The 21st annual Haywood County Apple Harvest Festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 17, in historic downtown Waynesville.

The annual festival, which celebrates the beauty of the harvest season in Haywood County, will have a new twist for 2009. The Haywood County Chamber of Commerce will be teaming with the staff of the Shook-Smathers Museum to host the first Apple Recipe Bake-Off & Auction.

Residents are encouraged to celebrate everything apples and enter their best apple dishes in the contest. All exhibits are to be entered Saturday, Oct. 17, between 10 a.m. and noon on the front steps of the Haywood County Courthouse. Dishes will be judged by a team of residents, town officials and local celebrities. Prizes and rosettes will be awarded to the first through third place exhibits.

The top five entries and their corresponding recipes will be auctioned at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17. All proceeds from the event will go to benefit The Shook Museum. The Shook-Smathers House, located in Clyde, is the oldest frame structure west of the Blue Ridge. Built in the early 1800s by Jacob Shook, the house was later purchased by Levi Smathers, and remained in the Smathers family for 153 years. Dr. Joseph Shook Hall, a descendant of Jacob Shook, purchased the house in 2003, restored it, and then opened it to the public as a museum.

Applications are available at www.haywood-nc.com or the Chamber Office on 591 S. Main Street.

For more information, contact the Greater Haywood County Chamber of Commerce at 828.456.3021.