“Well, Twisp had a rodeo, Brewster had a derby, and Pateros had to have something too, so they started the Apple Pie Jamboree,” Bill Meadows leaned back in his kitchen chair, remembering the summer of 1947. Phil and Joan Brownlee joined in, describing the Indian stick games, live music, parade, and the apple pie. “It started out as a community picnic,” Joan explained.
Bill, Phil, and Joan all graduated from Pateros High School together in 1954. They can remember every single Apple Pie Jamboree – in part because they all have helped in some way or another in every event since the beginning. Joan has kept scrapbooks of the APJ over the years, which are on display at the Pateros museum.
The original bylaws of the APJ state that all event proceeds are to support the youth of Pateros. Proceeds from the first APJ went to the hospital. One year, a young boy drowned in the mill pond. In response, the community committed the proceeds from the APJ to pay for swimming lessons for all of the kids in Pateros. Over the years, APJ proceeds have supported swimming and ski lessons, lights on the sports field, fair projects, summer camps, and more.
The cataclysmic flood of 1948 put the APJ on hold until 1950. APJ had a good run for the next seven years until 1957, when the subject of water again overwhelmed the community. Talks had begun about building Wells Dam, a project that would create Lake Pateros and drown the town. It was a time of tense arguments in Pateros. The townspeople spent the decade relocating. Main Street, the site of past APJ parades, was at the bottom of Lake Pateros.
In 1969, Bill started up the APJ again with the help of friends. Putting the new lake to good use, they brought hydro races to the APJ. By the 80s, Phil, Joan and Bill’s wife, Rebecca, joined in the APJ planning with other volunteers for the next two decades.
Some years, things didn’t quite go as planned. Take, for instance, the year they imagined 16 water skiers wearing shirts that spelled A-P-P-L-E P-I-E-J-A-M-B-O-R-E-E. “It took us two weeks of practice,” Bill started, “we couldn’t find enough skiers that could stay up in the turbulence behind the boat!” He laughed, “Never tried that again!”
Joan recalled sitting around the kitchen table one Sunday afternoon counting out small bills and change from the day’s events. The community had given over $30,000. “Every drop went to the youth of Pateros,” said Rebecca, “there were no vendors, and everything was done by volunteers.”
Typically, on Monday through Wednesday before APJ, the community gathered together to clean up the town. Volunteers, including kids, would meet at the school kitchen to assemble hundreds of apple pies. “Everybody worked so hard for the kids, it was so worth it,” Rebecca said, “and it was the one time of year everyone got together.” Joan went into further detail about the multiple class reunions that had become a tradition of the APJ, “It was a big thing to see your classmates and get together.”
The Pateros tradition of raising funds to support youth programs continues this weekend, starting with apple pie and ice cream in the park on Friday at 6 pm. Saturday is packed with a Color Run, 3 0n 3 basketball tournament, live music, parade, quilt show, jet ski races, sloppy joes, fireworks and more. Sunday wraps up with breakfast in the park, volleyball tournament, and a car show. For information and event schedule, visit https://www.facebook.com/ApplePieJamboree. Come join the fun, and support kids programs in Pateros!
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