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aturday was a sweet night, not only because we auctioned off 26 pies for more than $1,000, but also because we will be able to donate about three times as much to two local food pantries.

The inaugural Barry County Bake Off & Dessert Benefit Auction went off without a hitch. Nearly 75 people showed up to the event, enjoying beef vegetable and potato soup and salad supplied by The Rib at a discounted cost, as well as brownies made in the Crowder Community Building by our own Sheila Harris just hours prior.

The evening started with dinner and musical entertainment provided by Cindy Edwards, who played various tunes, including two songs I rather enjoyed — Don McLean’s “American Pie” and Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel” — while prepping judging forms for the pie and cake contests.

After an hour-long set, Kaitlyn McConnell spoke about her book that inspired the new event, “The Ozarks Pie Project Diary.”

While I was too wrapped up in tallying judges’ scores for the contests to catch much of what McConnell had to say, what stands out is how “pie suppers” used to be a common fundraiser throughout the county many years ago. As a fan of nostalgia and recreating history, it was a fun full circle moment to create an event inspired from days past and see it to fruition.

After McConnell spoke, I thanked all the attendees for coming and for their donations of time, money or pies, then I introduced Donnie Stumpff as our live auctioneer.

I have never seen Donnie auction in person, and throughout his auction chant and quippy one-liners keeping attendees entertained, I couldn’t help but display a big fat smile on my face.

Stumpff auctioned 26 pies and cakes, as well as a two-night stay at the Emory Melton Inn at Roaring River State Park.

Once all had been sold, we wrapped up the silent auction and began tallying spending and taking collections.

By the night’s end, excluding food costs and insurance for the Community Building, the first Barry County Bake Off & Dessert Benefit Auction did thousands better than we expected.

In total, we raised nearly $3,000 to split between the Cassville Pantry and the Generations Project, all to alleviate food insecurity in Barry County.

My wife, Jordan, and I agreed we’d pitch in any lacking funds to ensure each organization will receive $1,500 even from the Troutman Foundation, the non-profit arm of Troutman Media LLC and the Cassville Democrat dedicated to supporting non-profits in our area. It was the first time Jordan and I were able to use the organization we set up last year, and we could not be more proud of how this community came together and supported the worthy cause.

To put it in perspective, Carrie Beck, Generations Project director, said she can take that donation and use it to get food from Ozarks Food Harvest for a dime on the dollar. That means for her purposes alone, Generations Project will have the equivalent of $15,000 to stock its shelves for our friends and neighbors in need.

I have no doubt Janet Mills, Cassville Pantry director, will also find ways to stretch her incoming donation to help the more than 1,500 individuals who come through her doors each month, 40% of whom are retirees or disabled and on fixed incomes.

Given the success of the event, we absolutely plan to do it again next year, likely targeting the Saturday prior to Thanksgiving, as it’s a fun and community supportive way to procure a few extra desserts for the upcoming holiday.

Being our initial event, we have a few people we’d like to thank, some of whom have already been mentioned.

Thank you to Beck and Mills for partnering with us and attending. both said they had a great time and are already looking forward to next year.

Thank you to Edwards for the fantastic music, and we hope to have her back next year.

Thank you to McConnell for her speaking contribution and the extra “pie” knowledge. We were also happy to hear she sold 19 copies of her book at the event.

Thank you to Stumpff, as well as his wife, Teresa, and grandson, Bradley, for their assistance in auctioning the sweet treats.

Thank you to Sheila for cooking up this idea with us. At times, we may have felt we bit off more than we could chew, but as it turns out, we bit off just enough.

Thank you to Jessica Breger for being part of the crew, and Charlea and Isaac Estes-Jones for helping with little things like setup, judging math and silent auction wrap-up.

Thank you to Christina Leach and the Cassville JAG program’s Delight Otto for their help serving the meal, and thank you to The Rib for helping us make such a wonderful meal possible.

Thank you to Sarah Smith and Crowder College for use of the facility, and finally, thank you to everyone who attended and entered or donated the 26 total pies and cakes.

As all these folks were leaving, and in the days after, we continually heard how much fun they had and that the Barry County Bake Off & Dessert Benefit Auction was a quaint throw back to days gone by, ultimately raising funds for a worthy cause in our community.

All in all, it was a sweet night. My only regret is I didn’t bag one of the pies myself!

Kyle Troutman has served as editor of the Cassville Democrat since 2014 and owner/publisher since 2023. He is a three-time ISWNE Golden Dozen award winner. He may be reached at 417-847-2610 or [email protected].