East Blue Hill Library bakes up tasty fundraiser for Thanksgiving

Volunteers (from left) Maryanne Ross, Annette Dixon, Kathy Long and Holly Weinberg, along with Pam Fischer (not pictured), baked 65 homemade pies for sale at the East Blue Hill Library this week. The fundraiser, for which bakers donate their time and ingredients, is a big source of income for the small village library. Photo by Tricia Thomas.

By Tricia Thomas

EAST BLUE HILL—Maryanne Ross’ holiday baking is a bit more ambitious than most.  Ross, of East Blue Hill, was one of five volunteers who together baked 65 pies for sale this week to benefit the East Blue Hill Library.

Ross was joined this year by fellow bakers Annette Dixon, Pam Fischer, Kathy Long and Holly Weinberg, who baked a variety of fruit, custard and meat pies for the fifth-annual fundraiser.

Ross, who baked 40 of the 65 pre-ordered pies, was quick to downplay her effort.

“There’s really no magic to it.  You just follow the recipe,” Ross said, surveying the array of pies ready for pickup at the library on November 25.

Library director Katherine Marsh said the fundraiser has become a cherished local tradition, and is a significant source of income for the small library and its $17,000-per-year budget.

“This is an important piece of our fundraising,” Marsh said.

Bakers donate both their time and the cost of their ingredients, Marsh said.  Pies, which this year ranged from the traditional pumpkin to blueberry, apple and chicken or turkey pot pies, among others, are routinely pre-ordered and baked a few days before the pre-Thanksgiving fundraiser.  Planning takes a bit longer, said volunteer baker Pam Fischer.

“I cut the rhubarb from my garden this summer,” Fischer said.

Marsh, tying festive red yarn around the boxed pies to make them easier to carry, said the tradition is popular among patrons, who often buy an extra pie or two to donate to a neighbor in need.

Marsh, who chatted with bakers who came to drop off their pies and check on the fundraiser’s progress, said the event typifies the sense of community that ties the close-knit village together.

“This,” she said, “is my favorite time of the year.”

East Blue Hill Library director Katherine Marsh readies a variety of fruit, custard and meat pies for pickup as part of the library's annual pre-Thanksgiving pie sale fundraiser. Photo by Tricia Thomas.