Community News

King Apple Parade honors longtime volunteer as grand marshal

By Lightning Reports, Published: August 27, 2023

The grand marshal for the King Apple Parade that will wrap up the 77^th annual North Carolina Apple Festival is a New York transplant and longtime festival volunteer who loves getting to know apple growers.

Evelyn Uhrlasse, who became involved as an N.C. Apple Festival volunteer at the suggestion of a friend, has served as the board’s recording secretary since 1999. She and her husband, Arnold, relocated from New York. She says that serving on the Apple Festival Board is a highlight of her life because of the numerous local folks and apple farmers she’s met.

“The Apple Festival is such a positive part of (my) life in Hendersonville and I continue to be impressed and inspired by others on the board and committees that work quietly and diligently all year,” she says.

The North Carolina Apple Festival celebrates Henderson County’s signature crop and its contributions to the economy and culture of the area. Home to 91 active growers, the county produces an estimated 3 million bushels of apples annually —  80 percent of the state’s total output — and accounts for revenue each year of around $30 million. The North Carolina Apple Festival is a non-profit entity, organized and operated by an all-volunteer Board of Directors and volunteer event staff.