John “Johnny Appleseed” Chapman’s birthday is in three days, and this past weekend a Fort Wayne park hosted a festival in his honor. The Johnny Appleseed Festival has attracted locals, tourists, and vendors for forty years. Visitors found volunteers in period costume blacksmithing and crafting cornhusk dolls the way 19th century pioneers would have.
One of the main attractions at the park is Johnny Appleseed’s memorial grave. Because so many people visit it every year, volunteers are giving it a makeover. They ripped out overgrown bushes, planted new ones, and smoothed the stone path so Johnny can look his best for visitors.