Orange was the color of the day at Towamensing Elementary School's Pie Assembly. Actually, it was orange with a heavy accent of whipped cream ... on many faces.

Towamensing Elementary students celebrated reaching a goal by throwing pies in their teachers' faces. This is something everyone who knew Blaine House knows he would have enjoyed tremendously.Blaine R. House was a fifth-grade teacher at Towamensing since 1987. He passed away unexpectedly last year on May 7.A group of parents and members of the Towamensing PTO formed a Blaine R. House Memorial Fund committee.Fitness was important to House, who was always outside at recess, interacting with the students. The committee decided it wanted to purchase playground equipment for Towamensing Elementary and dedicate it in his memory. The goal was to raise $4,000. They also wanted to raise money for a scholarship.Thanks to the Raising the House fundraising campaign, the school and the community has received enough in donations to offer $10,000 in scholarship money to be awarded to a Palmerton Area High School senior or seniors and to purchase playground equipment and have it installed.A granite memorial bench for the playground is also being donated by the Stroudsburg Granite Co.All of this has been done in memory of House."We are overwhelmed by the donations we have received through the spaghetti dinner, the 5k race and now this school pie throwing event," said Melanie Burnett, Towamensing Elementary PTO president.During the Pie Assembly, two sixth-grade students, Jordan Nelson and Joshua Mooney, counted the money the school raised for the Pie Throwing fundraiser, which totaled $1,318.07."Without your efforts and excitement, we wouldn't be here today," said Christine Steigerwalt, Towamensing's principal.And then the fun began.Twenty-six teachers and a surprise guest, former principal Gary Bruch, all had pies thrown in their faces by pre-selected students.To the delight of the students, most of the teachers wore orange Raising the House T-shirts, orange socks, orange plastic covering, big orange glasses or some kind of protective eyewear.There were nine groups. Each teacher had to face a student wielding a pie plate full of whipped cream, overseen by members of the Raising the House committee, which includes Adrianne Allen, Melanie Burnett, Marcia Heinick, Jill Kuzo and Eric Snyder.Teachers and staff who participated were: Christine Steigerwalt, principal; Trisha Green; Lauren Smith; Ashley Hummer; Shanna Matthews; Amy Kline; Eileen Long; Allyson DeHart; Chris Hudak; Brittany Hunsicker; Joyce Paulinho; Alexandra Spalding; Dorothy Getz; Lori Smith; Natalie Madeira; Kristin Heller; Darlene Trovitch; Chris Hoffner (retired fourth grade teacher); William Zeky; Lisa Ward; Jacob Zurn; Sharon Hettler; Jaclyn Ivancich; Dwight Henninger; Lindsay Serfass.The students who had the privilege to throw the pies were: Gavin Cullen; Jared Richard; Gabe Strohl; Aubree Foley; Autum Bollinger; Kyleigh Steigerwalt; Devin Rivera, Michael Demuro-Correll; Aydin Brehemsis; Shelby Soldridge; Olivia Robertson; Brandon Manginelli; Ethan Thompson; Sophia Gentile; Cole Serfass; Elizabeth Melber; Christopher Walkowiaki; Wyatt Werner; Carter Gardner; Bryce Yacone; Kayleigh Snyder; Ariana Jones; Emily Baumgardt; Ethan Recker; Molly Mihalko; Mitchell Hourt; Jack Starrett; Grace Costenbader; Breanna Hartranft; Nick Singleton.Those who wish to donate to the Raising the House scholarship, make checks payable to Towamensing PTO with "Blaine House Fund" in the memo line, to Melanie Burnett, P.O. Box 263, Kunkletown, PA 18058.For information, contact Eric Snyder, 610-248-2648 or visit www.raisingthehouse.