It’s not too often that you get to eat pie and raise money for a great cause. So I was really happy to be part of the recent Pie Eating Contest at the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin’s (PDPW) annual meeting – for the second year in a row. Proceeds from the contest benefit the Professional Dairy Producers Foundation. The pressure was on this year since I had to defend my title!
As a former board member and past president of PDPW, I know how important its mission is: to provide educational opportunities for dairy producers and the public, and to engage consumers in agriculture.
Pictured are (left to right): Mike Hutjens, University of Illinois; Winner Dean Strauss of Sheboygan Falls; Former White House Chef Walter Scheib, keynote speaker; and Keith Engel, GEA Farm Technologies.
How did this pie contest come about? The PDPW board nominated seven of us, past or present PDPW members or others who understand the importance of the dairy industry, to compete for votes at $1 per vote. The top three vote-getters got to eat pie. Banana cream pie, to be exact. It was fun getting people involved. Friends, neighbors, and business associates all stepped up the plate (no pun intended).
Well, maybe a lot of them wanted to see if I’ve still “got it.” I was a fraternity pie-eating champion back in the day, and I guess they wondered if I could still put it away…and do it two years in a row!
I was one of the top three vote-getters, along with Mike Hutjens from the University of Illinois, and Keith Engel of GEA Farm Technoloiges. I won the contest, but the best part was the camaraderie of the whole thing. If you can laugh at yourself, it makes it fun.
It was great to see the interest and support for PDPW. All told, we raised $22,500. That money will be used for outreach to towns and counties, youth activities, events that get people out visiting farms, and educating the community about agriculture.
Oh, and did I mention that there were no hands allowed? I guess I’ve still got it.
