THE BCS FAMILY TURNED out in droves to spend a day making fresh Dutch apple pies in our ninth annual fundraiser on November 7. Besides an incredible amount of planning and hands-on work by Jackie Verhulst and Joann Du Mez, helping hands came from many different directions.

Many parents who no longer have kids in the school returned to support BCS, along with friends and relatives from outside the Milwaukee area. High school students, including many BCS alumni, came from all over the area to help—adding a wonderful surge of youthful enthusiasm. Parents took vacation days from work to pitch in. Students, grandparents, teachers and their spouses...all had a great time on the assembly line renewing acquaintances, peeling, coring, slicing, inspecting, filling, slinging dough, boxing, bagging, hauling, and cleaning.

Mary Jo Baas and Amy Dekker put in a full day keeping the army of volunteers well-fed for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Trish Duimstra organized the upper middle school students to keep younger children entertained, so that parents could work on the assembly line.

On Thursday evening, 285 bushels of Macintosh apples were delivered by Appleland Farm Market in Belgium, Wisconsin. By 10:13 p.m. on Friday night, 2,400 pounds of sugar, 1,100 pounds of flour, and 690 pounds of margarine were transformed into 3,735 of the most delicious Dutch apple pies you’ve ever tasted! Many, many thanks to all who donated to or participated in BCS’s ninth annual Dutch apple pie sale. The response was tremendous, and profits for the school were approximately $35,000! This year’s total of 3,735 pies brings our all-time total to 25,987!