I wanted to start this story with an allegory about an apple tree that bore fruit for many years until it stopped producing and was cut down. The orchard was closed. But people missed the tree. And they missed the apples. Fortunately they had kept some seeds from the old tree. This year they planted some, and in the unexpectedly fertile soil, the saplings are more numerous than these modern-day John Chapmans could imagine.

Anyway Lake City’s Johnny Appleseed festival is back after a one-year absence.