About half a ton of cherries will be used to make 8,000 pies for the Veishea tradition of the Cherry Pie Sale.

The homemade pies are sold during Veishea weekend. The event is student-run by a committee of 12, most of whom are juniors and seniors in hotel restaurant management.

The pies are produced by the committee members and by volunteers, who include faculty and students from the department.

The ingredients for the 8,000 cherry pies include 1,100 pounds of cherries, 325 pounds of flour, 216 pounds of shortening, 74 pounds of sugar, 42 pounds of clear gel and 12 cups of salt, said Jeni James, senior co-chair for the Cherry Pie Sale.

Everything including the crust and filling are homemade, said Janice Dana, adviser for the event.

“We made the crust the last weekend in March, and we had about 30 people helping out,” said Julie Peters, senior co-chair for the Cherry Pie Sale. “It took about three hours to make the dough for the 8,000 pies that will be sold.”

The crusts are then frozen for a couple of weeks and the topping and filling are made during Veishea week, said Peters, senior in hotel and restaurant management.

“During the first year that we sold the pies during Veishea, they were a la mode and sold for only 15 cents,” Peters said.

Now the 4-inch cherry pies are served with whipped topping, and they are sold for $1 each in the Tearoom, Room 16 of MacKay Hall.

“The money that is raised from this event is used for departmental scholarships and field trips,” Dana said. “It’s an opportunity for the students to demonstrate management and leadership skills.”

In the past, the majority of the people who purchased the pies were faculty, students and alumni.

“This year, we’re trying to advertise through the Ames Tribune and the radio stations in order to draw more Ames community members to our event,” Peters said.

The sale begins at 9:30 a.m. Friday and ends at 3:30 p.m. It then begins again at 10 a.m. Saturday and continues until they sell the entire 8,000 pies.

“We usually sell out between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. [Saturday],” Peters said.

Sale organizers said the tradition is older than Veishea.

“We started one year before Veishea was created,” Peters said. “The first year it was held in February of 1921, and we gave them away free in celebration of George Washington’s birthday.”

Working on this committee can be great “real world” experience for those interested in hotel and restaurant management.

“I’ve had a lot of interviews lately, and people are really impressed about the size of our event and the quantity that we produce,” Peters said. “Employers know that a production like this takes a lot of time and effort and shows time-management skills.”

The students involved commit themselves to this project and are willing to go the extra mile to make it a success, Dana said.

“I hope that those involved feel like they have really accomplished something,” she said. “To make this work, it really is a big accomplishment.”