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In high demand, more fresh-made apple cider planned for Germanfest

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[October 17, 2014]  LINCOLN - On Wednesday several volunteers gathered to assist Tom Ewald in the making of fresh apple cider at the Oasis Senior Center.

The cider will be a featured drink at the Germanfest to be held on Saturday at the St. John’s United Church of Christ.

Marilyn Armbrust, volunteering for the Oasis, said that the freshly made beverage is very popular. She noted that last year, Ewald and his team of volunteers squeezed out 11 gallons of cider, but on Germanfest day, they ran out by 1 p.m.

This year Ewald was shooting for 25 gallons, but Armbrust said she wasn’t sure they would have enough apples to make that much. She also noted that even while these apples were being pressed, there were volunteers out gathering more, in hopes they would come close to their 25 gallon goal.

The process of making the cider is not a complicated one, though it does involve quite a bit of physical labor.

Volunteer Donna Kessinger was busy sorting and combining apples for the cider. She said that the donation of apples included several varieties from several locations. Her goal was to mix the varieties in batches for the press so that the cider from one bucket to the next would be consistent in flavor.

When the apples were ready for the press, Ewald with help from Wayne Mara and Armbrust, poured the fruit into a grinder box. The grinder is operated with an electric motor, which made that part a bit easier. When the bucket below the grinder was full, Ewald mounted a wooden lid on top of it, then tightened down the corkscrew against the wood.

From then on the making of cider is all about brute force. As Ewald cranked on the handle, the lid was pushed down inside the bucket. As the force increased inside the bucket, juice from the apples ran out a spigot at the bottom.

When the ground apples have been thoroughly pressed out, the screw is cranked back up, and the remaining pulp in the bucket is dumped into the trash. Then the process is repeated on another batch of apples.

Cider collected from the spigot was then poured through cheesecloth to catch any “lumps”, into five-gallon buckets. The buckets were then taken inside the Oasis for storage until Saturday.

This year is the 15th event for the Germanfest. The fundraiser event started out as being solely for raising support for missionary programs, and local church projects for St. John’s. When the Oasis building downtown burned in 2013, the organization made St. John’s its home while its new location was being remodeled. At that time, the church decided to partner with the Oasis and provided that organization with a portion of the fundraising proceeds for their new facility.

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Now that the new senior center is up and running, the church and Oasis have decided to maintain their partnership in the Germanfest. In order to offer this highly popular fall event, it takes a large number of volunteers each year. Those volunteers are now provided by both the Oasis and St. John’s members.

In the days ahead of the festival there are a number of activities that take place. The Wayne Conrady family provides the potatoes for the German potato salad. Annually the festival calls for about 400 pounds of potatoes. Members of the church then take an allotment home with them for the peeling.

There is one day then set aside at the church for the making of the potato salad. The church and Oasis also make the well known and loved apple strudel. The delectable dessert made in mass requires volunteers for making the pastry, volunteers for the peeling of apples, and volunteers for the mixing of ingredients and baking of the dessert.

On Germanfest day, volunteers are needed to cook the bratwurst, red cabbage, and sauerkraut. Then more volunteers are needed to work on the serving line as hundreds file through for the authentic German meal each year.

The full menu this year will include the brats, German potato salad, sauerkraut, red cabbage, applesauce, and choice of apple strudel, German chocolate cake or angel food cake complete the meal. Drinks will include the fresh, locally made apple cider; lemonade, tea and coffee. Serving times are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

In addition to food, there will be a 50/50 drawing and bake sale to benefit the Oasis, and the Alley Kats Polka Band will perform throughout the day.

This year the event will be held at St. John’s United Church of Christ, located on Eight Street in Lincoln. Next year the event will be held at the Oasis Senior Center located at 2810 Woodlawn.

[Nila Smith]

 

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