Couple Shares Tradition

By Ashleigh McCune
Bob Stanley and his wife Alice came to make apple butter on Appalachian Heritage Day.

Bob Stanley has been making apple butter for 59 years; he started making it when he was only ten years old. He grew up watching his grandparents make it.

The Stanleys used to buy the apples and peel them to make the apple butter, but now they use applesauce because it helps speed up the process. They cooked a 30-gallon bucket of apple butter and the school sold jars. They started at 8:30 a.m. and cooked it through the afternoon. According to Stanley, it depends on the consistency to tell when the apple butter is done. The apple butter has to be stirred at all times so it will not burn to the bottom of the pan.

“We enjoyed coming. We love kids of all ages and there are awfully nice people here, especially the students,” said Stanley.

They have a daughter, Mary Beth, whose husband Gregg Busch is Assistant Professor of Sociology here. Busch was the one who invited the Stanleys to Appalachian Heritage Day.