(Storefront and Doughnuts – Photos by Trish Bennett)
(Pie photo courtesy of Lindsey’s Bakery)
Ask any downtown business owner, and they will tell you Pumpkin Show week is a boon to sales and profit margins. None of them, though, is as iconically connected to the theme of the Circleville Pumpkin Show than Lindsey’s Bakery on West Main Street.
Not only does the business claim the world’s largest pumpkin pie on display each year in its storefront window, but it traditionally sees lines of people wrapped around the block for its signature pumpkin doughnuts.
Now in its third generation of family ownership, Lindsey’s keeps the traditions alive through brothers and co-owners Zach Miller and Burt Miller.
When asked how many pumpkin doughnuts the bakery sells during the Show, Zach said he would be hard-pressed to come up with a number.
- Advertisement -“We really have no idea,” he said. “I don’t know if there’s any good way to track that. We just make them as we go, and we’re frying doughnuts 24 hours a day that week.”
Extra help is also added to the payroll during Pumpkin Show week just to keep up with the overwhelming demand.
The giant pumpkin pie that has become a popular tourist attraction and photo op measures a full six feet in diameter and weighs more than 400 pounds, according to the Circleville Pumpkin Show website.
After being displayed in open air during the four-day show, the pie is not fit for human consumption, but hungry hogs in Pickaway County annually benefit from the display.
- Advertisement -“We usually feed the hogs with it, but there are a lot less hog farmers around here now than there used to be,” Zach said. “We still try to find hogs to feed it to after the Show is over, though.”
Zach said his family is proud of the business’ status as a Circleville Pumpkin Show staple.
In addition to pumpkin doughnuts, which are sold year-round, Lindsey’s also sells a variety of other pumpkin treats, including pumpkin pies, pumpkin cream horns and thumbprint cookies.
Edited: We originally had the location on East Main Street, but Lindsey’s is on West Main Street.
