Faith Lutheran’s pie auction may leave pockets a little emptier, but stomachs and hearts are left feeling fuller, knowing the money went to support an important mission.
The tradition of auctioning off pies at Faith Lutheran Church on Thanksgiving Eve has been going on for so long, no one seems to quite know when it started. The important thing is that every year it continues to raise money for a worthy cause.
The Nov. 23 auction put on by the High School Youth Group of the church, raises money for the group to go on a mission trip to Juarez, Mexico in the summer. While there, the youth build houses for those less fortunate. Last year, enough money was raised and enough people went on the trip that they were able to build two houses in one week. The youth hope to continue to expand and build more houses.
“Its such a rewarding experience,” said Seth Hartman, 16, who has been on the trip the past couple years. “It's irreplaceable.”
The group also puts on other fundraisers throughout the year such as car washes, but the pie auction tends to raise the most money. Last year, the auction raised over $3,000 and hopes were high that this year’s would yield the same or more.
“We want to raise just as much money as we can, or we have to pay the rest ourselves,” said Emma Griggs, a member of the youth group.
Members of the church community baked or bought the pies and then donated the pies to be auctioned that evening. Each pie is labeled by kind and the donators write why someone should buy the pie such as "yummy, yummy" and "a two-year-old helped." Professional auctioneers Mike and P.J. Clark were brought in for the first time this year to auction off the pies.
During the auction, members of the youth group served a variety of pies and refreshments to the participants. Also, raffle tickets were sold at a dollar a pop to bet on the winner of the pie-eating contest after all the pies were auctioned off. One ticket was drawn from the winning "bets," and the ticket holder won a pie.
“It’s not about spending $7.99 for a pie that is a $7.99 pie. It’s about spending $100 or $200,” Roy Masters, the MC for the night said.
The highest selling pie of the evening, titled “Delirium,” sold for $200 and was baked by Pastor Peter Morin. Other high-selling pies were a key lime for $125 and a coconut cream combined with pumpkin for $120.
After all the pies were auctioned off, a pumpkin pie-eating contest then ensued. The participants were John Akers, Director of Equipping Ministries at the church; Greg Hirons, a member of the church; Gail Griggs, a member of the church; Hartman and Hayley Hancock, another member of the youth group. After a very messy couple of minutes, a lot of cheering and chunks of pie flying everywhere, Hirons became the ultimate champion.
Hirons, not a big pumpkin pie fan, said he felt a little nauseated afterwards. “I’ve never done a pie-eating contest before,” he said, “I think if it wasn’t for the kids I wouldn’t have done it, but it was a lot of fun.”