Old DeBorgia Schoolhouse crew bakes up a storm
The apple-peeling committee in the apple pie factory at the Old DeBorgia School. The group baked 75 apple pies for one of their fundraisers. (Monte Turner/Mineral Independent)
Henry Ford would be so envious!
His production line workers in 1903 had negotiated $5 each for an 8-hour day.
The assembly line in the Old DeBorgia Schoolhouse worked the same amount of time but as volunteers, however, their perks were laughter, ribbing, homemade fudge and banana bread as they cranked out about 75 apple pies last Thursday.
Lynette Walters was busy making doughballs to be flattened into pie crusts but made time to visit.
“We had kind of a difficult time getting workers this year due to a lot of the members still being wary of Covid, which we totally understood. But we had so many people that wanted us to do this - they really look forward to our pies,” Walters said. “Then another obstacle we ran into was the company that has, in years past, donated all of our apples, was taken over by new management and no longer was willing to do so."
So, the hunt began making dozens and dozens of phone calls. And it didn't help that apple prices were extremely high due to the hot weather this summer and the lack of workers in the orchards.
"Long story short, we cut the number of pies we are making in half, and the days of making pies to two instead of three," Walters said. "Hopefully next year we will be back to full production. We really appreciate the support of the community!”
Hazel Cromwell drove to Yakima, Washington, and back the day before to pick up 10 huge boxes of Galas that had been donated when word went out.
Two donated boxes from the Kalispell area were dropped off, too.
“Due to the unexpected cost of apples, we unfortunately have had to raise the price on our pies to $11 each. But they are still wonderful pies, loaded high with apples and ready to bake in your oven,” Walters said.
Their apple pie project has been an annual event for over 40 years, initially started by the Happy Homemakers, which morphed into the DeBorgia Schoolhouse Foundation once they became a non-profit.
Walters has been the chairperson for a few years but deflects any credit to the volunteers who make this successful.
This was the 19th year for Joan Kellan, who has been promoted to work boss. She takes coffee and goodies to the crew as break times were rare in 2021.
The Old DeBorgia Schoolhouse is the community center for the tight-knit west-end hosting a big spaghetti-feed the night before the big game season opens, Christmas tree lighting with caroling and hot cider, St. Patrick’s Day Corned Beef and Cabbage along with Rummage Sales all to keep it open at no cost to the community.
“We do need to charge for family reunions and weddings but for funerals, AA meetings, church and school gatherings and things like that, we donate the space. We even have had a few business meetings who cater lunch from local restaurants which helps as we don’t charge much at all for these.”
To order a pie, call Walters at 406-678-3093. Ask when their holiday bake sale is going to be held as she is saving some apple pies for that event, which is close to Thanksgiving.