Four Newtown luminaries had a sweet assignment Monday, October 28. Newtown First Selectman Pat Llodra, Newtown Bee Publisher Scudder Smith, Newtown Police Department Lieutenant George Sinko, and Queen Street dentist Dr David Nowacki were easily talked into judging the intraoffice “pie smackdown” at Newtown Center Pediatrics.

Thought up as a fun office event by medical assistant Lois Barber, receptionists Cindy Shaw and Patti Moore took on Ms Barber’s apple pie challenge, as did Dr Laura Nowacki. By noon on Monday, four apple pies graced the festively set table in an upstairs room of Newtown Center Pediatrics, and the judges settled in, forks in hand.

“They are all really different, but all good,” said Mrs Llodra, with all of the other judges agreeing it would be hard to pick a winner.

“We were asked to judge only on flavor,” mentioned Lt Sinko.

After much serious chewing, the judges wrote their top two favorites on slips of paper. It took only a little tweaking for all to agree on a pie that was the winner, and to call the contestants back into the room.

Pie number three, announced Mrs Llodra, was their first choice.

“That’s Laura’s,” said Ms Barber, pointing to Dr Nowacki.

Dr Nowacki said that she had gotten the edge by taking the advice of “Dave, at the Newtown Transfer Station. He drives the front loader there, and we always trade recipes,” she said. Dave told her that his daughter always adds a little maple syrup to her pies, so Dr Nowacki decided to give it a try. It was a winner.

There were no prizes on Monday, just the glory — and maybe the chance of taking on a challenge from Town Hall next year, said Dr Nowacki.