Gilpin Seniors Celebrate Valentine’s Day

Caitlyn Miller

2/23/2006 - Valentine’s Day is usually synonymous with candy, flowers, hearts, and love. The history of this day is highly debated, but it is still celebrated every year on February 14^th. Many different people celebrate it in many different ways, including the local Gilpin County Prime Timers.

  For the fourth year, the community homeschoolers have joined the seniors in the celebration of Valentine’s Day. Toting pies and Valentines, they come to celebrate. Pies lined the tables; there were fruit pies, custard pies, pies of all flavors and sizes. The children in the homeschool group, for the annual pie tasting contest, baked around twenty different pies. Five of the seniors, including JL Baker, Annabelle Steiger, Connie Sasse-Price, Garv Burroughs and Sharon Perea, were gracious enough to be judges, having to try at least one bite of every pie.

  While the judges shut themselves in another room to deliberate, the other seniors were entertained with song, music, and dance from some of the children. Once the judging was complete, the crowd was released to go load up their plates with as much pie as they desired. After everyone was sufficiently stuffed with pie, the winners of the contest were announced. The Best Valentine Theme Pie went to Jessica Boyles. In the fruit category, first place went to Natalie Hoppes for her strawberry pie, and second place went to Amanda Boyles for a blueberry pie. The Custard Pie category was next, with first place to Jessica Boyles for a chocolate banana split pie; second place and People’s Choice went to Benjamin Hoppes for a pecan pie. As everyone seemed to waddle out of the room to go their separate ways, Valentine’s greetings were exchanged and “until next year,” for when the pies return.