Pies and Dance for I Love Mountains Day

How does a KFTC member get in the spirit for I Love Mountains Day? In Berea, a contra dance and a pie auction can do the trick. On Friday the Madison County chapter partnered with the Oh Contraire contra dancers to host a dance and pie auction to raise awareness about mountaintop removal coal mining and to raise money, but most of all to give Bereans a chance to have fun on the dance floor. Around sixty chapter members, Berea residents and college students gathered at Berea’s Russell Acton Folk Center to dance and to write valentines to Governor Beshear, caller Joe Wilkie leading the dancers through a variety of traditional dances throughout the night.

After about an hour, the tired but happy dancers stepped off of the dance floor to take a break and to commence the pie auction. Over a dozen pies were donated by Berea residents for use in the pie auction, including several pies baked by Berea’s Megan Naseman, two of whose pies were baked in handmade pie pans donated by Turning Wheel Pottery. Almost all of the pies, including coconut cream, cherry, pecan and chocolate chunk pie, attracted large bids, some of the more competitive bidders driving the prices as high as $50.

The night was a great entry in what is becoming a yearly tradition in Berea, the dance and the pie auction raising over $800. "This year's pie auction brought two new allies to the table- Berea's Oh Contraire Dance series folks and the Black Mesa Water Coalition, who we will split the proceeds with.” said Megan, “More tangibly, this year's auction brought pies from pie makers that hadn't donated before and we raised more dough (pun intended)."  Politics and partying rarely go well together, but the Madison County chapter has found a way to join the two leading up to I Love Mountains Day.