Marble Rock Historical Society offers tastes of the past

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Visitors got a look at – and several tastes of – the area’s pioneer past during the Seventh Annual Pioneer Appreciation Day held Saturday, Sept. 14, by the Marble Rock Historical Society.

In addition to grinding apples then pressing the mash into fresh cider, the hands-on activities included rope-making, shelling and grinding corn, making corn husk dolls, washing clothes, churning butter and making ice cream in the area behind the Beelar Cabin.

Fresh biscuits baked in a wood-fired oven were available to be topped with freshly made gravy or butter and jam.

Ryland Pitzenberger of Greene, who was busy helping grind and press the apples, said he has been coming to the event for a number of years, and it has become a tradition. His grandmother, Judy Pitzenberger, of Dougherty, said the apple press is in the family.

Judy Pitzenberger and Marilyn Dolan of Marble Rock discussed the secrets of cider, including that the apples are usually the most sweet later in the fall – some say after the first frost.

They also agreed that mixing three different varieties of apples in the ground mash often produces the best cider, and an unofficial taste-testing among several different pressings showed noticeable differences in the flavors.

Wanda Kruse was helping show how to make corn husk dolls, and said they gave away about 50 of them, and Sandy Hunter gave talks throughout the day about the experience of learning and teaching in a one-room schoolhouse.

Marble Rock Historical Society President Diane Black was busy making butter in the back of the Beelar Cabin, while her husband, Clayton, was outside helping kids and others spin the crank to twist and combine several pairs of twine into rope. Some lucky kids even got a string of color incorporated into their rope.