From left, nine-year-old Maverik Demeritt samples some apple butter as his father, SVFD Captain Marshall Demeritt, and SVFD Chief Ross Morgan fill up a jar with apple butter at the annual Apple Butter Festival on Saturday. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Steam rose in the air above the kettle of apple butter being stirred by junior firefighter Jayden Hill in the Shepherdstown Volunteer Fire Department’s (SVFD) apparatus room on Saturday afternoon. He was soon joined by SVFD Treasurer Denny Barron, who leaned in with a giant spoon to test the consistency of the apple butter. After giving it another 15 minutes, Barron returned and, with the help of mother-and-daughter pair Michele Whetsell and Morgan Whetsell, began adding sugar to the mixture — the next-to-last step in the recipe.

Across the room, a long line of community members could be found waiting to purchase jars of freshly made apple butter, as well as raffle tickets for a West Virginia University golf bag and a gun safe.

“We’ve made over 100,000 quarts of apple butter here, over the years,” Barron said.

According to Barron, apple butter has been made at the SVFD since 1990, and has grown into the department’s biggest fundraiser. Around $25,000 is raised every year at the annual Apple Butter Festival.

“It’s a big accomplishment. It would not be possible, without the dedication of so many volunteers from the community,” Barron said.

From left to right, SVFD member Doug Pittinger, SVFD junior firefighter Jayden Hill, volunteer Michele Whetsell and Michele’s daughter, Morgan Whetsell, add sugar to a kettle of apple butter during the Shepherdstown Volunteer Fire Department’s annual Apple Butter Festival on Saturday. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

SVFD member of 56 years Doug Pittinger said that a number of civic organizations in the Eastern Panhandle had volunteered their service for the day, to stir a kettle of apple butter. With apple butter taking anywhere from six to 12 hours to cook, their service proved invaluable, as the department does not have enough manpower to run the whole operation on its own. The volunteers and department members would end up cooking a total of 33 kettles worth of apple butter — a sizable number, which joined 12 kettles full of regular and no-sugar-added apple butter that had been made over the past few days, in anticipation of early attendees at the festival’s breakfast wanting to bring a jar of the sweet treat home with them.

“It has become a major community event — one which we look forward to every year, “ Pittinger said.

A short walk away in Barron Hall, festival attendees could be found chatting and munching on freshly cooked hotdogs and French fries. Rows of tables filled with handmade treats, crafted goods and gift baskets drew more than one attendee’s attention, with one of the most enticing booths appearing to be that of Asbury United Methodist Church.

“Our vegetable soup and chili are our bestsellers — we sold out of them within the first couple of hours we were open this morning,” said booth organizer Judy Grantham. “We’ve been running a booth at the festival for the last 15 years or more. We love doing it, especially since it serves our community in so many ways.”

Fellow Shepherdstown resident Carole Feaster agreed, noting that she has enjoyed giving back to the SVFD by organizing New Street United Methodist Church’s booth at the festival for the last 14 years. While the money raised from the sale of the booth’s baked goods, soups and relish will be used to fund various church projects, as will be the case with the proceeds from Asbury’s booth, she said paying the price of the booth space was worth it, just for the fact it supported an organization that had helped her numerous times over the years. The SVFD provided emergency assistance more than once to her now-deceased husband, who was a double amputee. In the years since his passing, she has witnessed the department offer an incredible level of assistance in other ways, such as through supporting community organizations like her church.

Community members purchase freshly made apple butter at the Shepherdstown Volunteer Fire Department’s annual Apple Butter Festival on Saturday. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

“When we bake our peach pies for our peach festival every year, Denny is always here to help us,” Feaster said. “They help us and, in turn, we like to help them.”

Community members chat in Barron Hall, at the Shepherdstown Volunteer Fire Department’s annual Apple Butter Festival on Saturday. Photo by Tabitha Johnston