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SLAYTON - It's not a tough job to sample all those apple pies, what's tough is to pick a winner.

There were 15 contestants in the apple pie contest at the Murray County Fair Thursday and it was up to judges Dave Herrig, Henry Magnus and Dennis Opdahl to decide which was the best. The contest has been featured at the Murray County Fair for about 10 years and is sponsored by Stonegate Orchard of Slayton.

Angela Dahlgren first showed the judges the whole pies, so they could judge the pies on their appearance, then tiny little slices were scooped out of the pie pans and each put on a plate which was served by Dahlgren to the judges, who joked about whether it was like wine tasting and they'd have to spit it out or if they could swallow the pie.

When the taste testing was over, Gail Byers of Stonegate Orchard conferred with the judges and it took them a while to sort out the scoring and figure out who was tops.

The winners were first place, Randy Shaw of Dovray; second place, Lena Wheeler of Balaton; and third place, Linda Wing of Slayton. Wheeler was the only one present when the results were announced.

She said she's been competing in pie contests about five years and taking home first and second place awards.

Wheeler got the recipe for the pie she made for the Murray County Fair "from a friend that I used to work with 20 years ago," she said.

"The topping that goes on top of the apples" is the secret ingredient, Wheeler said.

"I always liked to bake and I do a lot of baking," she said, adding she has "an acre of garden" and makes and sells things at farmers markets.