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HOW SWEET IT IS!
BOROUGH PRESIDENT’S SWEET POTATO PIE
SCHOLARSHIP CONTEST

Photographs by Laura Geiser

In photo: Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz congratulates all of the participants of this year’s How Sweet It Is! Sweet Potato Pie Scholarship Contest in the rotunda of Borough Hall.

Geraldine Kennedy of the Fountain Christian Center wins best pie!

On Saturday, November 13, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and Best of Brooklyn, Inc. held the second annual How Sweet It Is! Sweet Potato Pie Scholarship Contest. Geraldine Kennedy of Fountain Christian Center won first place for baking the best all-American sweet potato pie in Brooklyn. Shirley McClain of Greater St. Paul AME Church took home second place, and Patricia Chrichlow of Women Ministry at Wayside Baptist Church received third place. Aprele Elliott of Mt. Paran Baptist Church and Leslie Garcia of Project Reach Youth each won in the honorable mention category.

“Nothing makes me happier than bringing Brooklynites together, especially when it is for a good cause and it involves Brooklyn’s best home cooking,” said Borough President Markowitz. “The sweetest part of this contest was that the winning bakers received scholarship dollars for their organization to distribute to Brooklyn’s young people!”

Each winner received scholarship money for her affiliated house of worship or community group and a special engraved silver plate. Scholarships included $2,500 for first place, $1,500 for second place, $1,000 for third place and two honorable mentions for $500 each. Over 40 Brooklyn groups participated in the borough-wide competition at Brooklyn Borough Hall. Each representative brought two of his or her own, freshly baked sweet potato pies and two copies of the recipe.

Judges for this year’s contest included Cakeman Raven of Cakeman Raven Confectionary, Shakoor Watson of Shakoors Sweet Tooth, Erica Kalick of Erica’s Rugelach & Baking Company, John Cabbell of Mama Duke Southern Cuisine, Ken Liebl, Director of Bakery Merchandise for Pathmark, Al Simmons of Health Plus and Perry Chiochi of Specialty Bakers. This event, combining scholarship opportunities with the best baking in Brooklyn, was co-sponsored by Pathmark and Health Plus.