Article and Photos by Shirin McArthur
Mud Pie Contest and Mud Play 080115
Mud Pie Contest and Mud Play 2015
Mud pie contest entry #4 awaits its turn with the judges
Mud Pie Contest and Mud Play 2015
Mud pie contest entry #3 awaits its turn
Mud Pie Contest and Mud Play 2015
Jared CarpenterG??s pie plate awards await the winners
Mud Pie Contest and Mud Play 2015
Charmeine Wait cuts pie #1
Mud Pie Contest and Mud Play 2015
The judges examine pie #4
Mud Pie Contest and Mud Play 2015
Haley Ford, 8, tastes a mud pie
Mud Pie Contest and Mud Play 2015
-?Hunter Ford, 8, makes his own judgment about the mud pies
Mud Pie Contest and Mud Play 2015
Kaiden Cook, 5, explains how to make a pinch pot as Betsy Shook looks on
Mud Pie Contest and Mud Play 2015
The fallen pterodactyl is rescued
Mud Pie Contest and Mud Play 2015
Colin Casler, 10, prepares more clay for the dinosaur
Mud Pie Contest and Mud Play 2015
Aaryn Ford, 6, contemplates what she will do with her clay
Mud Pie Contest and Mud Play 2015
Kai Casler, 6, aims clay at the pterodactyl
Mud Pie Contest and Mud Play 2015
Cynthia Lines from Arizona samples some mud pie
Mud Pie Contest and Mud Play 2015
Lily Lines, 6, contemplates what she will do with her clay
Mud Pie Contest and Mud Play 2015
Claire Lines, 9, imagines flying like a pterodactyl
Mud Pie Contest and Mud Play 2015
Mud pie contest winner Rylie James displays his pie plate trophy
Mud Pie Contest and Mud Play 2015
River Dahl-Bredine, 1, follow up his mud pie tasting with a seaweed snack
Silver City €™s CLAY Festival activities continued Saturday morning with a mud pie contest and an opportunity for kids to get their hands dirty in the construction of a pterodactyl.
There were four entries in the mud pie contest, which took place adjacent to the Silver City Farmers’ Market. Two women, one man, and one boy entered pies, which were judged by Tom McLane, David del Junco and Lee Miller.
The first pie tasted by the judges was a rich pecan pie. The second pie had a nutty bottom later and a cream and chocolate top layer. The third pie was a gooey and decadent chocolate, decorated with real leaves and stones, two frogs and a large purple spoon. It was accompanied by a pot of flowers. The fourth entry, a dark pudding pie, featured two toy trucks making their way along a mud roadway, surrounded by green grass and a pig wallowing in the mud.
“Even the worst one was excellent,†remarked returning judge David del Junco. Tom McLane, who has also previously judged the pie contest, noted that this year’s pies were more creative and of greater variety.
First place went to the pie with the trucks on the mud roadway, which was entered by Rylie James. Second place went to Sue Been for her frogs-in-the-garden pie. Third place went to Spike Flanagan and fourth to Barba Fila. The prizes for first through third place were stoneware pie plates made by Jared L. Carpenter, a local ceramic artist.
Rylie James was pleased and proud to win the mud pie contest. According to his mother, he spent almost a week planning the pie. “Dirty is my middle name,†he said as he took a break from playing with clay to display his pie plate for the camera.
The mud pie contest was sponsored by the Silver City Food Co-op. Once the judging was completed, the rest of the pies were given away to anyone who wanted a taste. In addition to market shoppers, many children took a break from the nearby CLAY Festival Mud Fun for Kids to taste the mud pies.
The Mud Fun for Kids took place in the portico outside the Silver City Food Co-op Market Café. Kids used clay to cover the chicken wire-and-wood armature of this year’s dinosaur, a pterodactyl. They also took the chance to fashion the clay into other, smaller animals and pinch pots. At one point the pterodactyl attempted a premature flight and landed on its nose. Fortunately some helpful adults were able to push the dinosaur up into something resembling its former position, but it will be unable to take flight anytime soon.