By DANIEL JOHNSON
Village Green Foundation

In the world of math, pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to the diameter, and the exact value cannot be computed.

Similarly, in the world of community, the value of pie cannot be computed.

First, it’s arguably the perfect food and made for sharing — on which you can’t put a price. We try each year at Pie in the Park, but even there, where Kingston legend is that a single pie once sold for $5,000, pies are the currency of purpose, connecting and strengthening the community.

Don’t take my word for it. You can come and see for yourself. Don’t miss the seventh annual Pie in the Park on Aug. 19 at the Village Green picnic pavilion. Last year, more than 250 people attended and contributed nearly $50,000 toward the new community center, now under construction at the Village Green — yes, a $50,000 bake sale!

Presently, the site work is complete and the foundation is being poured. By Aug. 19, we should be seeing walls going up. The center will house a Boys & Girls Club, Kitsap Regional Library branch, and adult activities center. An impressive $7.7 million has been raised, with a million left to go. Everyone is committed to closing the funding gap, with gifts large and small, by the opening in spring 2016.

This year, we anticipate well over 350 community members to attend Pie in the Park and be inspired to support the project being erected just up the hill from the playground. There is no cost to attend the event.

Festivities start at 6 p.m., with free pie tasting and silent auction offering getaways, wine and one-of-a-kind items. A kids’ pie-eating contest is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. All of this is a warm up to the main event — the pie auction. Proceeds from the auction this year will go toward the commercial teaching kitchen planned for the new facility.

Pie in the Park is pure Kingston — a vivid example of what makes this community great. See you there.

—Daniel Johnson is the executive director of the Village Green Foundation.