HEBRON — With autumn’s first frost comes scarlet, gold and orange colored leaves and the sweet aroma of hundreds of pies baking in a Rockawalkin kitchen.

It has been a holiday tradition for almost 40 years that Eastern Shore folks have included these pies on their Thanksgiving menu, baked fresh in this rural Wicomico County neighborhood.

The annual pie-bake event is hosted by members of the Ruritan Club and Rockawalkin Community Center as a fundraiser to support the Center. Tom Field, a long-time Wicomico County educator, retired, has served for years as the event coordinator, and works with fellow volunteer Craig DeVage to manage all aspects of the bake event.

For two days, almost 35 volunteers meet at the Center’s dining hall and kitchen to prepare and bake apple, cherry, blueberry and peach pies. However, the sweet delight of the pastry lineup isn’t a fruit pie.

It’s the humble sweet potato pie that tops the best seller list. “We sell more sweet potato pies than all the fruit pies combined,” Field said.

Its 40-year-plus success story is due almost solely to being made from scratch, using locally grown sweet potatoes. Eggs, milk, butter, sugar and spices are key ingredients used to bake thousands of pies using a recipe that’s now almost a century old.

Thanksgiving sales usually peak just above the 1,000 mark, but Field’s, “The Pie Man,” is rallying his staff to bake 1,200, if the orders come in as hoped. “Starting in October people start calling me from all over the Shore wanting to know when they can place their pie orders.”

Bake proceeds are shared with the Center and the Rockawalkin Ruritan Club. “This year the Rockawalkin Community Hall Inc. board of directors voted to turn over the building and all the assets to the Rockawalkin Church. It’s now, officially, church property.”

It was a move to keep the Center financially viable, maintained and open to the community.
With an aging all-volunteer workforce, Field said he has concerns that the much-loved fall event will fade away, and soon.

For decades the organization has also turned out hundreds of pies for the Christmas holidays, but, Field said the work is just too much work for his senior citizen troops. “What happened was, we got old,” said with laughter. This Christmas will be the first time in years that pies won’t be baked.

It has long been a male dominated baking event but as members passed, and the core group of volunteers got older, “outside help” was welcomed. Women now join the baking workforce.

“We are going to keep doing this as long as we can,” Field said. “We have a lot of church women helping. I hope this continues years from now. It’s such a great tradition. It brings people Rockawalkin who don't live or go to church here. The pie bake is a nice calling card for the community.

“Craig and I are trying to get younger people involved. But it takes a lot of work and a lot of people to pull this off. I hope we can find volunteers,” he said.

TO ORDER:
Sweet potatoes pies (with or with a sprinkling of shredded coconut) and all the fruit pies are priced at $16 each.
Orders may be placed by calling Tom Field at 410-430-4516, or emailing him at tfield44@yahoo.com
Pies can be picked up at the Rockawalkin Community Center, 6772 Rockawalkin Road, Tuesday, Nov. 26, between noon and 5 p.m.