Betty the pie maker . . .Lipinski makes well over 8000 pies
by Karin L. Nauber
Her house smells like a mixture of fragrant spices and home grown goodness.
Betty Lipinski of rural Hewitt has all the fixings for a fairy tale home full of love and goodness and homemade tasty treats.
Betty just recently celebrated her 79th birthday on May 25.
One thing that has kept her very busy over the past five years has been making pies.
She has actually made pies for much of her life, but the ones that she has kept track of—all 8416 of them—have been made in the last five years.
In 2015 she began to keep track of all the pies she was making for the Staples Bakery and Convenience Stores.
When she retired in March of this year, her total number of recorded pies was 8416.
“I’ve been making pies for a long time,” Betty said. In fact, she had two fresh pies cooling on the counter when I went over to visit.
Several years ago, Betty began working at Mel’s Diner in Eagle Bend. Later, she worked for Donna Mae. Both of these were in the capacity of a waitress.
“I always thought of being a waitress as my ultimate favorite job,” she said, reflecting on the earlier years.
“I had always been kind of shy. When I first started working at Pine Cove Inn that brought me out of that,” she said.
While waitressing was a good fit for Betty, fate had a different task for her in mind.
When Mark Pagnac purchased the Eagle Bend gas station and connected cafe, she continued to wait tables.
“Then one day, Mark asked if I would make pies for the cafe because he found out I could bake,” said Betty with a smile.
Betty never dreamed that Mark would want her to bake pies full-time. . . .
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