Years ago, there was a small group of missionaries...

...They set out to find a new homeland for their brand of Christianity. They left Vermont with little to their name, only the clothes on their backs and a song in their heart. As they traveled, they would sing for their meals. In these days there weren’t what we would consider restaurants, but instead people would gather at the local public house.
Since our missionaries were, well, religious, their peak performances would occur Sunday mornings, when they were thinking the most about the glory of God. As they moved forward in their travels, word preceded them from town to town, so it came to be that when they would get to a new town, they would be inundated with requests for this hymn or that. In many towns, the people had little to give the performers, and the chorus would simply request an apple for each of the singers. In this way, our little religious singing group came to be known as the Morning Tavern Apple Choir.