Philanthropy Today
Philanthropy Today
Fort Riley Apple Days on the GMCF Community Hour Show Episode - 240
Fort Riley's annual Apple Days Festival returns October 18th at the artillery parade field, featuring 800 apple pies made from Libby Custer's historic recipe. Two newly crowned Pie Queens, Christy and Kelly, will oversee pie production and represent the festival in period-appropriate dresses and royal regalia.
• Apple Days combines military displays with homemade pie and ice cream for the community
• Pies follow Libby Custer's original recipe with minor modern modifications for food safety
• 600 pies available for pre-order at $20 each, with 200 fresh pies reserved for the festival
• "Pies for Soldiers" program allows people to donate pies to military units for holiday meals
• Volunteers needed both for pie-making and festival day (bakers must complete online food handler certification)
• Junction City High School culinary classes and JROTC students partnering to support the event
• Pre-order information available through the Friends of Fort Riley Museums website and social media www.fortrileymuseums.org
Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation. In this episode we feature a recently broadcast segment of the GMCF Community Hour as heard on NewsRadio KMAN. And welcome back to the GMCF Community Hour and we are going to get a little bit of information about an event that is always a lot of fun at Fort Riley. Apple Days is coming and she says she's not going to be a part of the show, but I'm going to throw her into the fire anyway. Christine Benny is the Director of Military Relations and she's brought a couple of friends along. Apple Days is a big thing because you know you're very involved in the Fort Riley Museums and this is a big deal.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so well, as you all know, I have many roles, and one of my other roles is I do help with the Friends of the Fort Riley Museums and we have taken on the Fall Apple Day Festival by making the apple pies, and we brought the pie queens with us today. But Apple Days will be October 18th, it's a little bit later than usual this year, but it'll be a great time. It'll be, of course, on Fort Riley, on the artillery parade field, and so we're looking forward to having everybody from the community to come out and look at some tanks and eat some pie.
Speaker 1:Tanks and pie Tanks and pie and this is just not any pie.
Speaker 2:This is not any pie.
Speaker 1:This is not any pie, we're going to learn more about the pies here in a little bit, because that's where we bring in the pie queens. We got Christy here and Christy and Kelly. And what's the difference between your crowns? One's got red jewels and one's got green. Is that because you're both coordinated with your tops?
Speaker 3:Did you notice that?
Speaker 1:Did you plan it that way?
Speaker 4:accidental on purpose, uh no, they gave us a little bit of free reign to have, um, you know, our own desire for our crown. So I guess red's my color and kelly went with green. But now we match. We got the the first infantry division colors going on you don't have a sash oh, they're coming. Sorry, they're a little delayed.
Speaker 1:Is there a pageant for you?
Speaker 3:There was no pageant. We just graciously volunteered our time to be the queen this year.
Speaker 1:Aw, that's really nice of you. Has this been a lifetime goal of yours, Kelly?
Speaker 3:We have been stationed at Fort Riley three times and I've never been involved in Apple Days, so this is a pretty big deal.
Speaker 1:You said pick me. Yep, I kind of did. I'm like green they were like we're looking for another one, and I was like oh really, Green's a good army color, and so you got the big red one, Jules.
Speaker 4:Do you have the big red one, did you?
Speaker 1:do that on purpose.
Speaker 4:Well, red's just always been my favorite color, so maybe it was meant to be right All right. My husband said that I guess I've been the queen of our house for a while.
Speaker 1:It's time to get a real crown and spread my royalty. Do you get to wear it around the house or you just put it on for the show today?
Speaker 4:Just for the show.
Speaker 1:today we have to save the crown moments too, do you wear them on Apple Days throughout? We?
Speaker 4:will. That's the plan, kelly, and I haven't quite mastered the crown application technique, so maybe we need to to phone a friend, miss America. Maybe she'd come down and help us to secure it better.
Speaker 1:And then I have people, I have contacts.
