Staying Fit
Courtesy Bibi Brion
For 35 years now, as winter has begun in northern Pennsylvania and the last of the apple harvest has been picked, Lon Schmouder has pressed cider. And for 35 years, neighbors and their children have dropped by to watch him do it.
It's been the same for decades: Little kids squeal as bushels of apples are crushed by the huge, noisy scissor-stack press inside Schmouder's barn in the community of Liberty.
AARP Membership— $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal
Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine.
Schmouder, 52, has shown lots of children his cider press over the decades, including his own two sons, now grown, who learned to press when they were small. But 6-year-old Boyd Brion was definitely the first to arrive with a microphone and video camera, ready to create a news report — or, well, a “news report” — about his neighbor's delicious cider.
It happened on a surprisingly warm afternoon in late November. Schmouder was preparing to do his final apple press of the season. So he invited his neighbors, Scott and Bibi Brion, to bring their young boys — Boyd and his brother Beau, age 4 — over to share in the fun.
When the family arrived, “Boyd had his microphone with him,” Schmouder remembers. “They told me that he was going to interview me.”
Quarantine-inspired creativity
Boyd started making videos with his mother during the spring and summer this year. They were trying to keep the learning going after the COVID-19 quarantine shifted Boyd's kindergarten class to learning at home. He's now doing first grade remotely as well, so he has plenty of time for projects.
Along the way, they hatched an idea: Why not create a pretend TV news station called “Liberty News,” so they could celebrate all the things Boyd loves about his rural community? Boyd and his mom carefully drew up a Liberty News logo and attached it to a microphone. They even dreamed up an official newscaster name for Boyd: Nick Knowzee.
"He's been home since March,” Bibi Brion says. “So it was a great opportunity to come up with things to do.”
In Boyd's opinion, Schmouder's apple cider is one of the very best things about living in Liberty. Another thing that makes Liberty wonderful? Kathy Schmouder, who was Boyd's kindergarten teacher last year and happens to be Lon's wife.
So on that sunny Saturday afternoon when the Brion family was invited to learn about cider-making at the Schmouder's barn, Boyd grabbed his trusty microphone.
"I only gave them like an hour's notice,” Lon Schmouder remembers, “and I think they were here in 30 minutes.”
More on Home and Family
Grandmother and Granddaughter Earn College Degrees Together
A retired bookkeeper reignited a lifelong interest in archaeology with her studiesA Poignant Thank-You for Teacher Who Helped Future Attorney Learn English
Kentucky teacher's efforts transformed the life of a girl who went on to Harvard Law SchoolRetiree Gives Back, Builds Desks for Students to Call Their Own
During the pandemic some children doing school from home don't have a space for learning