Photo: Tierney L. Cross/Washington Post.
Carl Endrulat, right, and his girlfriend Jenny Mandl were behind the “Eat an Apple With Me” event in Washington, DC.
October is the time for apple picking most places, but it was a hot day in August when Washington, DC, focused on apples. On that day, a lot of strangers arrived in Malcolm X Park to eat an apple together.
Liam Scott writes at the Washington Post, “Carl Endrulat is a Pink Lady type of guy. The first time he ate one was euphoric. …
“Endrulat’s love of apples reached a new high when about 1,000 people gathered at Meridian Hill Park in Northwest Washington to eat an apple together. Endrulat organized the ‘Eat an Apple With Me’ event with his girlfriend, Jenny Mandl. …
“There’s no deep or hidden meaning in the event, Endrulat said. The wackiness is the point. ‘It’s really an exercise in silly joy,’ said Endrulat, who works as a software engineer for a Defense Department contractor.
“Bringing people together was the goal, too, Mandl said. ‘People yearn for community,’ she said. ‘It doesn’t have to make sense.’ …
“At the park, which is also known as Malcolm X Park, the cascading fountain was flowing, and hundreds of people were bustling around. Temperatures were high. Spirits were higher. Apples were everywhere.
“Red Bull brand ambassadors were on site, passing out free white peach energy drinks. ‘Gotta support the whimsy,’ Bryce Waweru said as he hawked cans.
“Nearby, Rose Dallimore, 26, and her friends wore red papier-mâché apple hats that Dallimore’s mom had made for them.
“ ‘It’s an awesome way to bring people together for something that isn’t super high stakes, which is needed in DC,’ Dallimore said.
“Jack Wilson, 38, came with his two kids, 4-year-old Wilhelmina and 7-year-old Thomas. Wilson said his son asked him why they were eating apples in the park.
“ ‘And the answer was because it’s silly, and it had been a while since we’d done anything silly,’ Wilson said.
“Madison Gee came with a few friends for what she called her ‘impromptu bachelorette party.’ The DC Tutoring and Mentorship Initiative took advantage of the crowd to sign up volunteers. …
“When Endrulat and Mandl first posted the event on Partiful in June, Endrulat didn’t think more than 20 or 30 people would come. But then Mandl reached out to several Partiful employees on LinkedIn. One responded and put the event on the app’s discover page. ‘Then it started blowing up,’ Mandl said.
“The event grew so popular that Endrulat and Mandl had to get a permit from the National Park Service. On Wednesday, the couple met with representatives from D.C. police and the park service to go over final details. …
“At first, Endrulat and Mandl were planning to provide apples to the attendees. Mandl had visions of her car overflowing with the fruit. But they said the National Park Service told them that public health concerns meant they couldn’t offer any fruit that people eat the skin of. Oranges and bananas were okay, the park service said. … So they pivoted to making the event BYOA: Bring Your Own Apple.
“Why apples? Why not? …
“The fruit is also a comedy bit for Endrulat: His Instagram is filled with pictures of him eating apples in front of sites like the Charging Bull in New York’s financial district and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. There’s also one of him eating an apple while running a race.
“It’s really funny to me to have a photo of some notable thing behind me while I’m eating an apple,” Endrulat said.
“At 2 p.m., a collective crunch filled the park as hundreds of people took a bite of their apples at the same time. Juice dripped down their chins, and Endrulat took a selfie.”
Almost as silly as the outhouse races of Minnesota! More at the Post, here.
