BUTTE — The basement of St. Mary’s church in Butte will soon be filled with the warm aroma of fresh-baked pasties as volunteers continue the tradition of its bake sale to raise money to maintain the Our Lady of the Rockies statue overlooking Butte.
“It keeps the Lady lit, so it’s a good fundraiser,” said Our Lady of the Rockies volunteer Sara Sparks.
The group is taking orders now for pasties, which more than a dozen volunteers will prepare and bake in the basement of the church the week of March 21. They are expected to bake more than 2,500 pasties in that week.
“We have lots of fun, we play music, we have some singers, we tell jokes. I get to see a lot of those people only once a year, but I love seeing them,” said Sparks.
It’s the only fundraiser for the year that covers the maintenance costs for the Our Lady of the Rockies statue on the East Ridge.
“I couldn’t imagine looking up on the East Ridge and not seeing her every night now. She means so much to the people of Butte and you can tell just by the number of pasties we sell,” said Sparks.
This tradition has been around for more than 20 years, but the people that run this program are running low on one very important ingredient — volunteers.
“Many of our volunteers have passed on, so we’re short of volunteers, so if you like to peel potatoes or onions or chop them up or roll pasties or mix up the dough, we’d love to have you come up,” she said.
People can order pasties or volunteer by calling Our Lady of the Rockies at 406-782-1221.
