A Eudora fall tradition is back this week as local church members return to the kitchen to prepare 100 pans of apple goodness.
The United Methodist Church will host its annual apple dumplings fundraiser from 12:30-1:30 p.m. Sunday.
Last year during the pandemic, the church was not able to host the fundraiser at the capacity that they have in years past.
“There was no EudoraFest last year so it was all through pre-order,” organizer Marcia Bagby said. “We are very excited to be back selling dumplings in-person.”
The annual apple dumplings fundraiser has been a tradition for around 20 years. Bagby said longtime member Eva Belle Gerstenberger had a recipe and taught ladies in the church how to make them.
“I think probably anytime that people can get some home-baked foods, you know, they’re excited to do it,” Bagby said of why the event remains popular. “It’s a fall thing with the apples. It’s just something you get in the mood for when fall starts coming.”
The event used to be a lot smaller than it is now, but over the years it has grown into a town tradition. The church uses 6 bushels of apples from a Missouri orchard to make the 600 dumplings, quite a leap from the event’s early days.
“We started out in someone’s kitchen, and we only made nine pans of dumplings to start,” church member Janet Gabriel said.
Nowadays, dumplings are prepared in the church’s kitchen with the help of many volunteers. It is a team effort of about 30 people to get all of the orders ready, Bagby said, but it is something church members look forward to every year.
To pre-order a pan of apple dumplings, call Bagby at 785-312-1228 before Friday to get a pan ready for pick-up day. So far, about 70 pans are pre-sold.
For $20, supporters will receive a pan of six uncooked apple dumplings, syrup and baking instructions. All proceeds will go toward general funds for the church.
If you can not make it this time around, the dumplings will be sold again at EudoraFest the first Saturday of October. The church’s booth will sell the dumplings cooked along with the addition of chicken and noodles.
Reach reporter Bradley Yendro at [email protected].
To donate to support our community journalism, please go to this link: tinyurl.com/y4u7stxj
