814-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 11, 1991
Linda Heisey whips up some strawberry topping In her turn-of-the century kitchen.
Unlike most women, Linda has two kitchens, a modern one and a reconstructed one
from the turn of the century.
Strawberry Lady Caps Season
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Fanning Staff
MOUNT JOY (Lancaster Co.)
“There goes the Strawberry
Lady,” whisper children and adults
when Linda Heisey of Mount Joy
enters a room.”
While Linda wears many
“hats,” her favorite is the Straw
berry Lady.
Dressed with strawberry
shaped earrings and clothed with a
strawberry-designed apron, Linda
said that she earned her nickname
because she is in charge of making
strawberry pies fo r the annual
Kraybill Mennonite School Bene
fit Auction for the past 14 years.
“It’s so much fun and so satisfy
ing to see people’s faces when they
see the volume of strawberry pies
displayed,” Linda said.
Today is the date for the annual
benefit auction where 400 pies will
be sold. Throughout the day, cus
tomers will buy the pies whole or
by the piece. Most prefer the pie
topped with whipped cream, but
others like it plain.
“I get most of the credit for the
pies, but I shouldn’t,” Linda said.
‘There are so many people help
ing, I could never do it alone.”
The day before the sale, about
600 quarts of berries are flown in
from California because they taste
and hold up better than those raised
in Florida, according to Linda.
Although the pics need to be
made the day of the sale, much of
the preparation can be done ahead
of time. Linda lines up the help.
“We used to have mothers and
grandmothers bake the shells, but
the flavor varied so much that we
thought it was best to have a more
uniform taste,” Linda said. Now
she orders the pie shells from Min
nich’s Bakery in Lititz.
The day before the sale, it takes
Linda about 10 hours to prepare
the whipped topping in her
kitchen.
The morning of the sale, the
strawberries are washed and
stemmed by about 20 people.
Other helpers mix the strawber
ry glaze. For many years the pies
were transported from the kitchen
to the food area by a garden tractor.
But, the pies look better if they are
handled gently so the pie shells are
filled and “assembly-lined” to the
With 400 Pies
school lobby where another group
of 20 ladies top the pies with
whipped topping.
“It takes about 314 hours to get
the pies assembled,” Linda said.
“In all the years, we only lost one
pie that smashed when someone
accidently dropped it.”
Linda’s interest in strawberries
are not limited to the school benefit
auction. She accessorizes her
home and wardrobe with strawber
ry collectibles.
Unlike most women, Linda has
two kitchens, a modem one and a
reconstructed one from the turn of
the century.
“Family pieces just sort of
dribbled in so we fixed up the base
ment so we could keep the pieces
together,” Linda said Now she
often cooks on the Elmira wood
stove for family gatherings and
winter evenings.
A Hoosler cabinet houses a flour bin, spice racks, meat
grinder, pull-out shelves, bread drawers, and other special
ly features. The Hoosler was passed down on Linda’s side,
but many of the antiques originate from her husband,
John's side.
A Hoosier cabinet houses a flour
bin, spice racks, meat grinder,
pull-out shelves, bread drawers,
and other specially features. The
Hoosier was passed down on Lin
da’s side, but many of the antiques
originate from her husband, John’s
side.
The restored kitchen has an
Alaska ice box, an Elmira wood
stove, a jelly cupboard, and many
antiques such as tin plates and a
ceramic water jug from a nearby
one-room school house.
Although many of her grandpa
rents’ things have been passed
down, Linda has discovered
baskets and other collectibles dis
carded in odd comers of the bam.
Twenty-two years ago, the Hei
seys built a home on the family
farm that is still cash cropped by
tenant farmers.
(Turn to Page 824)
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RD. 1, Box 1392
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110 South Railroad
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