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At Weaver’s Orchard, Johnny Appleseed Day comes just once a year. For many years, on the Saturday after Labor Day, John Henschel has become John Chapman (better known as Johnny Appleseed), to the delight of eager elementary-age kids who come to Weaver’s with their families for  Johnny Appleseed Day. But to John Henschel, telling stories like Johnny Appleseed’s is a whole way of life.

On a typical day in September or October, you might find John Henschel dressed in burlap, wearing a metal pot on his head and sharing rich details about Johnny Appleseed’s life with kids at elementary schools and orchards, or even adults at senior centers.

He got his start as Johnny Appleseed when hedressed up for his grandson’s kindergarten class at Brandywine Elementary School in Topton. The sight of a tall, bearded man dressed in burlap clothing and wearing a strange hat caught the attention of the other elementary school teachers, and by time he left the school, he had visited all of their classes!

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