This Charlevoix roadside attraction of the world's largest cherry pie pan and oven from 1976 is at 6591 S. US Hwy 31. (Photo by Edward Pevos | MLive)

TRAVERSE CITY, MI - Northern Michigan was once home to the world’s largest cherry pie. Twice. Now, people and businesses across Traverse City are teaming up to bring the world record back home by creating a pie so big, the record may never be broken again.

Traverse City natives Garret and Dakota Porter, who started ActionGlow as teens, a company which puts LEDs on snowboards and other sporting equipment, have taken it upon themselves to organize the herculean task of attempting to bake a mammoth 50,000 pound cherry pie.

The one thing they say they need most now is funding. Here is their GoFundMe Page.

“Our biggest pain point is fundraising because there’s just certain things that can’t be donated,” Garret Porter told MLive. “One example, the price of the steel alone to create the pie tin is upwards of $35,000. While Jacklin Steel is donating its time and resources for fabricating the tin and cutting all the steel and all that, the one thing it can’t donate is the material to do so.”

THE HISTORY OF THE CHERRY PIE WORLD RECORD

In 1976, Charlevoix broke the world record for the largest cherry pie. You can see the pie pan and oven at 6591 S. US Hwy 31. The record stood until 1987 when Traverse City broke it with a 28,350 pound pie, 10,000 pounds more than the Charlevoix one. You can see Traverse City’s world’s largest pie pan at 3424 Cass Rd.

The world's largest pie pan in Traverse City from 1987 is located at 3424 Cass Rd. (Photo by Lakeside Automotive)

That record stood until July 14, 1990 when the city of Oliver, British Columbia baked a 39,683 pound cheery pie, a record which still stands. But not for long if the Porter’s can pull this off with the help of the community.

“There’s a team of five of us. We’re calling this the Big Pie Project Team. And more than that, this is a community event put on by the community for the community. It would not be possible with just the five of us. We have so many local companies playing big roles in this to help make this happen.”

If all goes to plan, an event will take place at Open Space Park on Saturday, August 6 where an estimated 40,000 people are expected to attend at $5 a pop with all of the money raised being donated to six different local non-profits.

First thing’s first. Making the pie. The Big Pie Project Team has enlisted the help of Water’s Edge Sweet Tooth Bakery to take its cherry pie recipe to the gargantuan scale. The ratios of cherries, sugar and pie crust all have to be the right proportions for the world record to count.

Then, there’s the pie pan which also needs a display and a way to transport it.

“Jacklin Steel is doing the pie tin and Trison Engineering is doing the pie stand. The tin can’t just sit on the ground. The stand has to be engineered to hold a 50,000 pound cherry pie plus the 7,000 pound tin,” added Garret Porter. Then there’s Team Elmer’s. They’re going to transport the tin and stand from where it’s baked. Everything has just been one step at a time. There’s a lot of building blocks.”

Porter says they continue to fundraise with the hopes of pulling this off with a big deadline approaching.

“Jacklin Steel needs one month to fabricate the pie tin, meaning they’ll have to have $35K by July 6, which is coming up fast. We have some large, corporate guarantees, but we’re not there yet.”

Porter says if they don’t hit their fundraising goals by the first big deadline, they plan to continue to fundraise throughout the winter to pull off the world record cherry pie next year.

“It will happen regardless. Whether it’s this year or it gets pushed to next year, it’s going to happen.”

Along with help from Jacklin Steel, Team Elmer’s, Water’s Edge Sweet Tooth Bakery and Trison Engineering, the team is getting help from Ace Welding & Machine to weld the stainless steel for Jacklin Steel. Lamar Advertising is donating billboard space to get the word out of the event.

On top of that, Cherryland Electric Cooperative is helping with heavy equipment to transport the pie filling and other items, Krx Design is doing the logos for the billboard and pamphlets, Northwestern Michigan College’s culinary department is helping with the pie dough and King Orchards is supplying 35,000 pounds of fresh Michigan cherries.

The Porter’s say people who come to the event will be able to have as much pie as they want with the price of admission.

“We want as minimal waste as possible. When the event is over, we plan to safely and sanitarily package up the rest of the pie and donate it to local food banks. We don’t want any of this to go to waste.”

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