Speaker 4:If you know someone, we'd be happy to take it. Not Miss America, miss Kansas contestants OK we need a little support here, because mine's getting a little wobbly.
Speaker 1:Isn't that the first?
Speaker 4:rule of being a queen. You can't let your crown fall. Don't turn your head fast.
Speaker 1:Yeah, be careful, just maintain focus.
Speaker 4:Got it All right.
Speaker 1:Okay. So, Kelly, what does a pie queen do?
Speaker 3:We get to help coordinate with the making of the apple pies and getting all the ingredients and overseeing, like all the volunteers that will need in order to get all these apple pies made that we're making this year and then help get them distributed and then we'll get to walk around on the day of in our big dresses and the sashes and the crowns and just take pictures with everyone and wave and kind of be the face of apple days for a little bit big dresses, yeah, okay very dresses of the the time we've got the hoop skirt and it's gonna be out do you know it's coming, what colors
Speaker 3:mine's red and white.
Speaker 1:Mine is gonna be green and yellow whoa, I'm blown away by that way to coordinate all that army. We're very army-rific. So, Christy, these are very special pies. There's a secret recipe.
Speaker 4:There is, and we have been swarmed to uphold the secrecy of it, but this pie recipe comes from Libby Custer herself. It's the same one they've passed down for every year. We have done a few little modern modifications. We have done a few little modern modifications. We buy frozen, pre-cut apples and that helps us in our pie making to make them fresher, more efficient, and it helps with our health safety standards, just to make sure that we're adhering to all of those, so we don't have to hand cut every apple like we did. For how many years?
Speaker 2:Oh, for many, many years, many years.
Speaker 4:But you know, there's a few things there, but it's the same exact recipe. It's the same amount of sugar and butter and apples and pie crust.
Speaker 1:What's the apple of choice?
Speaker 4:This year we have chosen the Granny Smith frozen apples.
Speaker 3:Good call.
Speaker 4:I think, you know, in years past. I'm not quite sure what exact apple that Libby Custer had years past. I'm not quite sure what exact apple that Libby Custer had, so maybe we've gone a little bit of free range on that. But you know, I think, Granny.
Speaker 1:Smith's makes a good pie, always has, always has. So Kelly, who makes all these pies?
Speaker 3:We get partnerships within our community that help. We've got a partnership with Junction City High School this year, so some of their culinary classes will be helping make some of the pre-made frozen pies that we're doing and then we will put out sign up geniuses and looking for mostly spouses and other community members to come in to the defect on the installation and make those fresh pies for the day of the event.
Speaker 1:They have to be fresh when you bring them.
Speaker 3:On the day of yes, it will be when you buy them at Apple Days.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right. So you've got a lot of people making pies.
Speaker 3:Yep.
Speaker 1:How many pies do you hope to have made?
Speaker 3:We are making 800 pies this year 800. 800. We have 600 for presale and then 200 the day of.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right. What's the process of getting a pie? You show up at Apple Days, get one.
Speaker 4:You can buy the pie slice at Apple Days. Buy the slice and we'll have ice cream there, as long as maybe the weather will hold out better than today and you'll want the ice cream with your fresh pie slice. But to purchase a pre-sell pie from a frozen pre-sell one? We have them on all our social media pages. The apple day pre-sale flyer page is live now. It's through the fringe of the fort raleigh museum's website, also to be shared on the manhattan um military relations council and then the junction city military affairs military affairs council. Sorry, I make sure I don't mess up those two acronyms there.
Speaker 1:It's good to have a Christine along.
Speaker 4:I know MRZMAC so they'll share our frozen pie pre-sells and we also do something called Pies for Soldiers, so people can also purchase pies to then hand out to soldier units on Fort Riley.
Speaker 2:And I'll just step in there for a second. We have a Pie for Soldiers program where you can buy an extra pie and we'll give it to the units at Fort Riley. So the ones that aren't deployed that are staying back during the holidays Usually their units do a Christmas or Thanksgiving and we'll provide a pie or two for their dinners and you can help by buying an extra pie and donating it.
