$1,000 for a cake? How sweets bring a community together
October 5, 2018
Buying a cake at the local fair may cost $15. At the cake auction for the FFA, you’ll need to shell out up to $1,000.
From September 30 to October 2, Linganore hosted the 45th Annual Linganore-New Market Community Show. The community show supports the Linganore FFA Chapter and the communities surrounding LHS. The highlight of the show is a cake and flower auction, which raised over $8,800.
This year, the auction was held on October 1 from 7-9 p.m. With more than 100 people in attendance and 108 flowers and goods up for auction, the event took up the entirety of two hours. Experienced auctioneers Ronnie Harshman and Jimmy Summers kept the event moving at a fast pace.
Students and other community members create flower arrangements and bake cakes, pies, and cookies for the event. These items are then judged, given ribbons, and then displayed for the public to buy at the auction. The cake and flower auction is one of the most important events of the community show, as it is the biggest fundraiser for the FFA.
Over $1,000 was raised by students in the youth division. For the division, Rachel Eaves’ “Moist Chocolate Cake with White Icing” brought in the most money, $200. This was closely followed by Sarah Curley’s “Pistachio Cake with Pistachio Icing,” $175.
Mike Lawson, who usually bids on the Burall Scholarship cake, found himself outbid when the Hummingbird cake (baked by Cindy Rhoderick) went for $650. He decided to bid on the Junior Grand Champion Chocolate Bundt Cake made by Allison Rhoderick.
“When she came carrying the cake, I was surprised. The cake weighed as much as she did! I know for a fact the little girl did everything but turn the oven on.
— Mike Lawson
A picture is worth 1,000 words: Mike Lawson paid $225 dollars for the youngest baker’s cake.
Lawson has attended the event for the past 40 years. He owns an outdoor power equipment business in New Market. He bought several cakes and cookies to support the FFA.
“I’ll have a slice or two and then I’m done.” His wife takes the sweets to work.
The adult division alone raised more than $4,800, one thousand dollars of which came from a single cake. Ed Edmiston and his family have been making baked goods for the auction for over a decade, including Edmiston’s “German Chocolate Cake.” This year, the cake was bought for $1,000 by the Mountain Gate Family Restaurant in Thurmont.
Edmiston said, “I’ve been making the same cake for 12 years and I finally got lucky.”
The community show’s attendees aren’t just from the Linganore area. Many people from other communities donate goods and attend the events of the show. Mr. Richard Stonebraker, Frederick High School teacher and FFA adviser, is an alum from the Class of 2007 who attends and donates goods to the community show.
“During my time as a student at Linganore, I was heavily involved in the Linganore FFA Chapter. I know the importance of agricultural education and events such as the community show. Donating to the event and the FFA chapter still keeps me connected and in some small way, helps me know that I am allowing future students have the experiences I had,” Stonebraker said.
Stonebraker also said that his favorite thing about the cake and flower auction is the sense of community that is built.
This small part of the Linganore and New Market Community Show brings multiple communities together while raising money to continue the legacy of the FFA.
