An emotional eggs-it for founder of pie contest
The man behind the World Custard Pie Championships has said a fond farewell to the contest he started more than 50 years ago. On Friday, Mike FitzGerald announced he had flung his final flan and was stepping down from organising the event he started in 1967 at an emotional presentation ceremony at Coxheath Village Hall - a building the fundraiser helped to build.
The 81-year-old admitted to the family, friends, colleagues and fellow organisers who gathered for the evening, that, after this year’s competition, he could “hardly put one foot in front of the other”.
He recalled many highlights and celebrities who filmed at the event over the years, including Rory McGrath and Will Mellor who got stuck in in 2012 for Channel 5’s Champions of the World, and Penelope Keith, who last year visited for Channel 4’s Village of the Year.
He said: “I have enjoyed the fun of it but I need to step back so other people can do it their way and take it forward for the next 50 years.
“Coxheath has been a huge part of my life and all those years ago people and organisations evolved and came together, all committed to improving the quality of life people dreamed of.
“There is now a continuing challenge with more and more houses and new families growing the village that I have worked tirelessly to serve, supporting everyone in the community, and again they have a great opportunity to come together and take Coxheath forward. I feel confident they will deliver.”
For the past decade he had organised the event with friend and fellow Coxheath councillor Brian Mortimer, and had hoped to pass the baton on to him, but sadly he died after a battle with cancer earlier this year. Mr FitzGerald has also been a long-serving parish councillor and Maidstone borough councillor; Mayor of Maidstone in 2007 and was made an MBE in 2017. The evening saw presentations of £800 raised from this year’s championships to three charities - the Heart of Kent Hospice at Aylesford, Homeless Care at Maidstone Day Centre and Coxheath Village Hall.