It’s about time for bakers and amateur chefs throughout Ramona to start planning their entries for this year’s Ramona Junior Fair Pie Auction and BBQ, which will be held Saturday, May 30.
All types of cookies, pies, cakes, cupcakes, candies and family favorite desserts are sought for the annual pie auction that raises funds for scholarships and the Junior Fair activities, said Pie Auction Coordinator Kim Newcomer.
“We really encourage homemade desserts,” Newcomer said. “It’s fun to watch the bantering back and forth as people bid up auction items like the Toth family’s chocolate chip cookies.”
Donations for the auction will be accepted from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. the day of the auction at the Ramona Junior Fair home economics building at 431 Aqua Lane, across from the Ramona Community Center/Senior Center.
Courtesy Kim Newcomer
From left, Ari Houck, Mercy Ash and Lily Ash display a baked item at last year’s Ramona Junior Fair Pie Auction. (Courtesy Kim Newcomer)
One way donors can get creative with their desserts is by incorporating them into baskets, Newcomer said.
Some of the favorite gift baskets in years past have included a man basket prepared by Newcomer’s husband, Guy Buchanan. That basket featured bacon chocolate chocolate chip cookies accompanied by manly items like tools, gloves and a bottle of whiskey, she said.
A honey cookie basket is also a favorite usually assembled by the Ramona Stars 4-H beekeeping group, Newcomer said. The baskets are filled with bee stuffies, candles, wax wraps and other bee-related items, she said.
“If anybody wants to make a basket they are welcome to do that,” she said. “The basket should have a theme and a dessert item since it is a pie auction.”
Stephanie Rene Ogilvie
Mrs. Toth’s World Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies is a traditional favorite at the pie auction. The perpetual glass jar is engraved with the name of each year’s buyer. In the past, the cookies sold for $1,500. (Stephanie Rene Ogilvie)
In addition to raising funds through the pie auction, Ramona Junior Fair volunteers make and sell a barbecue dinner served at 4 p.m. just before the pie auction starts at 6 p.m.
This year’s dinner features deep pit beef, pork and turkey served with baked beans, potato salad, macaroni salad and a roll accompanied by tea, lemonade and water, said Jeff Becker, president of the Ramona Junior Fair. The barbecue dinner held at the Ramona Junior Fairgrounds costs $15 per plate or $50 for a family of four.
Last year’s pie auction and barbecue dinner raised a record-setting $28,000, Becker said.
“We don’t have a fundraising goal per se this year but we’re hoping to surpass $28,000,” he said. “It’s always a goal to exceed what we did last year.”
Auctioneer Matt Goram will be returning this year. Side entertainment includes a surprise pie-in-your-face event and a tractor show between the two barns that features a display of old cars, tractors and trucks
The Ramona Pie Auction is a one-of-a-kind annual event that benefits the community, Becker said.
“This is a unique situation that started in the early 1980s,” he said.
This year’s Ramona Junior Fair will start on Friday, July 24 and continue through the animal auction day on Saturday, Aug. 1.
For more information, visit RamonaJuniorFair.com.