ROCKLAND — In the next day or so Wayne Steeves, of the Rockland Café, will spend about five hours in the cafe's kitchen, laboring over a favorite Maine dessert, knowing that most of his final product will be devoured within minutes.

For 10 years, Steeves has contributed his mini chocolate pies to the pie-eating contest held annually during the Main Street Rockland Summer Solstice Celebration and Street Party that opens Main Street to pedestrians, sidewalk sales and entertainers, Saturday, June 20, 4 to 8 p.m.

"They asked me once," Steeves said in reference to the first year Solstice organizers asked him to volunteer his services. Since then no one has asked. No one has needed to.

"It's fun. It's good for the community, and it's good for business," he said as he joined his wife and co-owner, Carlene, and a young relative for a late lunch at the café.

Steeves, with the help of an off-duty waitress and a cook, will mix about 25 pounds of chocolate cake batter and 3.5 to 4 gallons of cream filling to create 150 pies for the contest, three 1-foot in diameter pies for the top winners of each category, plus more for the café, which will be open during the event.

The contest is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. in front of Rockland Café at 441 Main Street. Registration for the 30 contestants total in three categories begins at 4 p.m. The three categories are: Kids - age 7-11; Kids - age 12-17; Adults - 18 and older.

"It's fun to watch the kids," Steeves said. "It's fun to watch the adults, too. But, it's fun to watch the kids."

Steeves also bakes whoopie pies for Rockland's annual Pies on Parade, a fundraiser for fuel assistance. The 400 mini pies he makes for the Parade event takes him two days to produce. But, as Carlene said, "it's all for a good cause."

This year's free, family-friendly Summer Solstice Celebration and Street Party, sponsored by Island Institute, will include live bands, food options, festivities with games and prizes for children, dancing, and a spontaneous flash mob dance, according to Gordon Page, executive director of Rockland Main Street Inc., in a news release.

Free face-painting, temporary tattoos, giant bubbles, art classes, knitting classes, and a street chalk-art exhibition are also scheduled.

Click here to read details about parking, smoking, dogs, and donations during the event.

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com.