SHEPHERDSTOWN -- Steam rose in the air above the kettle of apple butter being stirred by junior firefighter Jayden Hill in the Shepherdstown Volunteer Fire Department's (SVFD) apparatus room on Saturday afternoon. He was soon joined by SVFD Treasurer Denny Barron, who leaned in with a giant spoon to test the consistency of the apple butter. After giving it another 15 minutes, Barron returned and, with the help of mother-and-daughter pair Michele Whetsell and Morgan Whetsell, began adding sugar to the mixture -- the next-to-last step in the recipe.

Across the room, a long line of community members could be found waiting to purchase jars of freshly made apple butter, as well as raffle tickets for a West Virginia University golf bag and a gun safe.

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