The award-winning cupcake. Francesca Cella | Collegian

Hillsdale’s American Legion Post 53 named 97-year-old Lois Cogswell one of Hillsdale’s best bakers in a competition hosted during its annual Buck Hunter’s Ball Nov. 8. 

Competitors donated baked goods for the ball’s dessert auction and entered a sample of their treats to the judges in the pie, cake, or cookie categories. The ball also featured a gun raffle and a prime rib dinner. 

Cogswell took first place in the cookie contest for banana oatmeal pecan cookies from the Betty Crocker Cookie Book, with a few tweaks.

“The banana oatmeal cookies are from the cookbook, but with a little added to it,” Cogswell said. “It doesn’t call for any vanilla, so I put vanilla in, and I put in butterscotch chips. People always like my oatmeal cookies.”

Cogswell said she started baking when she was 8 years old to help with chores at home.

“I was brought up on the farm, and there were eight children,” Cogswell said. “My mother would be outdoors, and for us gals, that was our job, doing the cooking and getting the dishes done. A sponge cake is the cake we always made at home, and I still make it.”

Andrea McCormick’s chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting placed first in the cake category. McCormick said she entered the contest after someone brought her a flier for the baking competition. 

“At work, one of my coworkers put the entry form on my desk because I bring stuff in all the time, and she said, ‘I think you could win,’” McCormick said.

McCormick said her coworkers often hire her to bake desserts for their family events and count on her to bring dessert to their monthly potluck. She said they will move the potluck to ensure she attends — with her desserts.

“One time I brought meatballs and everyone was like, ‘Where’s the cheesecake or cookies?’” McCormick said. “They move the potluck if I have paid time off that day.”

McCormick said she enjoys baking as a hobby because it’s rewarding for her and brings joy to others.

“For me, it’s relaxing to create something, and I like making people happy,” McCormick said. 

According to judge Joe Falater, Kim Dokurno’s apple pie was the tastiest dessert of the evening. The pie, made with locally grown apples, earned Dokurno first place in the pie category.

“Apple pie is a classic and a favorite,” Falater said. “It’s impossible to be disappointed with a good apple pie.”

Falater said judging the desserts wasn’t complex. 

“It was just by personal taste and what appealed to me the most,” Falater said. “I’m not coming from a food critic perspective, but from the perspective of someone who’s eaten a lot of dessert over the years.”

Steve Strachn, the chaplain of the American Legion, said he had a lucky win in the gun raffle at the Buck Hunter’s Ball several years ago and now makes a point of coming. 

“Four or five years ago, I won the main prize, I think, so I don’t miss them anymore,” Strachn said. “It’s a prime rib dinner and always a good event.” 

Strachn said he purchased pumpkin bars and applesauce cake in the auction because he wanted to bring dessert home.

The event is a good chance to connect with other people, according to Falater.

“It’s a nice way to get together with friends and neighbors and enjoy the evening,” Falater said.

For the bakers, McCormick said, it’s a chance to bake their favorite recipes for an appreciative crowd.

“They taste it and they’re like, ‘Oh, this is really good,’” McCormick said. “That makes me happy.”