Apples, Community & Family Fun
Oct. 31, 2018
Crowds of fall fun-seekers from near and far travelled to Hamilton on Sept.29th to attend the Annual Apple Festival hosted by the Battlefield House Museum.
This outdoor event was held at Battlefield Park, near King Street East and Centennial Parkway in Hamilton. The park is an important part of Battlefield House Museum's Educational & Environmental Programs, Museum Tours, as well as special events, such as the Re-enactment of the Battle of Stoney Creek each June. Located on the border between the cities of Stoney Creek and Hamilton, this 32-acre park provides a welcome green space and access to the Bruce Trail.
Explaining the history of the Apple Festival, museum curator, Susan Ramsay shared, “The event began back in the early 1980s by the curator at the time. From a very small beginning, it has grown through the years due to the support of the local community. It’s amazing to see hundreds of residents returning each year and now we’re are seeing new Canadians enjoying the event as well. We had a lady tell us this year, ‘It’s the only festival I attend in the fall, I love it’!”
This year’s festival was a great success with around 3200 people in attendance.
The event ran from 9:00 am-4:30 pm and included a pancake breakfast, games, pumpkin decorating, hayrides, demonstrations, entertainment, and the Battlefield Bake-Off.
Various businesses and organizations from the community also took part in the festivities.
GFA World, provided free apple-themed children’s activities including: apple checkers & tic-tac-toe, an apple ring toss, colouring and their most popular item: apple shaped balloons. We also collected food donations for the Stoney Creek Food Bank.
Investing in Communities
GFA World, located at 245 King Street East, has been part of the Stoney Creek community since 1984. Our focus is to invest in communities both in their local neighbourhood and around the world. We are serving in many nations, identifying specific needs and blessing families with items that help them fight the burden of poverty.
One aspect of our ministry here in Stoney Creek is the Discipleship Program, which gives young people the opportunity to spend a year to spend a year of monastic-inspired life marked by rhythms of prayer, sacrifice and service, within a community devoted to “Serving God & Humanity.”
Participants in the program engage in various aspects of GFA World’s ministry and are involved in a number of local outreach projects including: community events such as the apple festival & Santa Claus Parade, the Hamilton beach cleanup, senior’s outreach, collecting food donations for the Stoney Creek Foodbank and hosting a polling station for the 2018 Ontario general election. We also hold a variety of our own events throughout the year, including a Pancake Breakfast, Easter Egg Hunt, Carwash, Fall Festival and Christmas Tree Lighting.
This year’s Apple Festival was an exciting opportunity for our members and students to engage with the Stoney Creek community, through having conversations, giving out free balloons and enjoying some good old-fashioned harvest-time fun!
