Interesting tools make a task more fun. Jim Steinmiller is shown here using a prized antique apple peeler.

Once a year on a (usually perfect!) day in October, members and friends of St. Mary’s Hannah parish gather in the church kitchens to produce fresh apple pies, ready to pop into the oven, for sale to raise funds for their school. Over the course of 16 years, orders for these fat, delicious pies have grown to 1,025, and customers from several surrounding counties sign up weeks in advance to pay $7, upon delivery, for each pie.

In 2003, volunteers peeled and sliced 50 bushels of apples and used 400 lbs. of sugar, 500 lbs. of flour, 300 lbs. of shortening, and 17 gallons of milk. Select pie-making products and startup money were donated by a dozen local businesses. Many pie-makers willingly took a vacation day from their regular jobs to pitch in! Everyone worked hard, chatting with friends and neighbors as they performed their pleasurable tasks, and all enjoyed a midday potluck lunch break.

The 16th annual event, netting 1,025 pies, was a record-breaker. Word continues to spread, the number of pies ordered continues to rise, and new volunteers arrive each year to get in on the fun.

St. Mary’s is located in the rural community of Hannah, Michigan, located 15 miles south of Traverse City.

Showing the finished product are, left to right, Maxine Steinmiller, Betty Bauer, and Romona Crain. Every year, Romona takes a vacation day from her job at Village Press to help make the pies.

 

Peeled apples must be washed and weighed. All pies are created equal!

 

Volunteers gather in the St. Mary’s Hannah kitchen to peel and core apples. At far right is Barb Bogart, who coordinated the 2003 fundraising event.