Church Renews Martha's Kitchen Tradition

Matthew Hersh

It is a year of new beginnings for the Witherspoon Presbyterian Church.

In September, the congregation welcomed the Rev. Muriel Burrows as new minister of the church, and now, the church has uncovered an old tradition and is cooking up something new. Or, should we say "baking" something new?

Martha's Kitchen, the bake sale that had supported the congregation for many years, is back, but with a different goal.

"We need a tape machine to record sermons for people who are sick and shut-in," said Connie Campbell, who is one of the organizers of Martha's Kitchen. Ms. Campbell said that while the church's governing body believes the tape machine is a necessary tool to send out the message of the sermons to all congregants, it cannot fit the cost of the equipment into its budget. Martha's Kitchen will hopefully raise the money for the new equipment, Ms. Campbell said. The bake sale was established over 40 years ago by Martha Blackwell Yeager, a member of Witherspoon Presbyterian. The purpose was to raise money for the church by vending baked goods that were made from scratch.

However, Ms. Campbell said the sale was put to rest once Ms. Yeager retired, and boxed-mix companies like Betty Crocker entered the picture. This left Ms. Campbell and other members to ask, "does anyone remember the words 'from scratch'?"

"This is not from the box," she added.

In addition to a wide assortment of baked goods, including a "fabulous Jamaican fruit cake," Ms. Campbell said the church will also host the Second Time Around sale, which sells items that are used, but in good condition.

Ms. Campbell will also be promoting recipes from the cookbook she wrote in 1974 called "Sugar Plums and Such."

The entire event falls under the guise of the Sugar Plum Tree Bazaar. The event, Ms. Campbell said, could not have happened without the help of the young members of the church. "Some of us older individuals can't lift things after we've been on our feet all day baking," she said.

The Sugar Plum Tree Bazaar will occur "right after church," or around 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, December 7. Along with Ms. Campbell, the event was organized by Witherspoon Presbyterian Women co-Chair Barbara Byard and church member Shirley Satterfield, who, according to Ms. Campbell, is related to the fabled Martha.