On Monday, November 24th, 2025, from 2:30-5:30 pm the Bedford High School Interact club organized their annual pie baking event for residents of the Bedford VA.
The event was led by Interact co-presidents Mahita Susarla, senior, and Taevy Malone, sophomore. Other notable organizers were newly appointed Rotary Chair, Charlie Peplau, junior and recent RYLA graduate, as well as the club’s awesome teacher advisor, Samantha Thyne, the true hero who monitored and prevented burnt pies while students were creating handwritten cards to accompany each pie. Taevy & Mahita contacted the VA, pulled recipes from last year, went shopping themselves, and then recruited over 20 Interact club members and friends to bake on the day of.
I arrived around 3:30 pm to a lively kitchen classroom filled with students dispersed across 5 cooking stations. Most were filling the crust and adding the top layer already, some with artistic flair - they cut hearts! Lattices of all levels were welcome. It should not come as a surprise to most of you that just 3 days before Thanksgiving 9” pie tins are hard to come by. That was unfortunately the case, so the students got creative with tinfoil, forming a border across a larger pie tin to end up with what was lovingly named ‘half moon pies’. This was all explained in the cards for recipients.
I was excited to speak with multiple sophomores who’ve heard great things about RYLA and are eagerly waiting for applications to open.
This event is due in part to a generous donation from our club’s foundation that covered the cost of ingredients. The Interact co-presidents wanted me to pass along their appreciation! Also, Interact loved the Rotary stickers and Holiday Breakfast flyers; they say they made the pies “official”.
Here’s to a job well done!
P.S. Samantha found the 9” tins online, we’re going to order them in advance next year.