A Round of Pies for Everyone, Please!

Yes, that photo is me. What, like you think a pie-butt doesn’t need an official tee shirt?

TRUE CONFESSION: I’m a lover of pies, aka ‘pie-butt’. It doesn’t really matter whether it’s blueberry (a la mode, please!), coconut cream (coffee with a shot of Kahlua?), or pure pumpkin (hello whipped cream goodness!). You put a piece in front of me and my response is, “Hey there, good lookin’. Where’ve you been?”

So, imagine how a gal like me feels when she hears that the granddaddy of all pie events will be held in her own backyard? Well let’s just say that once I heard the American Pie Council was holding their national championships nearby I knew I had to be involved. Better yet was the realization that ‘being involved’ would include admission to their never-ending-pie-buffet. Yes, it was, and yes, I did!

Was I dreaming this or what????

TRUE CONFESSION, Part Deux: Since the Chief Pie Planner position was already taken (sigh) I had to settle for being a volunteer, but for sure it was a volunteer with perks, and I’m not just referring to the (ahem) great tee shirt . . .

So, aside from being an amusing story, it got me to thinking that most everyone has taken up a worthy cause in support of one charity or another over the years. And to be clear, in addition to volunteering my professional services at the mother of all pie festivals, like many of you I’ve also donated countless hours to more service-worthy and philanthropic charities. In doing so I’ve discovered that no matter what the cause we always get some personal benefit from doing the deed, right? Usually it’s a warm fuzzy in our heart for helping humanity but sometimes, as in the case of my pie-butt helping to turn a suburb of Orlando temporarily into the pie capital of the whole damn world, I did it just to put a big ole smile on my face because if you don’t like pie you must hate America! (Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but still. . .). Seriously, there wasn’t a complaint or grumpy person to be found during this multi day event full of thousands of bakers, tasters, and people with berry-stained but smiling faces, so in the end, wasn’t this a worthy cause?

Now, how about you? Have you ever volunteered to work on a project just for fun knowing that it was (mostly) self-serving? Sometimes stepping back from the daily grind of our uber busy work lives and supporting a project that starts and ends with YOU is better than church on Sundays. (NOTE TO READERS: Please don’t tell Father Steve that I just said that, okay?) And sometimes, you get the pie, too!

PS – If you’re wondering what my favorite pie is, well take a look at this award winner: