BUTTE - The volunteers who spend the week hammering out more than 500 pasties a day say it’s a labor of love. They do it to raise money for the maintenance of the Our Lady of the Rockies Statue that overlooks Butte.
“I myself have been doing it since ’92. I’d take a week’s vacation and come and help them make pasties every year, because I love to see her shine,” said volunteer Sara Sparks.
It takes plenty of teamwork to make this many pasties.
“We start peeling potatoes and the onions, and then we have people that cut up both potatoes and onions, and roll the dough out and make the pasties and then we have people that make sure they get cooked and then they get bagged and out to the people who have ordered them,” said Sparks.
It’s like a big family.
People singing: We are family, I’ve got all my sisters and me.
“The volunteers are wonderful and the amazing them is we have volunteers that are 85 years old,” said Sparks.
What’s the secret to a great pasty?
“The dough, absolutely the crust. You don’t have a good crust, you don’t have a good pasty,” said volunteer Tana Wilcox.
I gave pasty making a try and it’s not a easy as it looks.
I’m a bit slow.
That’s not bad? I think a miner would enjoy this.
“People do it for different reasons, but I believe in the statue, I believe that she brings grace to Butte and I like to see her lit up at night to remind me that’s what she gives us is the grace to move forward,” said Sparks.
The group has already filled out all their 2,500 orders for this year, so you have to wait until next year to order.
