BUCKFIELD — More than $2,000 was raised Saturday when 25 volunteers made 336 pies to benefit the Buckfield High School junior class.

Picture 200 pounds of flour, piles of bright red locally-grown apples, cans and cans of shortening and bags of sugar. Picture also dozens of students, parents and siblings all lined up wearing aprons in assembly-line style, making apple pies.

That was the scene Saturday morning at Buckfield High School as the junior class prepared more than 300 pies to sell to the community. The annual event is a major fundraiser for the senior class trip, and the pies are prepared just in time for Thanksgiving.

The idea began 12 years ago when local apple grower, Kathy King, made pies every year to sell from her stand. She was at that time a class advisor, too, said home economics teacher Lee Gaudette, who was also important to the beginning of the tradition.

Now, although her classroom is used for the pie-making, she said the students and their parents have taken on the annual event.

Janet Martin, junior class vice-president Ally Martin’s mother, is in charge of this year’s event as advisor to the class.

Ally likes to bake, and she looks right at home in an apron. So do Sami Jones, class treasurer, whose grandmother helped out on Saturday, and class president, Alicia Patrie, who likes to cook supper and desserts.

“We had a lot of fun,” Ally said.

The pie-making day took longer than expected. Volunteers worked from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Most were picked up by people who ordered them Saturday afternoon. A few are left, and in the home economic class’s freezer waiting to be collected.

Among the pies pre-sold by Alicia were 25 to teachers and staff. Some have been bought, then frozen, to give as Christmas presents, and others will be the dessert for Thanksgiving dinner.

All the pies go home unbaked, so when it’s time to eat them, they will be fresh. They are often frozen for later use.

The class had originally planned to bake 300 pies, but when the pre-sold inventory was tallied, students had taken orders for 336 pies, so the volunteers kept working, Ally said.

The community has helped out with the ingredients needed — some of the flour came from Food City, apples from Eastman Orchard, pie boxes from Tilton’s Market and nearly everything else from students, their parents or other businesses.

The girls canvassed the area in search of ingredients, Ally said. The 9-inch pies sold for $6 each.

Gaudette said she’s heard that when students return to their schools, one of the things they remember having the most fun doing as a class is making apple pies.

Up until two years ago, the pies were put together a few at a time after school. Now, a community effort in an assembly line seems more efficient, she said.

Some of the 25 volunteers peeled and cut apples, others mixed up the pie crust, while others rolled out the pastry.

Buckfield High School junior class officers Ally Martin, Sami Jones and Alicia Patrie prepare for Saturday’s pie-baking marathon. When all was said and done, 25 students and family volunteers made 336 apple pies in just under 10 hours. All had been pre-ordered. The more than $2,000 raised goes toward next year’s senior class trip for this year’s juniors.