To the question, ““Why did you start baking hickory nut pies?” pie-baker Oliver Lugibihl replied, “I probably didn’t have any pecans.”

Then came a grin.

The grin occurred between his breaking a jumbo Moser egg and measuring out some Watkins vanilla, which he insists he likes better than other vanilla, “because of its stronger flavor.”

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Known as the hickory nut pie man, Icon viewers have a rare, seasonal opportunity to purchase one his masterpiece pies on Friday.

A limited supply is available at the Mennonite Home Communities of Ohio holiday bake sale. It’s in the Mennonite Memorial Home lobby, 410 W. Elm St., from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

But, if you miss the sale, there’s good news. You may pre-order a pie for the holidays. Check the bottom of this story for details.

“When I retired I wanted to do some of the things I remembered as a kid,” said Lugibihl, who served the Bluffton-Pandora communities in medical practice as a general practitioner.

Three years ago he started to do one of those “things.”

He started baking hickory nut pies. He made 38  in his first year for the Bluffton Fall Festival.  Since then he’s baked dozens of the pies as fundraisers for the Service Group of the Mennonite Home Communities of Ohio and also Grace Mennonite Church, Pandora.

His pies are $25 each. Pies are baked two at a time, “because they don’t bake quite right if you put more than two in the oven at the same time,” he said. And, concerning the two in the oven, bake them for 50 minutes at 325 degrees.

“If the pie jiggles after 50 minutes, leave it in a little longer,” he said. Each pie, in a 10-inch crust, contains one and one-half cups of nuts.

The hickory nut harvest occurs at the end of August and goes into September and October.

The nuts used in this year’s pies are from last fall.

There are more than just pies in Lugibihl’s baking arsenal.  During this interview - in preparation for Friday’s bake sale and later sales - in his kitchen were two batches of hickory nut and black walnut cookies, two batches of hickory nut icebox cookies and one batch of ginger cookies.

“There’s five dozen cookies in a batch,” he said.

Back to the pies, in Lugibihl’s garage hang bags of hickory nuts from this year. More nuts, from last year, filled his freezer.

He jokingly said, the nuts here are from “cradle to grave.” Adding, “If you know hickory nuts, you know theses pies are worth it.”

How to order a hickory nut pie for the holidays:

Call Mennonite Memorial Home at 419-358-1015 Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• Thanksgiving deadline: must order by Monday, Nov. 21
Thanksgiving pies will be available for pickup on Wednesday, Nov. 23.

• Christmas deadline: must order by Thursday, Dec. 15.
Christmas pies will be available for pickup on Dec. 19-21-23-30

Pies are $25 each with all proceeds supporting the Service Group and their projects.