Acushnet’s Beloved Candy Apple Stand Celebrates 50 Sugary-Sweet Years
When Acushnet's Apple Peach Festival kicks off this weekend there will be a crowd around an old favorite.
The Candy Apple will be celebrating its 50th birthday.
Incredibly, for 50 years locals and out-of-towners alike have looked forward to indulging in the sugary, sweet treats.
The Candy Apple Story
In the summer of 1973, the Brodeurs moved from Fairhaven to Acushnet. Their new home had a swimming pool, so the girls and their brother enjoyed a summer full of splashing and Marco Polo. As summer came to an end, the pool was closed and 11-year-old Gail Brodeur started complaining that she hadn't yet met any friends and there was nothing to do at the new house.
The Brodeur family lived next door to Poyant Cider Mill on Main Street, so Gail's mother Lorraine encouraged her to make some candy apples and sell them on a picnic table, a candy apple version of a lemonade stand. Gail had fun preparing the apples and sold every last one of them. The following weekend Lorraine and Gail did it again.
And they sold out again.
As time went by, little Gail lost interest in the candy apple stand, but her mother was shocked by the response from the public.
Lorraine thought, "Wow, this could actually be something."
She decided to lose the store-bought mix and develop her own recipe with no preservatives. Her husband bought a Gambrel shed, put it on wheels and rolled it up to the street. The Candy Apple was born.
Back in 1973, a plain red apple at Candy Apple Farm was 35 cents. A red apple with coconut was 45 cents and a caramel apple was 50 cents.
While the prices have obviously increased over the past 50 years, they haven't moved in the past two.
After Lorraine decided she didn't want to run the business anymore, different members of the family filled in to make sure the business continued until Lorraine's son and his wife, Michelle, took over the business in 1988.
The Candy Apple Farm has managed to stay in the Brodeur family for the entire 50-year run and they have continued to use the original recipe.
Little Gail would be shocked to know that 50 years later, her makeshift candy apple stand would still be going strong selling the visually appealing fruit to eager customers.
The Brodeurs say they have some special surprises planned for customers next weekend for the official 50th celebration.