DOWAGIAC — The smell of fresh apple pie filled the air as the Dowagiac Rotary Club broke off into teams of four Thursday to create apple pies that members will eventually auction off to raise money for a family they will sponsor at Christmas.

Rotarian Robin Moser led the group with a pie recipe she frequently uses. Each group selected a leader to direct the pie making.

Moser called the recipe a no-waste pie crust and said she reuses left over scraps and places them into the freezer. The next time she wants to bake a pie, she takes the scraps out and already has pie dough at her disposal.

Moser created the no-measure pie crust using a five-pound bag of flour and a three pound can of Crisco. The secret ingredient Moser added was Sprite.

“I love to bake,” Moser said. “This will make enough dough for 10 pies if you roll it like me. I like a thin crust.”

As Moser created the dough, Rotarians peeled apples and mixed them with cinnamon, flour, sugar and nutmeg. Added to the inside of the pie was three slices of butter.

At the end of the pie making process, club president Melody Wallace described the purpose of the day’s activity.

“Every strategic plan needs to be evaluated,” Wallace said, challenging Rotarians during the week to think about how the process could have been improved. “The whole point was that we all came together. We all worked together as teams to create something out of nothing.”