Juneteenth Dream Pie Social at Limerick-Frazier House
Pie social? You had me at 'pie.' And 'social.'
By Virginia B. Wood, Fri., May 20, 2011
810 E. 13th; Saturday, June 4, 4-6pm
Austin's annual Juneteenth celebrations get off to an early start this year with a Peace Through Pie Dream Pie Social to benefit the restoration of a 115-year-old East Austin landmark. The Limerick-Frazier House was a boarding house for young women who attended classes at what was Samuel Huston College (now Huston-Tillotson University). Local cookbook author and nutrition writer Toni Tipton-Martin plans to locate the nonprofit SANDE Youth Project in the house and also use it as a teaching facility and community gathering place for East Austin. Proceeds from the suggested $25 donations and the sale of $1 slices of pie will go toward restoration efforts.
The event will include a celebrity pie auction, with sweet and savory pies donated by Austin restaurants, bakeries, culinary students, and home bakers, plus kids' activities, an art exhibition of historic Juneteenth images, an oral history project, and live gospel music from the Sweet Home Baptist Church choir. In addition to pies of every flavor and description, the menu will feature Blue Bell Ice Cream, fresh lemonade, and water. And cookbook author Nancie McDermott will be on hand to talk about pie and sign copies of her book, Southern Pies. Peace Through Pie organizers Tipton-Martin and Luanne Stovall are working in conjunction with the Austin City Council, Urban Roots, Edible Austin, Foodways Texas, and the University of Texas at Austin's Division of Diversity and Community Engagement to produce this celebratory community event. Juneteenth commemorates the day when slaves in Texas learned that they were free, and it has historically been a time for public celebration. What better way to celebrate unity and embrace cultural differences than by sharing a piece of pie with our neighbors?
