Celebrating Missouri's champion apples at the Waverly Apple Jubilee

by Breanne Brammer, posted Dec. 14, 2011

“Do I hear three?” the Waverly Apple Jubilee auctioneer announces. “Three thousand dollars for this box of Missouri’s finest apples. Do I hear 35? Yes! Now we have 37 for state champion apples. Do I see a hand? And.. sold! The best apples in the state have just gone for $3,700.”

The annual Waverly Apple Jubilee was held on Sept. 15-17 in Waverly. Missouri’s champion apples were awarded and sold at the apple auction.

The auction takes place on the first night of the fair where Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, and Johnathan varieties are judged for overall state champions, Fuji and Jonagold varieties are sold in the auction along with the champions. There are 72 apples per box and it takes around three hours to prepare each box of apples for competition. This includes hand picking, polishing and arranging the apples to create a championship box.

All of the proceeds from the apple auction go to the Waverly Jaycee’s. They disperse the funds to assist with fair expenses and fund community projects such as scholarships and park renovations. In Waverly, investing in apples is putting money back into your community.

The 2011 overall state champion apples were Jonathons that sold for $3,700 and were purchased by Central Missouri Agri Service. Reserve champion was won by Golden Delicious apples auctioned at $1,750 and the third place overall champion was Red Delicious, which sold for $1,700. There are five major apple orchards in the area and each of the overall grand champion apples and the grand champion apples of every variety were grown by Peters Orchard.

Apple pies, other produce and decorated pumpkins are auctioned off during the Waverly Apple Jubilee. Among the decorated pumpkins was one painted black and gold, with a familiar tiger emblem on it. It was a Mizzou Halloween pumpkin. The University actually has many connections to the Waverly Apple Jubilee. The judges for the apple competition are from the university and Paul Peters, one of the owner’s of Peters orchard, proudly claims Mizzou as his alma mater. Apples and MU are a tradition for the Peters family. Paul, his wife Nancy Peters, and his father David Peters are Mizzou alumni. Their children, Kate and Sam Peters are current students.

Flipping through the Peters family photo album is like going through a timeline of the Waverly Apple Jubilee. Snapshots of the kiddie parade, champion apples and smiling images of family and friends are scattered across the pages. To the Peter’s family and most of the citizens of Waverly, the Waverly Apple Jubilee is more than just a festival.

“It’s the town fair, an opportunity to visit with friends and see people you haven’t seen in awhile,” Nancy said.

Another highlight of the festival is the crowning of the Waverly Apple Jubilee Queen. The 2011 Waverly Apple Jubilee Queen was Lauren Wright, a senior at Santa Fe High School.

 “Being crowned queen feels very special because you are going down in history,” Wright said.  

Wright has been active in the Waverly Apple Jubilee for years. Her earliest memories of the fair are of the queen contest.

“In such a small community, being queen means being a representative of the town and a role model,” Wright said.

What started as the Waverly Street Fair decades ago is now the Waverly Apple Jubilee. The Waverly Apple Jubilee combines the aspects of a traditional county fair with a baby show, sporting events, craft booths and peddle tractor contests to create a family atmosphere. Most of these events have been held since the fair first began.

“It’s a homecoming thing, a time to sit down and visit with your friends and family,” said Nancy.

Champion apples are awarded at the Missouri State Fair in August, which is before the commercial apple harvest occurs. Soon, it became apparent that large-scale orchards lacked competition for their commodities. In 1989 Charles Kruse, former Missouri Farm Bureau president, declared that the Waverly Apple Jubilee would be the official apple judging competition for the state of Missouri. The apples were judged by horticulture professors at the University of Missouri, and are still judged by faculty to this day.

Sam Peters is a freshman agriculture systems management major and Alpha Gama Sigma fraternity member at the University of Missouri. He has grown up around the apple business and has attended the Waverly Apple Jubilee for as long as he can remember.

“I remember standing on the jungle gym in elementary school and seeing the carnival equipment being put up,” Sam said. “That meant that the we would get out of school early on Friday because the Apple Jubilee was in town.”

The Waverly Apple Jubilee is the perfect place to grow memories and to experience agriculture first hand. The “jubilee experience” includes tasting the varieties of apple dishes available.

Some of the dishes include homemade apple pie, just like grandma made it. Fried apple pie, like you’ve never had before. Melt-in-your-mouth apple fritters. Sticky, crisp and pecan covered caramel apples and golden, flakey apple turnovers, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Jubilee participants agree that your apple taste bud explosion couldn’t be complete without a piece of oven-fresh, moist apple cake.

The Apple Pandowdies is a local organization that makes their signature apple dumplings for the Waverly Apple Jubilee. This year approximately 2,054 dumplings were made for the three-day event. Santa Fe ball club also participates in the jubilee by selling apple brauts made by Alwell’s Country Meats in Warrensburg. Most of the apple sweets are made with apples grown in local orchards.

“Do I hear a four?” the auctioneer announces. “The apples are at $4,000 ladies and gentlemen, that’s a bargain for Missouri’s champion apples.”

At the Waverly Apple Jubilee, you can put a price on the best apples in the state, but you can’t put a value on the memories that you make. 

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