Before Captain Applesauce became one of the most recognizable faces of the Murphysboro Apple Festival, he was an idea in the imagination of Peggy Strong.

Peggy created Captain Applesauce in 1980, envisioning a gentle, warm and slightly comical superhero for the children of Murphysboro. More than four decades later, generations of kids have grown up with him as part of their Apple Festival experience.

But long before I knew Peggy as the woman who created Captain Applesauce, I knew her as Mrs. Strong, my sixth-grade art teacher. She taught me how to draw a tree—and to this day, when I’m on hold with a pen and paper nearby, that’s still the tree I doodle.

That makes it especially fun to sit down with her now and talk about creativity, children and the character she created who became an Apple Festival tradition.

As Peggy says, the festival is “a world of art.” I can’t think of anyone better to help tell that part of its story.

Thank you, Peggy, for sharing your Murphysboro Apple Festival story—and for teaching generations of kids, including me, to see the world a little more creatively. 🍎