MANSFIELD — Tim Denis isn’t afraid to whip up something crazy, but it’s the classics that baked him a championship at the Richland County Fair this week.
The Lexington man made Richland County Fair History last year by baking both the grand champion and reserve champion pies.
This year, he did it again.
Denis’ grand champion apple pie sold for $375. His reserve grand champion, a rhubarb pie, sold for $250.
When he was announced as the winning baker, Denis’ jaw dropped.
“This year, I thought, ‘I’m just gonna do this for fun and I don’t care if I win anything or not,’” he said.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine I was going to win the top two pies again. It just shocked me.”
There were 65 pies submitted for this year’s auction, according to fair board member and pie superintendent “Grandma” Kathy Mills.
The contest included 10 categories, including a catch-all family favorite division for unique submissions like black walnut, bumbleberry and blueberry pop tart.
Judges assessed each pie on its general appearance, flavor, crust texture and filling texture.
All pies were auctioned off, with half the proceeds going to the baker and half going to the fair board for the upkeep and remodeling of the arts and crafts building.
Mills said she was excited to see several first-time bakers in the mix, including young and “mature” candidates.
“Pie baking is becoming a lost art in many respects, and if we can start our youngsters making pies and learning that skill, then they’ll have it for a lifetime,” she said.
Shelby preteen bakes blue ribbon worthy blackberry
Denis first entered the pie contest at the fair 11 years ago at the encouragement of some friends. He’s been at it ever since.
“Baking is kind of my go-to stress reliever,” he said. “I like the challenge of making things that I haven’t made before.”
Denis said he likes to experiment and even baked a carrot pie once.
This year, he entered a one-of-a-kind flavor — pink grapefruit meringue.
“I just woke up one morning and I thought, ‘If you have a lemon meringue pie, why can’t you have another citrus, like pink grapefruit?’” he said.
Denis said he typically uses original recipes, but he made an exception with his mother’s recipe for rhubarb.
“All my life, rhubarb has been my favorite pie,” he said. “My mom made a killer rhubarb pie and I followed in her footsteps.”
Denis isn’t the only one who relied on family wisdom for his win.
Jaxon Hickinbotham of Shelby took home a blue ribbon for his blackberry pie, made using his great-great-grandmother’s crust recipe.
The 12-year-old also entered a blueberry pie and a cherry pie.
Hickinbotham said this is his third year competing and his second year winning a blue ribbon.
Each year, the youngster picks out and pays for the ingredients himself. Then he prepares his entries with a bit of help from his great aunt, Laurie Beech.
The two were up baking before sunrise Tuesday morning and wrapped up around 10 p.m.
“He calls me every year and asks me to help him, so I guide him,” Beech said. “I don’t do the pies, but I talk him through some stuff.”
“(The crust) is the only recipe I have used since my grandma gave it to me about 50 years ago and I have passed it along to Jaxon now,” she added.
Beech said she’s proud of Hickinbotham’s success and enjoys the chance to spend some time with him.
“Kids his age don’t always want to hang around with adults,” she said.
Hickinbotham said he plans to put his winnings in a savings account for his first car.
Other blue ribbon winners included Denis (blueberry), Dorothy Bayer (elderberry), Owen Bland (peach and cherry), Gail Adams (bumbleberry), Heather Smith (pecan) and Ilena Porter (raspberry).
