Happy 200th Birthday McIntosh Apple!

On Family Day, the Ontario Apple Growers invited apple lovers from all over to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the McIntosh apple with their first ever, Winter Apple Ball.

Hosted at the Westin Harbour Castle hotel in Toronto, the Winter Apple Ball celebrated the goodness of apples with arts and crafts, bouncy castles and activities, games and trivia about apples, and plenty of tasting opportunities. Participants also registered to participate in the Guinness Records attempt for the most people simultaneously bobbing for apples. Truly a sight to behold, the new record was set with 357 enthusiastic apple bobbers. Robb Nelson of Mississauga (pictured) had the fastest apple bobbing time of 32 seconds!

Second Harvest was also a winner at the Winter Apple Ball. While the event was free, all guests were asked to bring apples for donation to Second Harvest, and were matched by the Ontario Apple Growers for a total of 2,300 apples.

Quick Apple Facts

• The original McIntosh tree was a chance discovery by John McIntosh in the Village of Dundela, Ontario in the spring of 1811.
• The McIntosh apple represents approximately 25% of Ontario's total acreage.
• The McIntosh apple is grown in greater quantities than any other apple in Canada and the northeastern United States combined.
• It is reputed that Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc. and Mac computers, named the company after the McIntosh apple in 1976 after spending the summer working on a friend's apple orchard.
• In recent years the Ontario apple crop has averaged about 10 million bushels - that's approximately 12.5 pounds of apples for every Canadian!

For your own apple birthday celebration, why not try making some Firecracker Candied Apples?