Jacob Dimond / jake@yelmonline.com
While Rachel Grant typically serves on the Thurston County Board of County Commissioners, she also immerses herself towards serving the Yelm community, which she calls home, and recently, Grant, along with numerous members of the Yelm Rotary Club, participated in Prairie Days weekend by hosting a pie baking contest.
The top three contestants in the youth category of the pie baking contest were Daniel Thompson, third place; Ezra Brooks, second place; and Jaden Thompson, first place.
In the non-fruit category, Courtney Andren took third place; Cassie Z took second place; and Kiana Wheeler took first overall.
In the fruit pie category, Samantha S took third place overall, while Wheeler took second place and Korinna Panic received first place honors.
Grant, alongside the Yelm Rotary Club Treasurer Sandi Hanson, told the Nisqually Valley News on Saturday, June 27, just how much Prairie Days and the competition aspect means to the two of them and the Yelm Rotary Club.
“I think it’s a great way for people to participate,” Grant said, of the pie baking competition. “It’s free and for families. Parents and kids can both come in and present a pie. I think that it’s really great because it also feeds everyone afterwards. It’s fun community building.”
Hanson added, “We love to give back to the community and this is the way for us to do that. It’s a free event, so there is no charge for people to enter. There’s some great prizes for the winners too.”
The two specified that the pie baking contest was for everyone in the community, as there was a youth-specific category, and then a fruit and non-fruit category for residents of all ages to participate in.
According to Grant and Hanson, there were 30 pies featured in the competition this year — making a sweet tooth’s dream come true in the process.
“There were plenty of youth involved and plenty of adults involved. It was a fun time,” Grant said. “We had eight judges. They all went through and scored each pie with numbers. They are all added up and averaged out to determine the winners. The youth winner will receive a $250 scholarship towards whatever activity they’d like.”
Grant noted that the pie-scoring criteria had several different categories based on crust, texture, appearance and taste.
“The pie baking contest is a great way to give back to the community. I’ve been in Yelm for almost 40 years and have been part of Prairie Days since the start,” Hanson said. “When my son was little, it was like, ‘you got to be in the parade,’ and he was so excited. It’s a great activity for our community to enjoy.”
For Grant, she believes the pie baking competition aligns well with trying to bring youth together, and the community together, while trying to push food into the community. She said there’s a lot of good that comes out of this event.
“I love Prairie Days,” Grant said. “We just moved here in August and I’ve been looking forward to it all year. I love that families come out. There are so many things that aren’t expensive or free, and just participating is such a big deal in small communities. I’m happy that we were able to be part of this.”
Hanson agreed, and noted that the Yelm Rotary Club loves giving back to the community through events like Prairie Days or its summer food program.
“We love giving back to our community. That’s what we do,” Hanson said. “Our biggest service project is our summer food program, where we do about 400 bags of food every week. This just gets us out into the community. People see who we are. They get to know us. It’s all about service.”
Additionally, Graham Auto Repair hosted a photography contest — separated into a junior group and an adult group. The second place winner of the junior nature category was Shelby Pearson, while Sophia Alina was the second place winner of the adult nature category.
Taking first place in the junior nature category was Kaitlyn Heaton, who was absent from the award ceremony. Rachel Messenger earned first place in the adult nature category of the photography contest.
