FORT RILEY, Kan. -- The Historical and Archaeological Society of Fort Riley raised more than $12,000 from apple pies sales during the Fall Apple Day festival Sept. 23.
Co-Pie Queen Pamela Quichocho, wife of Command Sgt. Maj. Roque Quichocho, senior noncommissioned officer of the 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, said the profits will be used to preserve, protect and maintain Fort Riley's heritage.
After Hyvee delivered the ingredients Sept. 15, it was a race to complete 1,500 pies within a week. Fifteen volunteers came to help unload the necessities from the truck. Preparation day happened the Sunday after that.
"We had 16 volunteers to help us prep," Quichocho said. "Monday through Wednesday was pie making. We had 105 volunteers come out, 25 of those were repeat volunteers. Friday on pie-baking day, we had eight volunteers to bake 240 pies."
There were initially 12 pie-making shifts from Monday through Thursday at 9 to 11:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m., but the last three shifts on Thursday were no longer needed when they fulfilled the 1,500 target quantity by Wednesday evening.
Members of HASFR coordinated with Hyvee to source and price ingredients. Co-Pie Queen Maggy Gray, wife of Lt. Col. Pete Gray, professor of Military Science at Kansas State University, said this year, Granny Smith apples cost more.
"Something happened somewhere in the world that actually affected the Granny (Smith) apple production -- yeah, go figure -- so the cost of a box of apples actually doubled," she said. "And Hyvee was able to work with our distributor and get our price down a little bit for us because it was going for like $5,000 for apples to almost $10,000. So, luckily, Hyvee got us some that were actually $7,500."
Although the cost of making the pies was funded partially by donations, HASFR bore most of the charge.
"Some of them are donated, others we had to pay for," Quichocho said. "We purchased most of it."
"Most of our donations come from HASFR," Gray said in addition to her co-pie queen's statement. "And then we get a donation from Brett Allison from Nancy Allison Perkins Foundation for $5,000 that usually offsets the cost of the apples."
According to Quichocho, a total of 195 volunteers signed up to help in the pie making process. And on Fall Apple Day, they also had JROTC students plus 30 other volunteers help with the pie sales.
The pies were sold at different price point starting at $3 for a slice, $4 for a slice with ice cream. Presale pies were $11, and $13 for a frozen pie and $14 for a baked pie at the event.
"We sold 378 on our presale," Gray said.
According to Quichocho, the pies sold out Sept. 23 at 4 p.m.
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