Show me the pie

Auctioneer Larry Hacker has no fear when it comes to encouraging bidders to get on board for a good cause as he demonstrated Saturday, July 2, at Rich Hill's Famous for the Fourth pie auction.

"You've got to throw that line way out there," said Hacker, "if you want bids to go up."

But Hacker knows, as does every auctioneer, coaxing alone can never drive the price of an auctioned pie as high as it went Saturday night. It takes a willingness on the part of bidders to dig deep to support a cause, something that has been happening more and more in Rich Hill.

It all seemed to take off when Bill Reed paid $400 for the winning pie at the Fourth's 2009 auction which was unheard of at the time. Why did he do it? He said it was because he wanted to support the Fourth of July.

Then last year Jerry Mumma set the pie bidding bar at what many thought was unmentionable when he bid $1,000 for the 2010 winning coconut crème pie, a variety that according to family members "isn't one of his favorites." Why did he spend that much? It is because he wanted to support the Fourth of July committee's effort at putting on a first rate festival in Rich Hill.

But most saw it as a fluke and were sure the $1,000 record would stand for a long time, especially when bidding rose and stopped Saturday night with Mumma's bid of $700. But then Mumma did the unexpected. He told Hacker to put the pie back in for another bid.

Hacker seized the moment.

"Let's start off where we left," cried Hacker. "We got $700 for it already so it's definitely worth that much, so who will give me $800? I've got $800," and on and up it went. First it cleared the $1,000 mark and folks began to realize something was happening. Then it topped $1,500, then $2,000 -- unheard of -- then $2,100, $2,200, $2,300, $2,400, $2,500 -- until it reached $2,600 where it sold a second time to Jerry Mumma for $2,600. Add the original $700, and the grand total was $3,300 for a strawberry pie baked by his granddaughter.

So how many strawberries were in that pie? Only Mumma's granddaughter knows.

But do the math. If you cut that pie into six slices, then each piece is worth over $500. And if there are 10 bites per slice, then each bite is worth $50. A person would hope to get at least one strawberry at that price.

So why does a man spend that much for a pie? According to family members, its how Mumma supports his community and its something he's been doing for decades.

"I remember when he spent $180 for a pecan pie at a fund raiser when his son was a freshman," said daughter-in-law Chantelle Mumma. "Folks talked about that for a long time." But that is how he gives back to the community and it's contagious. Today, his adult children do the same thing.

So does he have any regrets about spending that much? No, but he did mention one thing.

"My wife told me she isn't going to let me come here next year," said Mumma.

When Linda Mumma was asked if that were true, she said "No, there's no way I could stop him."

It's a family tradition.