Wendell Foster's new CEO Eric Scharf thought folks were joshing when they told him a cake once sold for $1,000 and pies routinely go for $500 at the famed Whitesville Lions Club annual Chili Supper & Pie Auction.
To begin with, Scharf, who moved to Owensboro from Massachusetts late last year, never heard of a pie auction. Now that he knows the scoop, he's eager to attend and take his family.
"What a wonderful idea," Scharf said of the fundraiser.
The event kicks off with a chili supper at 5 p.m. April 13 at the Whitesville Senior Center, 10345 Kentucky 54. Pies and cakes go on the auction block at 6 p.m.
Proceeds will be divided between Wendell Foster and Puzzle Pieces. Both agencies serve people with developmental disabilities.
For more than 30 years, the event has raised money for Wendell Foster. Puzzle Pieces will share in this year's proceeds for the first time because its facility needs new flooring, paint and furniture.
Usually, between 80 and 100 cakes and pies are sold annually at the event. They come from a variety of sources, such as Wendell Foster employees, Lions Club members, Whitesville residents and area businesses, to name a few.
"We have many politicians and people running for office who come to our auction," said Cathy Roby of the Lions Club.
The center holds about 125 people. The event draws a standing-room-only crowd.
Last year, the Whitesville Passionist nuns baked about 10 pecan pies. One sold for $500.
Two years ago, a cake sold for $600, but the buyer returned it to the auction. The cake sold again that night for $300.
Lewis Jean of Whitesville bakes a pineapple upside-down cake annually for the event.
He and Daviess County Judge-Executive Al Mattingly were elementary school classmates. It's a well-known fact that Mattingly tries to take home Jean's cake each year.
Many of the Lions Club's past auction records were purged recently, but Gerald Wedding, the organization's secretary, remembers Mattingly was outbid only once — by former Daviess County Property Valuation Administrator Sandy Dowdy.
Wedding recalls Dowdy paid $1,000 for Jean's pineapple upside-down cake.
"I think she split it with (Mattingly) when it was over," Wedding said.
When the organization started the auction more than 30 years ago, the entire night's proceeds might have hit $600.
"Now, it's not unusual for one cake or pie to bring that much," Wedding said. "It's not the item that brings the money. It's the cause."
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