With the upcoming Apple Butter Festival come two wonderful additions to the Apple Butter Hall of Fame.
The Berkeley Springs-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce created the Apple Butter Festival Hall of Fame in 1998 to recognize the people who have devoted their time, energy, talents, and resources to making the festival what it is.
Since then, 78 individuals and businesses have been honored since the beginning.
The 2023 Hall of Fame members will be inducted at a banquet on Thursday, September 14 at 6 p.m. at the Country Inn of Berkeley Springs.
The Hall of Fame banquet and honorees are sponsored by U.S. Silica. All of the former Hall of Fame honorees have been invited as guests; anyone who wishes to attend can purchase a ticket on the Chamber of Commerce website at www.BerkeleySpringsChamber.com
The inaugural class of the Hall of Fame inducted 25. In each year since, additional people or organizations have been honored. The individuals being recognized this year were selected unanimously by the Chamber board from nominees proposed by the festival committee and community. They were chosen for making an invaluable contribution to the Apple Butter Festival at some time during its 48-year history.
Stephanie Rebant
Rebant is originally from Missouri, but chose to relocate closer to family in the Berkeley Springs area after transitioning from the Army. She is president of Travel Berkeley Springs, the local tourism board, a member of the Eastern Panhandle Board of Realtors, the West Virginia Association of Realtors, and the National Association of Realtors.
Rebant and her husband Ryan work together in Mountain Home Real Estate and Berkeley Springs Cottage Rentals. With a specialty in guiding and assisting clients in converting second homes to revenue-generating investment properties, Rebant helps turn their vision into a reality. Her drive and enthusiasm for making Berkeley Springs a better place to visit, work, and live, has helped make the town a better place.
“I am very honored to be a small part of a dynamic team of past and present that for over four decades has helped establish Berkeley Springs as a special community where our civic groups, non-profits, local businesses and regional vendors come together and display the very best of community pride, family fun and what makes Berkeley Springs one of the best small towns in America to live, work and visit,” she said.
The Chamber will induct Rebant to the Hall of Fame for the many ways she has supported the Apple Butter Festival over the years.
Jane Frenke
Jane Frenke recalls that her first experience with quilting was when she was four or five years old, when her mother taught her to push the needle back through the quilt. After majoring in graphic art in college and taking masters credits in printmaking, she started a hand weaving studio, weaving clothing, pillows, and wall hangings. These products were retailed and wholesaled throughout the country.
Frenke began quilting as a way to use the eye-catching bits that remained after the creation of her other projects. Art quilts, with the twist of practicality, are the focus of her creativity now.
She hand-dyes and prints fabric, and also uses commercial fabrics to obtain the look she envisions. In recent years, Frenke’s quilts have won best in show in West Virginia, Ohio and Maryland, and numerous Judges choice awards. Her quilts are in the possession of many collectors around the world and have hung in the American Embassy in Saudi Arabia.
The Chamber will induct Frenke to the Hall of Fame for the contributions she has made to many other quilts over the years, and the quilts she personally has crafted for the Apple Butter Festival, including this year’s “West Virginia Log Cabin Star,” currently on display as part of the quilt show at the Morgan Arts Council’s Ice House.
The Hall of Fame banquet on September 14 will also honor the Chamber of Commerce Community Awards.
One of the largest and longest running fall festivals in West Virginia, the 48th annual Apple Butter Festival will take place on October 7-8.
