The "Save Our Whoopie" Story

It was an ordinary day. Just picked up a half dozen Whoopie pies at Burkharts' Bakery at Roots Market in East Petersburg, PA. Picked up my grandson from kindergarten and decided to head to Roots for lunch and a treat. If you haven't figured it out yet, the Whoopie pie is our treat. A Whoopie pie is a baked good that may be considered either a cookie, pie, or cake. It is made of two round mound-shaped pieces of chocolate cake with a sweet, creamy filling or frosting sandwiched between them. At times the chocolate cake may be something other than chocolate. Today Caden choose a Whoopie pie that was a red velvet cake with the white filling in it while I went for the white cake with the coconut cream filling. We also got a regular, chocolate chip cake with white filling, chocolate cake with peanut butterfilling, and a chocolate cake with mint cream filling. The extra Whoopie pies were for his mom and dad as well as my mom and wife. Dropped the regular Whoopie pie off at Moravian Manor where my mom resides and then headed to my grandson's house in West Hempfield. The Whoopie pie is considered a New England phenomenon and a Pennsylvania Amish tradition. According to food historians, Amish women would bake the desserts and put them in their husband's lunchboxes. When the farmers would find the treats in their lunchboxes, they would shout "Whoopie!" Kind of corny, huh? The Whoopie pie originated in Lancaster County, PA from the area's Amish and Pennsylvania German culture. As some Amish groups migrated to Maine, they took the recipe for the treat with them. The Amish religion dates back to the early 1500s and finally arrived in Lancaster County in the 1720s. They eventually expanded and migrated to 23 different states, including Maine. Well, in the past few months, Maine has laid claim to being the state where the Whoopie pie had it's origin. Two State Representatives even sponsored a bill to declare the Whoopie pie the state's official treat. Not long after, about 100 people gathered in Lancaster's Penn Square to celebrate and defend the Whoopie pie. Banners and signs of all types filled the square. A competition of sorts began and shortly thereafter, at a festival in Lancaster County, a 250 pound Whoopie pie was made. A resident of Maine then sent a letter to the editor of the local newspaper and wrote, "I think people in Lancaster need to get a life!!!!! Maine does not need to be insulted by such ignorance over a Whoopie pie". Well, not to be outdone, at a radio station rally in South Portland, Maine, a Whoopie pie that topped the scales at 1,067 pounds was made and shared with the crowd. Other parts of the pie will be wrapped up and sent to Maine troops in the service as well as some of the pie will go to a food bank. Wow! I always knew they had nothing better to do in Maine. Chris Barrett, the President of the Lancaster County Visitor's Bureau, claims that when he was in 1st grade at a local elementary school, they taught him that George Washington was our first president and that Whoopie pies originated in Lancaster County. And ... the latest news is that Hershey Farm Restaurant and Inn near Strasburg, PA in the Amish country, is sponsoring a Whoopie pie Festival with a Treasure Hunt, Whoopie Race, Whoopie Pie Launch, Whoopie pie Checkers, Whoopie Yell Off, Most Creative Whoopie Ever Made, and Amateur Whoopie pie Eating Contest. Darn, I won't quality for the Amateur Eating Contest, since I have been eating them for over 60 years now and am no longer classified as an amateur. But, I'll have to go and sample some more of the treats that come from my heritage! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - photos from the top are: the official Whoopie pie photo, grandson Caden picking out his treat at Burkharts' Bakery, the "Big Whoop" at Burkharts, next 3 photo come from the Lancaster's Penn Square at a rally supporting Pennsylvania's claim to the origin of the Whoopie pie, and the 1,067 pound Whoopie pie produced in South Portland, Maine.