GREENE – If it’s apples you’re looking for, it’s apples you’ll find in Greene this weekend as apple lovers and crafters alike flock to southern Chenango County to enjoy the fruits of New York’s bountiful apple harvest at the Greene Apple Fest.

The day-long event, which is traditionally scheduled for the fourth weekend in September, will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Greene Ball Flats. Now in its 24th year, the annual fall celebration is sponsored by the United Methodist Church of Greene.

According to the festival’s chairperson, Greg Cobb, 12 to 15,000 visitors are expected to attend this year’s event, which is traditionally scheduled for the fourth weekend in September.

As the name implies, the event is all about apples – of which 60 to 80 bushels or approximately 1 1/2 tons – are brought in. And that’s not counting the apples which go into making apple fritters, dumplings, cider, butter, jelly and countless other apple-related products on offer during the event.

Or the pies.

By Saturday, church volunteers will have baked more than 900 pies for the event. Some of those pies will be of the blueberry, strawberry rhubarb, and cherry variety, but the vast majority are, of course, apple.

Good thing Cobb isn’t afraid of the kitchen, because he’s one of the 20-25 core volunteers who dedicate their time to the process. From handmaking the dough, to helping peel the 18 bushels of Paula Reds – an earlier ripening variety of the ever-popular McIntosh – the festival chair is intimately acquainted with every step of the process.

A process which, after all those years of experience, the United Methodist’s bakers have down to a science.

The group started baking their famous apple pies the week before Labor Day. They begin each weekend work session by preparing the dough on Thursdays. Friday, they turn their attention to peeling and paring bushels of apples before putting the first 100 pies into the oven. Another 150 are baked on Saturday.