MANSFIELD — Tim Denis continued to make Richland County Fair history Wednesday.
Denis, a Troy Township resident, became the first participant to bake both the grand champion and reserve champion pie at the fair’s annual pie auction.
In 2017, the top two pies in the annual competition and auction were baked by men — Denis and Gene Esbenshade — for the first time in the fair’s history.
Selling for a combined $250, Denis’ lemon meringue pie was ruled grand champion Wednesday evening. His mince pie was judged reserve champion.
By the end of the auction, Denis was still in a state of disbelief.
“I still can’t believe it,” he said of winning the auction’s top two recognitions.
Rader’s Old Fashion Ice Cream purchased the lemon meringue pie for $150. Richland County Commissioner Darrell Banks claimed the mince pie for $100.
Denis pursued ‘best crust’
Wednesday marked Denis’ 10th year of baking pies for the annual competition and auction.
Around 2012, three years before he first entered the competition, Denis said several friends encouraged him to participate.
“That first year (2015) I didn’t get any blue ribbons at all,” he said. “But every year after that, I’ve always gotten at least one blue ribbon.”
Denis doubted he’d ever bake a grand-champion pie, but was proven wrong Wednesday.
“I was just shocked,” he said. “It was just amazing.”
While he admitted there’s no defined secret to baking a championship-worthy pie, Denis said experimenting with different crusts has been a big help.
He once made six pie crusts, numbering each one, and invited friends, family and neighbors to come select their favorite.
“I was always in that pursuit for the best crust,” Denis said. “Finally, I got to a point to where I finally settled on a crust that I really liked … it’s never changed since then.”
Annual pie auction raises more than $5,500
This year’s auction at the 174th Richland County Fair marked 30 years of pie sales completed in the fairground’s arts and crafts building.
Kathi Cutlip-Mills, a chair of the pie auction, said 82 bakers originally registered for Wednesday’s auction and 70 participated.
With all 70 pies sold, the auction raised $5,570 Wednesday evening, she said.
Fifty percent of the proceeds are used by the Richland County Fair Board to fund improvements to the arts and crafts building. The other 50 percent goes to the auction’s bakers.
(Pictures below were taken during the annual pie auction Wednesday at the 174th Richland County Fair.)
