Veishea cherry pies, an eight decade-old ISU tradition, was suspended this year due to the cancellation of Veishea.

Student managers and staff spend months producing more than 10,000 cherry pies that are normally sold during Veishea.

The proceeds from the pies normally go toward paying off raw costs of ingredients, some marketing and student scholarships, said Dr. Robert Bosselman, professor and chairman of the department of apparel, events and hospitality management.

Bosselman said all ingredients for these pies are received through ISU Dining. Before Veishea was suspended, the outer pastry shells and the filling for the pies had already been made.

After the decision was made to cancel Veishea, it was decided that all cherry pie ingredients would stay with ISU Dining for repurposing, Bosselman said.

“The outer pastry shell may be used over the summer to feed kids from youth programs,” Bosselman said. “The cherry filling could possibly be used for cherry cobbler or cherry crisp.”

Bosselman said he doesn’t believe these ingredients will be used to make cherry pies, but he said the decision of what will be made with the ingredients is up to ISU Dining.

“Where we are at right now is working together to figure out what costs actually went into all of this. Those costs will be incorporated into some sort of summation report,” Bosselman said.

This report will then go to the provost, who will evaluate all of those costs, Bosselman said. He said the provost has made it very clear that all students will still be given their promised scholarship money.

Because everything is being worked out with ISU Dining, everything is panning out like normal financially, and this will cause no debt, Bosselman said.

Bosselman also said that they are pretty much right on schedule with the scholarships, as they are normally given around finals time. He said that the actual monetary values are the only missing element.

Reflecting on the emotional effects that the cancellation of Veishea cherry pies had, Bosselman said it highlighted how much cherry pies meant to people around Ames.

“Not just people on campus — we were getting calls from people all over saying ‘please tell me there will still be cherry pies,’” Bosselman said.

Looking forward, Bosselman said he is optimistic.

“My hope for the future is that, because cherry pies pre-date Veishea itself, we would be allowed to continue cherry pies,” Bosselman said.

Garrett King, sophomore in civil engineering, said he hopes the cherry pie tradition continues, regardless of whether or not Veishea does.

“I’ve heard nothing but good things about the cherry pies. I planned on buying a few this year before Veishea was canceled,” King said.

Bosselman said aside from the fact that people love the pies, he hopes the tradition continues because it is a great opportunity for students to experience a large-scale production.

“It takes a lot of planning and thinking, and it’s a great experience for our students to get involved and manage this event,” Bosselman said.