Hi everybody!
Welcome to the AIS Blog, where we'll be sharing information about the upcoming AIS reunion (Saturday, June 25, from 2:00 to 6:00 pm at the Redlands Elk Lodge) and take other trips down memory lane.
We'll have more info on the reunion very soon.
Meanwhile, what better day to start things off than looking at a longstanding AIS tradition - Pie Day? Here's a slice of AIS lore I wrote last year in honor of the ultimate Pi Day (3.14.15). Hope you enjoy it! And please feel free to share a comment on any special memories you have about an AIS Pie Day, or potluck.
Cheers!
Janet Reyes
The Origin of AIS Pie Day
Once upon a time there was a small mapping company in a small town in the mountains. Just down the street from the small mapping company was a small pie shop, run by an old woman (I forget if she was small too).
When the mappers had a birthday to celebrate, they would go to purchase a pie or two from the old woman in the pie shop. And all the mappers would enjoy their pie, and sing “Happy Birthday” (or sometimes just “Haaa--”).
One day the mapping company moved down the hill. Their new location was nice, but there was no pie shop within walking distance.
At first, the mapping company still celebrated birthdays with pie, usually purchased from chain restaurants known for their pie.
Over time, the birthday celebrants tended not to choose pie. While ice cream novelties (Klondikes, Drumsticks, etc.) became the more common birthday treat, they still had pie every once in a while. Nevertheless, the day on which birthdays were celebrated was still known as Pie Day, and the actual celebration was known as Pie Time. All the mappers still rejoiced when they heard “It’s Pie Time!” announced over the intercom.
So, to this day, the mappers celebrate “Pie Day.”
Now, as the world celebrates Pi Day (3.14 – get it?), to the mappers at the small mapping company it is no big deal, because for them Pie Day happens several times a year.
The End
Here are some emailed comments from last year about this:
Janet: ...AIS was located between the Squirrel Cage (I can smell the grease just thinking about it!) and the pie shop, yes?
Ed: Yes, it was past Takashi's house.
Debbie: I heard the Squirrel Cage burned down years ago.... As I recall, wasn't it part of a car garage too? I think it was often difficult to distinguish between the cooking grease and the car grease!!
John Menke: The origin of the Haaaa... was from Brenda.
Lisa Cotterman: I always thought it was Ray. But maybe he just added the "p" to make it "Hap"...