by KYW's John McDevitt 

If a stranger hands you a pie today, it may be part of a national observance that not too many people know about.

Wednesday, January 23rd, is National Pie Day! But not very many people knew about it -- not even Alvin Bieler of Bieler's Bakery at the Reading Terminal Market. He's been serving up pies for nearly  23 years but admits he was caught completely off guard:

"I didn't know it was Pie Day."

(McDevitt:)  "Really? You sell pies and you didn't know it was National Pie Day?"

"No."

He says that apple is their most popular flavor.

I told shoppers at the market about the National Pie Council suggestion of giving pies to people who don't expect it -- what the organization was calling "random acts of pieness."
 
Did this man see any of that going on?

(Man:)  "(laughs) Not yet, but I would like to see how it's done."

(McDevitt:)  "They say just buy a pie for someone in line or someone who doesn't expect it."

(Man:)  "Are you trying to pimp me for a pie?"
  
Another shopper said that if a stranger gave him a pie he wouldn't eat it.
 
(Photo: National Pie Council)