World's Former Largest Cherry Pie Pan

Charlevoix, Michigan

Two "World's Largest Cherry Pie" competing towns -- Charlevoix and Traverse City -- are only 50 miles apart in Michigan's cherry farm country. Both claims have long since been snatched away by a humongous pie baked in Canada, but roadside memorials to the earlier records are still evident and maintained.

In 1976, Charlevoix's Dave Phillips rallied local businesses to bake the World's Largest Cherry Pie as part of the town's annual cherry festival and the nation's Bicentennial. The feat involved construction of a giant pan and an equally massive oven. Local farmers supplied the edible ingredients. The resulting cherry pie, weighing 17,420 pounds, was a world record. For a bit. Until 1987.

Charlevoix's pan, though it held what is now merely the world's third largest cherry pie, is nicely presented for roadside perusal. In front, in skinny, hand-made letters, are the defiant words, "Worlds Largest Cherry Pie." The plate is tipped upward atop a circular brick pedestal (a "Medusa Made Oven" where it was baked), sheltered beneath an ungainly metal roof. To the side, a hand-lettered sign lists the pie's ingredients. And inside the pan sits a giant concrete replica pie slice.

In 2008-2009, the Pie site was improved as an Eagle scout project by Connor Currier, requiring lots of repainting (including the faded and chipping pie slice) and landscaping renovations. Flag poles were added to fly the American flag and two firefighter flags. The pan and fake slice are now more visible year-round.