The annual cherry pie sale is as much of a tradition as Veishea itself, and students stand in line each year to get a taste of the traditional pastries.

From crust to whipped topping, every step of the pie-making and distribution is handled by volunteers from the Department of Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management.

Hotel, restaurant and institution management students will be selling the pies Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the basement of MacKay Hall.

Jeremy Kass, open house co-chairman for Veishea, said there is a “good history” between Veishea and the hotel, restaurant and institution management department.

“The pies are sold as a fund raiser for the club,” said Kass, senior in dairy science. “It’s a long-standing tradition.”

This year, more than 8,000 pies are being prepared for sale, said Angie Genkinger, co-chairwoman of pie sales. The four-inch tarts are comprised of a pastry shell, cherry filling and whipped cream.

“We always use the same recipe, sometimes modifying it to fit the number of pies we plan to generate,” said Genkinger, junior in hotel, restaurant and institution management.

A network of junior and senior chairpersons spearhead the four distinct parts of the process: pastry, filling, topping and distribution.

“The junior co-chairs rise through the ranks to become the senior co-chairs the following year,” Genkinger said.

Two weeks prior to the event, volunteers and faculty from hotel, restaurant and institution management gather to make the dough in the Wallace-Wilson kitchen.

The workers, usually numbering 50 or 60, leave the dough to cool and press the shells the following morning. The shells then are boxed and stored at Friley Hall until the Friday of Veishea, when the tarts are topped with filling and whipped cream.

“It takes about 24 to 30 hours for about 50 students to complete the whole process — a lot of manpower,” said Sarah Ewing, co-chairwoman of pie sales.

Ewing, junior in hotel, restaurant and institution management, added that the event has been successful in the past. In addition to the money the pie sale brings in, she said it gives coordinators and volunteers practical work experience.

“It gives them a lot of practice with time management and quantity food management,” she said.

The department charges $1 for each of the tarts.

“Most of the money covers our cost for production,” Genkinger said. “A portion of the money is awarded as the Veishea cherry pie scholarship.”

The scholarship is given to hotel, restaurant and institution management students who take part in producing the pies and who meet certain academic and departmental requirements.