Maya McFadden Photo
Westville kicked off its annual “Hi-Fi Pie” competition and fest on Monday evening with 10 homemade stone fruit pies, a live music performance by the band Zikina, and Southern-style barbeque food options from the Oak Haven Mobile Kitchen.
The Westville baking contestants caused this year’s judges to make some challenging close calls for the winning prizes.
Almost 200 residents gathered at Beecher Park outside the Westville Branch library with their families and friends for the first in the series of Monday night concerts and bake-offs. Westville Branch library and the Westville Village Renaissance Alliance partnered together to organize the annual summer event. (Click here for details on upcoming concert/bake-offs.)
“This really enhances the spirit of Westville,” said Nan Bartow, a Beaver Hills resident who brought her granddaughter to the event to enjoy the warm weather and live music, all while filling themselves with pie.
Bartow said of the three pies she tasted, her favorite was the peach-rhubarb lattice pie.
The contest included both junior and adult contestants. The four junior judges said they struggled to name a single winner between the two junior contestants. The contestants Ella and Finn tied for first place and both received a $5 gift certificate to Bill’s Carousel ice cream. The junior competition was for kids 14 and under.
Chalk was provided for families to pave the walkway in art, additionally, a ping-pong table was provided. Families brought lawn chairs and blankets to relax on the ground for the lively evening.
Randy Hoffman placed first in the adult contest for his rum plum-apricot pie, the first pie he ever baked. Former baking champion and contestant Libby Abraham was a judge for the adult contest along with Kiara Matos. Matos presented Hoffman with a homemade prize for his first-place success.
Naomi Senzer worked alongside the many volunteers to dish out either a $3 pie slice and $5 sampler of three pies. Senzer said she began organizing the pie-portion of the event in May by reaching out to bakers using an email list of former bakers from the past years along with recruiting judges. Senzer said she searched among past judges, local bakers, food business owners, and past winners to find this year’s two judges.
“I put my sights on pie for the summer,” said Senzer.
The peach frangipane galette pie placed second after Hoffman and the peach basil pie placed third in the friendly competition.
Familiar with the hard work involved in fruit preparation and crust-making, Senzer sought to come up with worthwhile prizes for the winners. “We try to make it really rewarding for everyone involved,” she said.
The pie was served by a dozen volunteers for residents. The ice cream that topped the pie-tasters plate was donated to the event by Ashley’s.
The melting of community and flavors was Senzer’s goal for a successful first week of the series. “This should not be a money-making event. This should be a day for bringing people together,” she said.
The artist community of Westville danced along to the live music by Zikina.
“The music is perfect. It makes you want to smile at everyone around you and just enjoy this moment,” said Bartow.
By the end of the evening, the pies had all sold out.