Fall Apple Festival 2009

I juggled apples as I tossed them into the small wooden box atop an old-timey apple press.  As a friend churned the horizontal axel it spun a wooden cylinder with metal protrusions that quickly made the apples into pulp.  The pulp fell through and was collected in a bucket with a hole in the bottom where it could then be pressed into juice once it was full.  Before having this experience I had no idea how a traditional apple press worked.  Now, not only do I know how it works, but we used one to produced delicious, fresh juice for lots of people to enjoy, and, best of all, each step of the process was completely donation based. 

 

In Fall of 2008 three anthropology students  -Zach Anderson, Abby Zylla, and Daniel Jordan-  started a non-profit organization called FOLK (Furthering Our Local Knowledge) under the supervision of Dr. Nazarea.  The name of this game is the conservation of local (Southeastern / Appalachian) knowledge that has been marginalized or is in danger of being lost.  To achieve this goal an annual Fall Apple Festival was established to help integrate these bodies of knowledge back into the mainstream local culture.  The festival features homemade apple cider and a vintage working apple press, a homemade apple pie baking contest with lots of judges, local vegetarian food provided by PLACE, local pigs provided by Tad Brown of Full Moon Farm and the anthropology department, live music from mostly local musicians, kids games and activities, and a colporteur.  Colporteurs were people in 18th and 19th century France who distributed banned books door-to-door.  In keeping with their spirit of making marginalized informational resources available, FOLK has established a Colporteurs-in-Residence Series which brings a colporteur to the festival to talk about their work, their knowledge, and great stories to suit the occasion. 


By the end of the festival there was simply a small group of people playing music and singing together around a fire.  Volunteers from the Ecology Club stuck it out through the night and camped on the premises to help clean up trash and recycling the next morning.  Several people got stuck in the mud, but there was always help around the corner to get everyone where they needed to go.  It occurred to me that through participating in the festival I was able to experience first-hand local knowledge being preserved and even cultivated through people coming together and sharing spare time, spare food, and spare energy in a common experience that is both memorable and inspiring.

 

(Apple press, bushels of apples from Ellijay, Ga, and live music from Athens)

 

If you are interested in helping with the organization of FOLK please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Pictures from the festival are available in our gallery, and their website is available in the "Our Friends" section of our weblinks. 

  -John Hand

 
New T-shirts!

The new T-shirts are now available in the main office of Anthropology.  These light gray shirts feature authentic Mayan glyphs, including the vision serpent (back).  Please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you'd like to reserve shirts.  Available in sizes XS-XL for only $15.  All proceeds go to support the Anthropology Society.  Thanks!
 
New Forum!

We are excited to announce that we have just launched a new forum for the Anthropology Society.  This forum will allow for a virtual interface in which students can actively engage in an academic community on their own time.  The forum will be a good resource for information about grad schools, internships, activity planning, grants, peer sharing, study abroad, and much more.  Simply register a user name and you will then be able to seeall sections and post in the forum.  The forum will remain linked in the side bar, but the URL is:  http://anthsoc.anthro.uga.edu/forums/

 

Please be sure to read the welcome message at the top of the announcements section.

 
What is AS’s mission and purpose?
At AS, our goals are to promote anthropological discussion among the undergraduate student body and between undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty in the anthropology department as well as to educate the wider UGA and surrounding communities about the anthropological discipline.
 
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What types of events does AS have throughout the year?
In the past, AS has done tabling for fundraising, brought speakers, and coordinated field trips, among other events. We also have meetings every two weeks to host fun activities, movie nights, and discuss ongoing and future events hosted by AS and the Anthropology Department. To learn more about what AS will be doing in the future, please see our website for the list of upcoming meetings and events, contact one of our club officers, come to an AS meeting, or join our listserv!
 
Where is the main office for the Anthropology Department located?
The Anthropology Department’s main office is located in Room 250 in Baldwin Hall.