LIVERMORE —  Bring your kids, family or your friends to Norlands for a sweet start to the fall season. Enjoy a slice of pie with a side of history! This 9th annual fundraiser for Washburn-Norlands Living History Center in Livermore takes place on Saturday, September 7 from 1 to 4 p.m. Against a backdrop of rolling fields and woodlands, history abounds along with the delicious aroma of homemade pies of every type made and donated by Norlands’ volunteers. During the event, Norlands’ staff will also make pies using the woodstove in the historic farmer’s cottage. All pie may be served plain or with real whipped cream or homemade ice cream while supplies last.

Whole pies will be for sale for $13 while slices are served up for a donation. All proceeds support the Norlands’ museum and farm programs, so have a second piece and purchase a whole pie to take home! For the third year, the event includes a Pie Baking Contest for amateur bakers. Participants can enter their own homemade pie for the chance to win fun and fabulous Norlands’ inspired prizes. Contest rules and entry forms may be found on the Norlands website, www.norlands.org/events or by emailing programs@norlands.org. Contestants have the chance for a special “Gold Medal” prize if they make the crust using Gold Medal Flour.

The Norlands is the ancestral home of the founder of Gold Medal Flour. Born in Livermore in 1818, Cadwallader Colden Washburn moved west and, at the age of 48, built a flour mill on St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1880 he entered several types of flours in the International Millers’ Exhibition in Cincinnati and his flours won the bronze, silver, and gold medal prizes. He then changed the name and started the Gold Medal brand.

Visitors to the Pie Social will hear more about Cadwallader during a tour of the Washburn’s elegant home built in 1867. Guided tours are available all afternoon. Learn about the remarkable Washburn family of Livermore that produced, in one generation: four Congressmen from four different states and three in Congress serving together at one time; two Governors from two different states; one army general; one Captain in the Navy; one Secretary of State; one United States Senator; two Foreign Ministers; one founder of the Washburn-Crosby Flouring Mills which eventually became General Mills and one founder of another flour company that became part of Pillsbury; one founder of the Soo Railroad; one banker; and three published authors.

After growing up in poverty on a hardscrabble farm in Livermore, the seven Washburn brothers went on to become leaders in business and industry, political affairs and international diplomacy throughout the 1800s. The one-room schoolhouse is just a short walk down the road and will be open all afternoon. The schoolmaster awaits his scholars! Experience school as if it is 1853. It’s fun for all ages.

A $5 general admission is charged for the mansion and schoolhouse tour. Otherwise it is free to attend the Pie Social and enter the baking contest. Activities take place rain or shine. Come enjoy a pleasant afternoon at the Washburn-Norlands Living History Center, 290 Norlands Road in Livermore. For more information, visit www.norlands.org or call 897-4366.

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