Speaker 1:Kelly, how much do I have to pay for a pie?
Speaker 3:Pies are $20 this year.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, do you all agree on that? Yeah, christy, you were. It didn't say who I should ask the question. I'm trying to get some balance between all three of you here.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's good. Yeah, $20 for the pre-sale and then actually I'm going to defer to Christine for the day of for the slice and then ice cream. I'm not sure what that price is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I believe. Let's see it's $5 for a slice of pie, I believe, and then an extra dollar for a scoop of ice cream.
Speaker 1:But it's a nice size slice.
Speaker 4:You don't, we don't, jip you on that is it a nice size scoop.
Speaker 1:I will request that is a large ice cream scoop all right and this is on the 18th got a lot of work to do. You're a little over a month away. You still need some volunteers.
Speaker 3:I know you, kelly, you had said that you still need some, some spouses yes, we will be, reaching out, yep soon with our signups, as soon as we finalize dates and stuff and times that we can get into those defects to start making those pies. And we'll have a signup genius on our um social media page for the friends of the museum that you can find us on do you need volunteers for any other purpose?
Speaker 3:we do have volunteers that come out and help run the day of the booth, as far as like scooping that ice cream, serving up pies, cleaning up the area and keeping it all nice and tidy for us so we do have.
Speaker 2:We'll have a sign of genius for people to come out and help that day. A lot of our spouses on post help that day. And then we also work with the JROTC program from Junction City High School. They will help cut those slices and scoop those scoops of ice cream and help us hand out the pie slices. So we so we do have a lot of volunteers. I think if your organization wants to help bake a pie, I would just reach out to friends of the Fort Raleigh Museums and we will set you up and have your organization come and make a few pies.
Speaker 1:Christy, this has just got to be a dream come true for you. I'm so happy for you.
Speaker 4:It only took me 42 years to achieve my goal of becoming a queen.
Speaker 1:You finally become a beauty queen.
Speaker 4:That's right, with my hands knee deep in pie making, right? So just a little tidbit to add to the volunteers In order to volunteer to help us make the pies, you have to complete the Army Food Handler Certification course. It's online, it's very simple and that will be part of our sign-up genius that we'll also share on our social media pages.
Speaker 1:So you have to wash your hands. That's what they're going to tell you. That we'll also share on our social media pages.
Speaker 4:So you have to wash your hands. That's what they're going to tell you. We have to make sure we know how to wash our hands, and it's a slide presentation and then you just take a quick quiz at the end. So no pressure.
Speaker 1:Kelly, after your reign as Pie Queen, are you going to hang up your chair or are you going to try to go for?
Speaker 3:it again. We'll see how they think I did this year, but I'll be here for at least one more year on the installation, so we'll be happy to help out again in the future.
Speaker 1:What's a delight to have you here. Anything we didn't cover, Christine.
Speaker 2:I don't think so. I'm so thankful for these ladies to step up and be our pie queens. They have busy lives. Their husbands are deployed. I think Kelly's husband is deployed. Your husband is still kind of here for a little bit. So you guys have all kinds of time to make pies. They have a lot of other activities in their own personal lives, so I really appreciate everything that they've done to step up and help with this. They've just done such a fabulous job and we're very fortunate to have them.
Speaker 1:Kelly Christy. Thank you both for coming and joining us today.
Speaker 4:Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Christy. Good job, thank you, good job, thanks. Brady Armstrong is in next with the Boys and Girls Club of Manhattan. This is the GMCF Community Hour and, by the way you know, we record these segments and we make them into a podcast. You can always find those at Philanthropy Today. Wherever you get your podcasts and share them with friends, especially you, especially if you've got some folks around you and if you'd like to make some apple pies for the cause, we've got that information for you there. This is the GMCF Community Hour. Back with Brady in just a moment.