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Good enough to eat…

Sweets So Geek hosts 4th Annual Pie Pan Art Auction

By Rebecca Stockert

Fort Wayne Reader

2018-03-02


On March 10, Sweets So Geek brings us another year of Pi Day festivities. Now in its fourth year, the Annual Pie Pan Art Auction will feature original artwork on actual pie pans created by local artists. The pie pan artwork will be auctioned and all funds from the auction will be donated to STOP Suicide Northeast Indiana. Sweets So Geek will also be selling pies all day, a portion of the pie proceeds being donated to the suicide prevention organization. Interested artists can still stop by the shop and pick up a pie pan, work being due March 9.

The first year Sweets So Geek hosted the Pie Pan Art Auction, it fell on the “most Pi Day possible,” March 14, 3.1415926, according to Chad Seewald, owner. Initially, he wanted to have a pi (or pie?) themed menu and invite the arts community to participate in some sort of project. What resulted is the now annual Pie Pan Art Auction that donates to worthy charities each year after auctioning art on pie pans (an average of $2000 each year). Previous years’ events have donated to the medical expenses of Poptique Popcorn’s late owner Lindsey Hively, Fort Wayne Small Business Association, American Cancer Society, and Bridge of Grace.

This year, donations will go to STOP Suicide Northeast Indiana. The organization is an independent entity comprised of several mental health organizations. It provides education, immediate counseling for those contemplating suicide, a suicide hotline, counseling for family members left after a suicide, and literature for concerned friends and family members. Last year, the organization put out over 500 brochures and packets; funds raised from the 4th Annual Pie Pan Auction will be used to continue printing and distributing this essential information.

In the shop, Seewald has collected a few pie pan art pieces from past years. Some they bought, others were purchased and donated back to Sweets So Geek. One returning artist, Tammy Davis, explains why she donated her time and talent: “The Pie Day event is for a very good cause...that's close to me. Anything we can do to stop suicide is a great thing; every life matters. For my pie plate I chose a subject that is cheery and heartwarming. I want to make people smile with this re-created piece of art...My goal is to create something new and different and to make people smile.”

Like the auction and pie menu, Seewald is bringing back the annual Pi Contest, as well. The contest goes like this: whomever can recite pi to the furthest digit wins free pie and their name engraved on a pie pan. Seewald admits the competition is tough; the same person has won the past several years: Eric Toy. Toy is able to recite pi to the 208th digit. The next closest reciter comes in at 30 digits. If you feel like 208 is an outrageously long sequence of number to memorize, consider that the official world record for pi recitation is held by Rajveer Meena at an astonishing 70,000 digits. Unofficial counts are over 100,000.

When asked why he chooses to donate to charitable organizations, Seewald was firm in his position on the responsibility of small businesses to give back to their communities. “It’s a simple fact: if it’s not for the community we don’t exist. I think every small business owner has a right and a need to give back to the community,” he says. He admits he cannot give to every charity that asks for donations, or he wouldn’t be able to keep his doors open. Doing the annual event and selecting a different charitable organization each year is his way of giving back.

“The more we give to the community, the more the community gives back to us,” Seewald explains. “Our entire advertising is based on karma, we don’t pay for advertising. We really believe in trade. We are big on setting up agreements with other people that are mutually beneficial and that’s the way we run the entire business.”

Sweets So Geek also gives back to the community with their free summertime movie nights on the parking lot in front of the business. Seewald admits the movie nights don’t make money for them, but are rather another way of giving back to the community and strengthening the neighborhood. People can walk, ride, or drive over just to hang out, watch a movie, and/or eat something sweet. As Seewald puts it: “It’s not even about the movie. It’s about getting out, it’s about seeing neighbors in a safe, comfortable environment, it’s about having fun things to do.”

The first movie night of 2018 will be on Saturday, May 19, the showing starting at dusk. The leading film of the season will be the first Star Wars and an entire Star Wars Day will accompany the event. Plans are in the works to collaborate with Rhapsody Art Gallery and HeART of the City to have a sci-fi themed art show, there will be a Mos Eisley-themed marketplace, food trucks, and a beer tent.

Sweets So Geek began nearly 8 years ago when Seewald took up chocolate-making as a hobby in order to keep his sanity (which his day job was slowly draining away). At first, he gave his tasty creations away to friends, until the owner of a local toy shop told him he should be selling them. He began selling at markets and slowly grew his business until he opened a brick and mortar store on the North Anthony Corridor three years ago. Business has steadily increased each year. Seewald says: “I look back at picture of what this place looked like the first year and it was so bare and boring; and now it feels like we don’t have enough room for everything.”

Auction: Saturday, March 10, 3 pm - 10 pm

Sweets So Geek is located at 3410 N. Anthony Blvd, Fort Wayne, IN. Find them online at sweetssogeek.com and on Facebook @sweetssogeek

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