On the first Saturday of October, Ontelaunee Park was teaming with people enjoying the summerlike weather at the Lynn-Heidelberg Historical Society’s annual Pioneer Applefest.

Over the loudspeaker, a voice boomed information out welcoming the ever growing crowd.

“That cabin was built by the Zeisloff Family in 1746,” the voice said. “We moved that cabin 20 years ago.”

The historic cabin was one of the centerpieces of the event.

Inside, Joshua Fink welcomed children to try their hands at calligraphy with quills and ink.

“This is typical of a Pennsylvania Dutch log cabin with three rooms, in the 1700s,” he said. “We’re in a multipurpose room of sorts right now.”

In front of the log cabin, Cameron Kahl and Jalyssa Kubat were selling apple dumplings.

“This is my first time doing this,” Kubat said. “It’s a good way to serve the community.”

“A local Amish group made the apple dumplings,” Kahl said, as she handed two orders to a customer.

Both girls were encouraged by their teacher, Pamela Peters, to participate in the event.

In fact, Peters was able to recruit quite a few middle schoolers, most of them dressed in period costume, to fulfill a variety of tasks at the Applefest.

Preston Bailey and Adin Breidinger encouraged young and old alike to try their hand at a variety of games and puzzles.

“These games are kind of like grandparents to all our [current] games,” Bailey said, explaining the rules of some of the games like Shut the Box and Captain’s Mistress, a forerunner of Connect Four.

The middle schoolers researched before coming to the Applefest.

“Two weeks ago, we were sent documents on the games, and then we got to play them,” Breidinger explained.

A number of demonstrators displayed their process and work throughout the park.

“I’m making a mug,” said Katherine George, an art teacher at the Annville Cleona School District outside of Hershey. “I try to make something small so that the kids could feel what it’s like to work with clay on a potter’s wheel.”

Under a tent, a clutch of women from the Fiber Arts Guild were busy weaving a shawl.

The women were having a kind of practice session to prepare for the Pennsylvania Farm Show in January when they’ll have two and a half hours to weave a scarf for the competition.

The team meets weekly to share their skills and conversation at the Guild’s center in Schuylkill Haven.

“We specialize for the competition, but we can all do different tasks,” Mary Sey explained.

These tasks include carding, spinning and weaving, to name a few.

Demonstrators dotted the park and welcomed questions so that visitors could get a full experience of what life was like a few hundred years ago.

Eli and Theo Metzger were completely fascinated with the historical wagons in the big barn.

“My neighbor has one like this,” said first grader Eli, pointing to a large conveyance wagon with black velvet seating.

“And this is a mail one,” added his younger brother.

The youngsters’ excitement was irrepressible as they chatted with their grandmother, Chris Oswald, identifying historical items they found interesting. “Their pappy and their pop tells them a lot,” she said, with a smile. “We live right down the road.”

Visitors also filed through the train station near the park’s entrance.

“Craig (Weaver) put this display together,” said an appreciative Chris Kacsor, president of the Lehigh Valley Garden Railroad Club. “It fits nicely on the luggage cart.”

Apples, apple cider, apple doughnuts, funnel cake and more tempted visitors and food trucks like Iron Grill and J Rads Wood Fired Pizza saw a steady business.

The weather was so warm that free ice cream provided by The New Tripoli Bank was a very popular treat.

“We’re running out of a few choices, but we’ve sent out for more,” said Lori Croneberger who was distributing the treats along with Karen Hantz.

“We just ordered more from Candy’s,” Croneberger said. “We do this every year. It’s become a tradition, just like the Lynn-Heidelberg Historical Society’s Pioneer Applefest.”