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Jan 03, 2024

Family of bakers make Jefferson County Fair history

Making history at the Jefferson County Fair last week were three members of one family who won first place in the special baking contests and will represent Jefferson County at the PA Farm Show in

Making history at the Jefferson County Fair last week were three members of one family who won first place in the special baking contests and will represent Jefferson County at the PA Farm Show in January. Proudly showing their ribbons are (from left) Denise Musser, her daughter Kate Schrecengost (holding her youngest daughter, Violet), and her granddaughter Isabelle Schrecengost.

BROOKVILLE — A historic moment occurred last week when Denise Messer, of Brookville, realized that three generations of her family will be representing the Jefferson County Fair at the 2024 Pennsylvania Farm Show in January.

Messer, her daughter, Kate Schrecengost; and her granddaughter, Isabelle Schrecengost, all took first-place ribbons in baking contests at the fair, earning them a trip to the Farm Show, where they will compete for the $500 first prize in their category.

“We were thrilled,” Messer said. Her daughter, Kate, said, “It is weird, it is crazy. None of us had any intentions of entering anything; it was just spur of the moment. I can’t believe we won.”

Messer won her blue ribbon in the angel food cake contest, with a Key Lime Angel Food Cake. “It was the first time I ever made it,” she said, “and it was delicious. Kate had a Walnut Crumb Apple Pie and Isabelle made a brownie that is a knock-off of a Take 5 candy bar. It was a first-time recipe for her, and she made it herself.”

To be included in the competition, “each of the recipes had to be made from scratch,” Messer said.

Schrecengost said her prize-winning pie was a “loosely followed recipe. I like a crumb topping and I just winged it and made it a little different,” she said. “I thought, what do I have to lose.” She said making the pie took her “seriously away from my comfort zone; I never make pies.”

She also entered the chocolate cake competition, and came away with a third-place ribbon. “I made it all by myself, without asking Mom for help. I had never used a piping bag in my life,” she said.

Baking is something that seems to come naturally to Messer and her children. “I think it is one of those things they try on their own. They love to bake. I think they learn by watching. Isabelle says, ‘Gammie, can I help?’ She learns from her mom, she learns from me.”

Not only do they love to bake, they “love to compete. We all like to see who we can beat amongst ourselves,” Messer said. “One of Kate’s jokes is when we both compete. One time we both made apple pies and we both won. When we went to the Farm Show, she said, ‘I don’t have to beat anybody but you.’” And she did. Keeping the competition alive, Schrecengost said this year “I only did it because my mom did it.”

Messer said she has been entering her baked goods in fair competitions “for about 10 years. For Kate it is eight years and for Isabelle, this was her first time.”

Not only were the winners competing for ribbons at the fair, Isabelle’s brothers also won ribbons. Ten-year-old Elliott Schrecengost won the second-place ribbon for his Rocky Road Brownies and his brother Gage, age 12, took the third-place ribbon for his “Pap’s favorite recipe, apple brownies,” Schrecengost said. She said baking the brownies was a new experience for her sons. “This is not one of their comfort zones,” she said. “They are very good on the consumption end, but baking was a new challenge.”

Besides entering the baking contests, the family finds other ways to volunteer at the fair. Sunday night before the fair opened they were in the exhibit building “helping to set up,” then “we went home and baked,” Schrecengost said.

Isabelle, who will be in eighth grade at Brookville Area High School, also loves sports and is a member of National Junior Honor Society. When she learned that her brownies had won the blue ribbon, she said, “What can I say? I won, I kicked my brothers’ butts. I’m excited to go to states in January.”

Her mom is a stay-at-home mom of five who “loves every bit of it. She encourages her kids to bake.” Her grandmother “loves to bake, loves to garden and loves to teach the kids.”

Messer said “the fair is always looking for volunteers and others to enter into this competition. We encourage people to come out and see the hard work of the people that have entries here.” She said often “people come to the fair and they don’t really come into the buildings” to see the exhibits and sample the baked goods that were entered into the competitions. After the items are judged, “all the things that are baked are cut up and available to anyone for a donation.”

Messer said, “The fair is wholesome. It is such a nice place to bring the family out. The animals are down there and the kids work so hard with the animals. They stay here all week. We just want people to come.”

When Denise, Kate and Isabelle go to the Farm Show in January, they will be making the same goodies that won their first-place ribbons last week at the fair. While they love to compete, Schecengost said, “We did it for the fun, to have a good time.”

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