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Highlands Today

The Apple Of His Eye

Kathy Waters/Highlands Today

Bruce Lybarger is proud of the Rotary International organization that he has belonged to since 1982. He is actively involved with the annual Gene Scheck Rotary Apple & Sweet Cider Sale.

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Sue Ann Carpenter

Published: October 22, 2007

SEBRING – When talking to Bruce Lybarger, one has to wonder whether there is a corollary between the wheel symbol for Rotary Clubs and those on race cars. He's a fanatic about both.

Since 1982, Rotarian Bruce Lybarger has been a C.P.A. in downtown Sebring. He enjoys golf as a social outlet, but prefers watching auto races. He attends the biggies, like the Indy 500 and the 24 Hours of LeMans in France, but his personal favorite is the Twelve Hours of Sebring."I can't put a price on it," he said. "It's an international event encased with a local flair. It's a bonus of living here."

Rotary International is the largest civic organization in the world with 1.3 million members. Their motto is "Service Above Self" and "He Profits Most Who Serves Best."

The Rotary Club of Sebring was chartered on Sept. 8, 1924, about the same time as The Rotary Club of Avon Park. Together they have been responsible for sponsoring the other five clubs in Highlands County as well as some in surrounding counties.

When he first moved here, Lybarger was introduced to Rotary by J. Claggett Taylor Jr., who encouraged him to apply for the Group Study Exchange Program. Lybarger was one of five men in South Florida selected to go to Thailand for six weeks. In exchange, the local district hosted a group from Thailand. "I joined Rotary in '86 and what a great group of people I've gotten to know. They're the Who's Who of Highlands County," Lybarger said.

Many other projects have been supported by The Rotary Club of Sebring. In the past they underwrote the first Sebring High School Band in 1927, renovated the Sebring City Pier and established Rotary Park at a cost of $250,000 in charitable endeavors. They sent 20 shelter boxes to Southeast Asia's tsunami victims, provided Polio Plus vaccine for children in Third World countries, and gave Christmas candy and phone cards for military personnel. Locally they've been involved with: The Salvation Army, Sebring Middle and Hill-Gustat Middle School bands, Boy and Girl Scouts of America; Rotary District Dictionary Project; Hammock Road Multi Sport Path; Good Shepherd Hospice; Habitat for Humanity; Ridge Area ARC; Rotary Camp Florida; and New Testament Mission, just to name a few. The club meets at noon on Tuesdays at the Sebring Civic Center.

Thirty-eight years ago, Rotarian Gene Scheck created the idea of an Apple and Sweet Cider Sale as a
local project. The apples come from an orchard in Clyde, Ohio, where Scheck lived before moving to Sebring in the 1960s.

Originally Scheck, known as The Apple Man, managed the sale single handedly. As the sale grew, Lybarger assisted Scheck with automating the inventory control and sales functions using the computer. Lybarger assumed more of the responsibilities as Scheck's health limited his participation. "Gene loved calling people to take orders and mingling with customers at the sale," Lybarger said. "This was his passion and gift. He was a true grocer and salesman."

Since then, Lybarger's been affectionately called the Apple Czar. Lybarger chairs the Club's Apple Committee, coordinates with the growers and truck drivers, determines the apple order, oversees the data entry of sales invoices and manages the collections and Rotarian accounts receivable. This unique event supplies approximately 80,000 pounds of product. The money generated is invested back into our community.

This is a fun social event for members, but it also requires a large amount of manpower. "Our club is aging, so the Rotary Interact Clubs at Heartland Christian and Sebring High are a great resource of strength. They also help build our future," Lybarger said. "This event represents sixty percent of our annual budget."

The Rotary Apple and Sweet Cider Sale is held at the Lakeshore Mall parking lot behind Red Lobster on Nov. 8 from 8 a.m. until they're sold out. Although two full semi trailers of product will arrive, most of the orders are pre-sold. Lybarger said, "That's the only way to insure you get what you want. We've already sold $15,000 worth, and the cutoff for pre-orders is October 26."

Cider is $5 for a gallon and $3 for a half gallon. A pint of apple butter is $5; a one-half bushel box (35-45 apples depending on variety) is $16 and ten pound bags are $8.50. Whatever your apple preference, whether chosen for snacks, used for salads, sauce, or baking, Rotary offers fourteen varieties to choose from: Fuji, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Cortland, Granny Smith, Jonagold, McIntosh, Mutsu Crispin, Stayman Winesap, Melrose, Gala, Jonathan, Rome and Idared.

In addition, there's a half-bushel Baker's Box of Jonagold, Idared, Winesap and Cortland apples; Gene's Choice of Gala, Jonathan and Rome Beauty apples; or a half- bushel Variety Pack of Fuji, Golden Delicious, Melrose and Bosc Pears.

To Lybarger, the best part of being the Apple Czar is being able to order off the list. Among the offerings at this event, the Cortland is his favorite.He said, "This is a legacy that Rotarian Gene Scheck started. It's great to be a part of that, and know it also helps our community."

For information or orders, call 446-2151, 471-9900 or 385-3829.

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