yard and parking for the festival behind them. Their own parking is moved to a spot a short walk away since there are booths set up where they usually park.

However, neither of them was complaining when I spoke with them Sunday afternoon. They were all smiles. I think they enjoy being in the middle of it all.

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“I enjoy having the festival at my front door. The biggest advantage is being just a minute from the apple butter kettles when I show up for my 6 a.m. shift on Saturday and Sunday,” said Elmer who has been to almost all the Apple Butter Festivals.

“They start the fires around 4 a.m. and we begin to stir the first kettle at 6 a.m.,” he said.

Luckily all the booths connected to organizations they support are conveniently located. The fire and ems departments and auxiliary have booths across the street from their house. The Knob Prairie Church Funnel Cake booth is just over the fence from their front door. They don’t even have to leave their yard to buy lunch.

“Being actively involved through the day, it’s nice to pop in and out of the house as needed,” Elmer said.

When the weather is chilly, they enjoy grabbing a bite to go from one of the fundraising booths and walking back into their house to enjoy it at their own kitchen table.

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“I spent three days getting the yard ready and cleaning house,” said Delores, who added that she never knows who will drop in for a visit. And I might add the yard always looks great.

Weather was fantastic for the first day of Apple Butter this year, but Sunday offered a bit of a challenge with winds gusting up to 45 mph. Luckily the rain came later than predicted.

According to festival organizer Jessi DeVore, who has been in charge of Apple Butter Festival for 10 years now, clean up went smoothly with some adjustments for the wind. They had to wait for the winds to settle to take the big tents down. However, they’ve always managed to have the school property ready the next day.

By Monday morning, the Beards were back to normal, living next to a school in the middle of a quiet village and parking by their front door again.

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