LAKE MILLS, Wis. — With just three weeks until the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, a female-led commercial bake shop in Jefferson County is busy preparing a delicious dessert for the delegates.

Elsie Mae’s Sweet Shop, located in Lake Mills, is run by Kelly Deem, who has been dreaming of making pies for the RNC for two years. Now, that dream is becoming a reality.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Deem said. “The biggest, best part, I think, was telling my son that the Secret Service is building me a kitchen to cook food for decision-makers across the United States.”

The shop was hired by the RNC to bake at a special convention area location in Milwaukee.

Preparing for the event is no small feat. The patriotic pies require 5,000 pounds of tart cherries and 300 pounds of butter, and that’s just the beginning.

“Working with the RNC has been nice because even though it’s 50,000 people and working with the Secret Service, they can’t really tell us anything. It’s going to be just knowing that they’re taking care of us, and we feel really confident,” Deem said.

This confidence extends to the pie makers, including Hannah West, who have been doing test runs to ensure they can keep up with the pace.

“The pace that we try to work at for the pie is 20 trays an hour, so pretty fast,” West said.

Despite the political nature of the event, Elsie Mae’s Sweet Shop remains non-partisan.

“I keep all the politics out of the pies,” Deem said.

The made-from-scratch, convention-bound pies are a testament to the skill and dedication of the team at Elsie May’s.

In addition to the pies the shop was commissioned to make, Elsie Mae’s is also creating a unique non-alcoholic cherry old fashioned, a cherry custard and croissants for the main event.