City welcomes Appleumpkin Festival to downtown Tecumseh

By DEB WUETHRICH

This weekend will kick off Tecumseh’s 16th Annual Appleumpkin Festival with events taking place Saturday, Oct. 10, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 11, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Appleumpkin Committee Chairperson Jan Fox said there will be more than 50 craft vendors.

“We have a huge variety of crafts this year with some really nice selections from jewelry to candles, and salsa to caricatures,” Fox said. She expects approximately 26 food vendors as well, with a couple of new novelties added.

“We’ll have old fashioned sodas like root beer and sarsaparilla, and the Chocolate Lab is coming with a waffle on a stick dipped in chocolate and nuts with whipped cream on it,” Fox said. She said foods would include Greek style, pizza, hot dogs, sausages and Mexican. “And some of our downtown restaurants also will be open.”
Some of the events taking place during Appleumpkin will include:

• Arts and Crafts Show, downtown Tecumseh.
• A Free Antique Street Fair along downtown Ottawa Street.
• Make-It, Take-It Scarecrows at the United Bank and Trust’s booth, northeast downtown parking lot.
• Live music and entertainment, Saturday and Sunday, at the Appleumpkin Stage on N. Pearl Street.
• Scarecrow Contest, displayed downtown on N. Evans Street between Logan and Chicago Boulevard. Visitors may cast votes for their favorites.
• Make-It Take-It Booths with fun crafts for kids, all day both days, in the northeast downtown parking lot.
• Farmers Market on Saturday and Sunday, opening at 9 a.m.
• Friends of the Tecumseh Library Book Sale, Saturday, 10-4 p.m., Sunday, 1-4 p.m. at the Downstairs Community Room in the Tecumseh District Library, featuring two for one sales on selected fiction and mystery hardcover, diet/health, finance, sports, historical romance and CDs.
• Haunted House and Creepy Carnival, TPS Board office, 212 N. Ottawa, Saturday, Oct. 10, noon to 4 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 11, 1-3 p.m. Admission $3, 18 and under, $1 adult chaperones.
• Guests also may “park their packages” during the festival at H&R Block.
Running concurrently with the Appleumpkin Festival will be Kapnick Orchard’s 31st Annual Apple Festival at 4245 Rogers Hwy., Britton. Apple Festival events include craft booths, kids talent show, a petting zoo, donuts and cider, fresh orchard apples, live entertainment, haunted woods wagon rides, and family fun.