A piece of the pie: Roberts still baking at 94 years old

It’s 9:00 on a Friday, and the regular crowd shuffles in. They’re here to see Vi and her specialty pies, and they can’t wait to dig in again.
           
On her 94th birthday, the usual suspects at the Manly Drug Store fountain didn’t bring the treats for Viola Roberts of Grundy Center, but she most certainly treated them with a sour cream rhubarb, a strawberry and a frosted apple concoction that’s something of a hybrid between a pie and a cinnamon roll. Her daughters Mary Block and Connie Hensley—well, nieces, technically, but she raised them after her sister passed—are here, and everyone in attendance agrees: the pie lady hasn’t lost a step.
           
Roberts has been at this for a while now—she recalls catering the wedding of Grundy County Deputy Sheriff Tim Wolthoff, who’s now nearing retirement age himself. She once baked 50 pies in six hours for a reception in Cedar Falls, and her work ethic and attention to detail are legendary.
           
For the last several years, she’s been sharing her gift with the people of Grundy Center, bringing in her pies every Friday over the lunch hour at Manly and baking them for the Landmark Bistro. Roberts, the only living sibling in a family of nine children, is also teaching some of her grandchildren the craft, so it’s safe to assume that the family business is in good hands. 
 
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