By Terry L. Hapney, Jr.
The Ironton Tribune

The Lawrence County Museum and Historical Society held its annual pie social Saturday at the museum, and 14 entries were vying for first-place awards in amateur and business categories.
The spread of pies included apple, peanut butter, s’mores, various berry, Oreo, custard, German chocolate, butterscotch and pistachio—among other flavors.
After the judging, Alicia Fraley, secretary for the Historical Society, thanked those who entered the contest as well as the crowd of attendees made up of folks from across the county who awaited the cue to dig into the variety of pies baked from scratch for the event.
“The judges had a very hard time,” Fraley said. “All these scores are so close it’s ridiculous. What would’ve been second place—if we had a second place—was only one number away. Unfortunately, we can only pick one. They absolutely loved it.”
The winner of the 2024 Pie Social Amateur Class is Judene Love of Ironton.
Love said she has baked a pie for each of the socials held at the museum—for years now. She said the pie she chose to bake sounded good to her.
“Apparently, it’s a pie that’s made at Coney Island in New York,” Love said. “That’s why it’s called ‘Atlantic Beach.’ It’s a favorite there. I thought, if they like it, we probably will too.”
Those who enjoy lemon or key-lime pie—this is even better, according to one of the judges.
Love was happy to earn the first-place award.
“It’s great,” she said. “I can’t believe it, because I’ve entered so many times.”

(Editor’s note: It has been brought to the attention of The Tribune that Atlantic Beach pie was popularized in North Carolina by Chef Bill Smith when he was at Chapel Hill’s Crook’s Corner restaurant.)
The winner for the Business Class is Black Bear Bakery in Ironton.
Second-year President Nicole Cox of the Historical Society has been involved with the museum for 12 years. She said this event is an old-fashioned get together for the community.
“A lot of people don’t make pies from scratch anymore,” she said. “It’s a good opportunity to showcase their talent and get everybody out together. The weather is beautiful. Get people into the museum…It’s a great turnout every year. We appreciate the people who make the pies and take the time and our judges who take the time…”
Cox said it’s always “good” to open the doors and meet new people.
“I’ve worked on reminding people that the museum is here,” she said. “We’re about to go into our 100th year as the historical society.”
Involving the community as much as possible is one of the Historical Society’s goals, according to Cox.
“It’s a lot of work,” she said. “It’s all volunteers and donations. We are working on some grants for the building. But it’s 100% donation supported. We appreciate all the support over the years.”
Judges for the pie contest were Ironton Mayor Sam Cramblit, retired Ironton City Schools teacher Annette Massie and Terry L. Hapney, Jr., Marshall University professor and reporter for the Ironton Tribune.
The Lawrence County Museum is located at 506 South 6th St. in Ironton. It is open from 1-4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information, contact Fraley at 740-534-3577 or via adfral@live.com.