Sweet success: Baked goods auction delights Coshocton County Fairgoers

Baked goods had to be entered by Sept. 26 at 8:30 a.m. for judging at the Coshocton County Fair. Winners in first, second and third place were sold at auction, and the remaining entries were priced for sale in the art hall.

The baked goods auction began Friday, Sept. 26 at 5:30 p.m. with six tables full of home-baked confections that looked so good even the judges were bidding.

Cakes, cupcakes, cookies (12 on a 10-inch plate), muffins including blueberry and orange/cranberry, corn muffins, cornbread, zucchini bread, banana bread, iced cinnamon rolls and more were up for auction.

Maureen and Larry Sturtz went home with about six boxes of goodies.

"We put the cookies in the freezer and eat some in the evenings, and we're having a meal at the dairy barn on Monday, so we will take some there. We like to go to auctions, and we like to eat cookies,” Maureen Sturtz said.

Three-year-old Wyatt Richesson loves cookies too. He had a big smile when his parents bought a plate of chocolate chip cookies at the auction.

Dennis Tumblin has been helping at the auction for about five years. “I help every year. I'm Bob Buxton’s buddy,” he said.

Bob Buxton, superintendent of the art hall for the last 14 years, said the auction has been going on for a long time.

"Dan Markley did it before me,” Buxton said. “We really appreciate the supporters because we split the auction money. Half of it goes to the bakers and half to us. They really help us out doing that. Some of it goes to the art hall to make improvements. We buy tables. We buy lights. We just do a lot of things to dress it up and improve it.

"Anyone can enter. They can get their fair books and decide what they want to make or buy. It's a lot of fun and a lot of camaraderie. The entries are judged by cutting a little piece of the cake out for them to see and taste, and we sell the rest at the auction. We had over 2,500 entries in the art hall. Our biggest area was the photography.”