The annual Fourth of July cake and pie contest in Lutz this year will have a few new ingredients.
One change attempts to level the playing field.
(File Photo)
From past experiences, contest coordinator Marilyn Wannamaker said she has observed that it was not fair to have a 4-year-old compete against a 20-year-old. That inspired the addition of a new category.
Now there will be three categories instead of two. It will break up adults 18 and older in their own group, with teens between 12 and 17 competing against each other, and children from 4 through 11 in their own category.
Also new this year, the contest will be move to the Lutz Senior Center. Previously, it was at the Lutz Fire Department building, but the volunteer fire department has since been replaced with a county crew and the building sold.
This year will be Wannamaker’s “last hurrah,” as the GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club member plans to turn over the task of organizing the event to someone new next year. At age 83 and after running the contest for 12 years, Wannamaker said it’s time to give someone else a turn.
The Lutz woman said she originally found herself interested in the annual contest because she enjoys the opportunity to meet people in the community. Some competitors are new to the contest every year, while others enter each year.
Wilma Lewis typically enters four or five decorated cakes each year and is expected to do the same this year, Wannamaker said. The Gaschlers like to make it a family affair. Last year, Ron baked a hummingbird cake, Rebecca entered a chocolate chip confection, and Tracy made her famous five-pound apple pie.
The pie fetched $85, the highest price in the cake and pie auction, which follows the parade each year.
Adults and children entered about five-dozen pies and cakes last year. This year, Wannamaker hopes to attract more entries, as the theme of the Independence Day celebration is a salute to the volunteer firefighters who served the community for decades.
Those wishing to enter the contest should remember to think about the type of icing they use because there is no refrigeration in the judging areas, Wannamaker said.
“We had one little boy who baked a large cake that was a house and a village, and he used blueberry Jell-O for the lake,” Wannamaker said. “Well, his lake became an ocean.”
Winners in each category will receive a blue ribbon.
Size matters, too, according to the contest organizer. The entries must be no larger than 9-by-13 inches.
Once the contest is over, all pies and cakes will be carried over to the front of the train station for the auction. The money raised by the sales go to different charities in the Lutz area.
Besides generating money for good causes, the cake and pie auction can be entertaining. Auctioneer Bob Moore will encourage bidders, while Cheryl Benton carries the sweets around to give the crowd a good look at them.
Sometimes, Wannamaker said, the best bidding wars involve parents and grandparents.
Fourth of July cake and pie contest
There are now three age groups for the Lutz Fourth of July cake and pie contest. They are adults, ages 18 and older; teens, between 12 and 17; and children, from 4 through 11.
The contest categories are the same for each group, with the exception of an additional category for men in the adult age group, and for boys in the other two age groups. The idea is to get the boys and men into the kitchen, said Marilyn Wannamaker, contest coordinator.
Categories include best-decorated, most patriotic, best cake tasting, best pie tasting, judge’s favorite, and Guv’na’s favorite.
Those wishing to enter the contest must deliver their entries to the Lutz Senior Center, 112 First Ave. N.W., between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., on July 3, or between 6 a.m. and 7:30 a.m., on July 4.
– Ashley Schrader
Published July 2, 2014
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