Young bakers help generate $11,800 at Wayne County Fair auction

Young bakers and generous buyers helped raise $11,800 for the Wayne County Junior Fair Board and food and fashion board during the annual Baking Contest/Auction at the fair.

The Sunday event drew nearly 50 entries of cookies, brownies, cakes and pies. A panel of volunteer judges picked the winners, and all participants got the chance to parade their goodies in front of the crowd as volunteer auctioneer Seth Andrews called for bids. When the sale was complete, the young bakers handed their entries to the buyers, giving them a chance to say thanks.

Winning the Mary Acker Memorial Best of Show was Sarah Hagan’s double-layer decorated cake. It was purchased by Dave Acker Auctioneer, Jed Acker Auctioneer, and Jack and Trevor Gant Realty for $800. A maple pecan pie baked by Paisley Morris generated a winning bid of $650 from her grandfather Kirk Morris, co-owner with his brother Todd of Morris Oil Co.

In a phone conversation, Todd Morris shared a sweet story from the auction. “We bought this little boy’s raspberry pie, and he was apologizing that a piece was missing. I told him they had to taste it to see if it was a winner. It was the cutest thing.”

Miura Stansfield’s Nutella brownies earned the Eric Johnson Memorial Chocolate Award and was purchased for $150 by Acker Auction Services.

Money raised from the auction helps fund activities for the junior fair board and food and fashion board including the awarding of $2,000 in scholarship money.

Bakers winning cash prizes for placing in the contest, according to their age categories, were as follows:

—Brownies (age 8-11): Tilly Parthemore, first; Ella Parthemore, second; and Frances Wright, third.

—Brownies (age 12-18): Miura Stansfield, first; Joy Phillips, second; and Lucy Acker, third.

—Decorated items (age 8-11): Marley Teeters, first; Reagan Woodring, second; and Hannah Hagan, third.

—Decorated items (age 12-8): Sarah Hagan, first; Amelia Teeters, second; and Payton Hoff, third.

—Pies (age 8-11): Paisley Morris, first; Jillian Wellert, second; and Caroline Raber, third.

—Pies (age 12-18): Joy Phillips, first; Madeline Morris, second; and Leonora Zemancik, third.

—Cookies (age 8-11): Leah Broome, first; Izzy Pope, second; and Quorra Riedel, third.

—Cookies (age 12-18): Miura Stansfield, first; Madeline Morris, second; and Allison Mullen, third.

—Food and fashion board and junior fair board members: Mackenna Stansfield, first, and Joy Acker, second.

Other buyers were Wooster Motor Ways, Nancy and Dan Burkhart, Daniel Allen, Canaan Industries, Alex Bejcek, Speicher Trucking, David Starr, Kevin Trent, Marcia Trent, Brevin Harris/F5 Show Solutions, Nick Gasser/Gasser Electric, John and Lois Douglass, Mike Dye, DMS Repair Service, the Carpenter family, Sarah Riedel, the Trisket family, Chad and Sarah Zimmerly, Lisa and Lora Broome and Lori Arnold, Ty and Abby Clark, the Mairs family, Josh Hanzie and family, Chad and Stephanie Bailey, the Walenciak family, David Uhler Excavating, TR Snyder Construction, Ed and Priscilla Gresser, Cheryl Wood, Rick Grossniklaus, and Angie Yarwood.

Generous donors also made possible project awards presented prior to the bake auction. Winners were as follows:

—Becky Leatherman Gardening Award: Ana McClain.

—Dog: Sarah Hagan and Caroline Raber.

—Cat: Hannah Steiner.

—Small Animals: Grace Hovest.

—Other Animal (Veterinary Science) and Gardening: Garrie Garrett.

—Photography: Maryn Erdman.

—Young Writer: Elena Strasbaugh and Gretta Smith.

—Bicycle: Elijah Immel.

The Baking Contest and Auction is a great place to witness young people doing something they enjoy to help our 4-H program. A giving community makes that possible.

Laurie Sidle is an Ohio State University Extension family and consumer sciences and 4-H program assistant and may be reached at 330-264-8722 or sidle.31@osu.edu.