 Many people use the celery-like stock of rhubarb, of the rhubarb plant, in baked goods for a sweet but tart flavor. For this week's in focus, Mel Meyer got a taste of how one church in Pine River is using it in many other ways. We're all things rhubarb today. Every year, the three churches making up Our Lady of the Lakes Parish come together for rhubarb fest. It started as a sidewalk sale to sell a church-made cookbook. After we made the cookbook, it just grew into this whole rhubarb fest. They used to ask parishioners to bring pies, but now make them here at Our Lady of Lords. Down in the basement, a group of bakers are about halfway to their goal of making 400 pies. We prepped like, um, a week ago. Yvonne Swetajewski used to run an ice cream and pie shop over in Hackensack with her husband and has a system down pat. We prep everything before with our packets. So when we're making the pies, we can just grab a packet instead of doing each ingredient. Barbara Dem says she usually gets her pies from the store, but is helping out in the kitchen today. The key to a perfect handmade pastry. You gotta watch for the right bubbles and just get the right color. While the pies are selling out quick. Another fan favorite is the rhubarb ketchup. I only had four jars of it last year, and it was like, boom, it was gone. Made with tomatoes, sugar, spices, and of course, rhubarb. Linda McNamara says it brings a tangy twist to barbecue. I'm not a big ketchup user, so, but it tastes, I think a little more like the barbecue sauce. And people can try out this flavor combo while grabbing some lunch. We have some terrific pulled pork. It's a little bit on the barbecue flavor. Then we have rhubarb beans topped with a scoop of coleslaw. It's a perfect summer meal. It's not overwhelming rhubarb, but it really enhances the beans. But for others who are not so adventurous, these three have rhubarb in them. Perhaps some rhubarb jam is a perfect addition to your breakfast. The best thing to put the cherry rhubarb on is pancakes. These rhubarb lovers will be back out here on Saturday from nine to three o'clock. In Pine River with this week's In Focus, I'm Elmire Lakeland News. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.