U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for September 17

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110428/DC91889LOGO)

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17: JOHNNY APPLESEED

Profile America — Saturday, September 17th.  One of America's true folk heroes — Johnny Appleseed — is being honored this weekend at a festival in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  Some 300,000 people are expected to enjoy crafts, colonial era food, dancing, and music.  The festival is staged at Johnny Appleseed's grave site.  He was born John Chapman in 1774, and for almost 50 years of his life, he roamed the wilderness barefoot and without weapons, devotedly planting apple trees and even entire orchards in a five-state area from Pennsylvania to Indiana.  Some of his trees are still bearing fruit after 200 years.  And Americans do like apples.  We each eat just over 16 pounds every year, generating more than $2 billion in income for the farmers who grow them.  Profile America is in its 15th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources:  Chase's Calendar of Events 2011, p. 466, 482

Statistical Abstract of the United States 2011, t. 214, 858

Profile America is produced by the Public Information Office of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button).  

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau