Duane & Ruby Wickersham Memorial Scholarship

Duane “Wick” Wickersham went from raising pigs to starting a trucking company and in September of 1944 he was making a delivery to a local factory in Winchester and overheard the plant manager complaining about the employees leaving the facility for lunch. He suggested opening a café inside the facility. A week later the owners of the factory called him to see if he would be interested in opening a cantina in the factory. After operating the cantina for a year, he sold it to the factory and started The Rainbow Restaurant in downtown Winchester. His new restaurant was a success, and his pies were such a hit that he started delivering them out of a 1934 Buick Sedan. His goal was to produce and sell 300 pies a day, which he reached in four years. Wick’s Pies outgrew its capacity and in 1961 it purchased the building at 214 SE Greenville Avenue in Winchester. This building had previously housed the McCamish Slipper Factory until 1949.Presently the pie factory makes 10,000 pies and over 30,000 pie shells in an 8-hour shift. The Wickersham’s have employed their own children. It has grown over the years by keeping the values of making the highest quality product and providing great customer service. Upon his retirement in 1986, Duane opened Mrs. Wick’s Restaurant and Pie Shop across from the Pie Factory in honor of his wife, Ruby. To this day they make thirty-six varieties of pies every day along with serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The Duane and Ruby Wickersham Memorial Scholarship was created after Duane’s death on November 6, 2008. This scholarship is given to a WCHS and UCCHS senior planning to study hospitality or business.