Athens residents, students and out-of-town visitors alike filed through the series of white tents at Lake Snowden this past weekend nibbling on pawpaw pretzels and sipping blueberry pawpaw beer to celebrate Ohio’s state fruit.
The 13th annual Pawpaw Festival featured popsicles, bread, jam and cheese—all of which shared the celebrated ingredient—with plenty of samples for people to try.
“The festival is a great venue,” Richard Glaser, vice president of the Ohio Pawpaw Growers Association, said. The organization works to promote the fruit as being a viable economic touchstone for Ohio, especially for the Southeastern quadrant of the state.
The fruit has waned in popularity because of its perishability, Glaser said, but with six strong domesticated varieties and advances in harvesting technologies, it is gaining steam once again. Enough steam to fuel a three-day festival that drew thousands of guests from as far as Denver, Colo.
The pawpaw can be used in any recipe that calls for bananas, Glaser said. With promising business offers, like one from Ocean Spray to make a cranberry and pawpaw juice if enough fruit is produced, Glaser is hopeful for the fruits future.
“If more people get to try it, it will come into promise,” Glaser said.
More than 25 musical acts were featured throughout Friday and Saturday, including local favorites Elemental Groove Theory, Joey Hebdo and The Porters.
Camping grounds were also available for use.
Marcell Brudno, 64, of Amesville was one of the campers and boasted that he picked 10 pounds of pawpaw on Saturday morning alone and had a hand in orchestrating an African drumming event later in the afternoon.
“He’s the only one with taste buds strong enough to digest them,” Piper Avalokita, fellow camper and Amesville resident, said about the fruit’s acquired taste.
Piper admitted that despite the fruit’s sweetness, he could digest it too.
Avalokita said that he learned a lot about pawpaws growing up on a farm in Amesville and has always shared a positive sentiment for the fruit, whose popularity is affirmed every year at the celebration.
mh317008@ohiou.edu
