Dream of finding cancer cure more than pie in the sky

- By David Treadwell - Staff Writer

When medical science discovers a cure for cancer, Tony Sobony wants to be able to say that he had a hand — or, perhaps better said, a face — in making that longstanding dream come true. Sobony, a retired Hamilton Township High School social studies teacher, is founder and chief booster of the American Pie Party, a grassroots organization devoted to fighting cancer through “pie-in-the-face” fundraisers for research into cures.

The “pie parties,” as Sobony calls the fundraisers, are a variation on a classic routine of slapstick comedy, with whipped cream heaped on paper plates serving as the weapons of mirth induction. Throwers pony up anywhere from $1 to $100 a pop for the plates, depending on what the traffic will bear and the monetary goals set by pie-party sponsors. Along with the barrels of laughs the parties generate, they also raise oodles of loot — and leave Sobony with sweet thoughts.

“When American technology solves the riddle of cancer, I want to feel as if I were part of that solution,” he said. “By combining the sorrow of cancer with the laughter of pies in the face, unlimited sums of money can be generated for cancer research.” Since its beginnings in 1980, Sobony says, the American Pie Party has raised more than $50,000 for cancer research through the numerous pie parties it has either held or promoted across central Ohio.

American Pie Party founder Tony Sobony demonstrates his pie-throwing technique on a mannequin sporting a President Bush mask and protective gear that people taking pies in the face wear at Sobony's home in south Columbus. Sobony is sponsoring a pie-throwing event Sept. 11 at Hamilton Township High School during which he will attempt to have 1,111 whipped-cream pies thrown at him in 111 seconds.

And over that same period, he adds, he has personally taken more than 64,000 pies in the kisser. “The first year we did this, I took 83 pies in eight hours,” he recalled. “I remember feeling very frustrated at that time because I wanted to set the world record for accepting pies in the face and for the number of other people I got to accept them.”

To be sure, Sobony freely admits, no official recordkeeping actually exists in either of those categories — particularly not by the Guinness Book of Records, the ultimate arbiter of such matters. But he has high hopes of setting a record of some sort with his upcoming “Patriot Day” pie party Sept. 11 at Hamilton Township High, his old stomping grounds. On that date, Sobony will attempt to have 1,111 whipped-cream pies thrown at him in 111 seconds.

One hundred volunteers, arranged in 10 equal-sized formations around Sobony like petals around the center of a flower, will each throw 11 pies at him for a total of 1,100 pies. The coup de grace — the 1, 111th pie — will be hurled by his wife, Sally, whom he describes as his spiritual support in his fundraising efforts and the coiner of the American Pie Party name.

The event kicks off at 6 p.m. at Hamilton Township High School, at Lockbourne and Rathmell roads, with opening remarks by Sobony, Patriot Day remarks by Obetz Mayor Rod Davisson and Hamilton Township Fire Chief Jerry Lupfer. The Speed Pie, as Sobony calls the part of the program in which he is to be plastered with 1,111 pies, is set for 6:22 p.m. It is to be followed by a celebrity pie-throw involving cancer survivors taking shots at prominent community figures.

Sobony wants to line up 11 people for this feature. Two are already on board, he says: Obetz Mayor Davisson and Clyde “Mr. Tire” Hampton of Mr. Tire of Columbus, which specializes in commercial tire and repair needs. After the celebrity pie-throw, the program will open up to nominations by audience members of individuals that they want to put up to be pied and are willing to sponsor with donations. Sobony expects to raise more than $1,000 at the Patriot Day party.

None of it will come from the Speed Pie, the featured event. Its participants, whom Sobony is attempting to recruit largely from among the Hamilton Township High student body, will not have to pay to play. The celebrities, however, are each expected to sponsor the cancer survivors who pies them with an appropriate donation to the cause.

If anyone would like to sponsor Sobony at the Speed Pie, he has what he calls his “Eleven-eleven” plan. Send a check for $11.11 — that’s a penny for each of the 1,111 pies he’s going to be hit with — to the American Pie Party, PO Box 77652, Columbus, OH 43207. All donations will be placed in the organization’s treasury for dispersal to cancer research agencies, Sobony says. All participants in the Patriot Day event are urged to dress in red, white and blue clothing. Sobony himself plans to wear a white tuxedo, red vest and a blue shirt or tie.

When Sobony founded the American Pie Party at Hamilton Township High 26 years ago, his standard outfit for the school’s annual pie parties was a pastel green tuxedo with bright gold trim. “Those are the school colors,” he said. “I rented the tux from Romanoff’s. It was always in bad shape when I brought it back. Finally, they just gave it to me.” In those early pie parties, he recounted, he would also involve as many school “celebrities” in taking a pie as he could muster — teachers, athletic team captains, prom queens, cheerleaders, student council presidents and honor society presidents. They would be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

Sobony started the pie parties as a way to get his social-studies students involved in some activity that would stimulate their interest and get them to make a contribution to society. He chose cancer research as the beneficiary because his father, stepfather and father-in-law all died of cancer. American Pie Party founder Tony Sobony looks at himself in a hard-carved replica depicting him sporting a green tuxedo with gold trim and taking a pie in the face.

At a Father’s Day pie party last year in Obetz, he recalled wistfully, he took 3,298 pies in the face in 20 minutes and 10 seconds in honor of his two fathers and his wife’s father. Another inspiration for the American Pie Party was a fellow teacher at Hamilton Township High, Carole Lowe, who died three years ago from breast cancer. During the late ’70s, he recounted, he had become frustrated with teaching and wanted to drop out and pursue another career avenue. Lowe advised him to specialize in something that he could put his heart and soul into. That turned out to be pie parties.

 

“I took what she said to heart and thought about it,” he said, “and this is the concept I came up with. ‘Carole,’ I told her one day, ‘I’m going to specialize in pies in the face.’” As Sobony tells the story, Lowe wasn’t too happy at first with his decision. She felt pie parties were “too aggressive” an activity. But she later came round to his way of thinking and became one of his biggest boosters. Sobony still recalls the letter Lowe once wrote to Michael Schwarzwalder, Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman’s chief of staff, then a state senator, in which she said: “With Tony’s perseverance and endurance, the American Pie Party will be a success.”

When Sobony retired from teaching in 2002 as the result of a disability to his legs, he decided to devote himself full time to the American Pie Party. “It’s my passion,” he said. “I’d rather do this for free than work at a job making $8 an hour.” Since then, he has carried the Pie Party’s message to schools, colleges, community groups, businesses and government agencies throughout central Ohio, seeking to get them involved in holding pie-in-the-face fundraisers.

The American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, the society’s signature fundraising event held in communities across the country, is a special target. An Ohio State University pie party, held last May in tandem with the student-sponsored Relay for Life and featuring former OSU and Miami Dolphins football player Demetrius Stanley, raised $1,100 in one afternoon, Sobony said.

Sobony says putting on a pie party is as easy as — well, pie. Secure a venue, line up as many celebrity participants as you can, get the word out to the news media, and round up all the aerosol whipped cream and paper plates you can. Sobony dreams no small dreams in his efforts to turn the American Pie Party into a national phenomenon. “My long-range goal is to have Penn and Teller, Donald Trump, Lance Armstrong and Paul Newman all have their own pie parties,” he said.