BigWhoo

-
-
-
In the Know
BigWhoo
.
I
Anyone in Maine will tell you that the whoo 1925, but Pennsylvanians swear that Ger a
their area as early as the 1700s. The epic fo
as invented there around
igrants brought whoopie pies to
fight comes to a head this month.
BY MARILYN
ODESSER-TORPEY
It all started when ...
Two Maine high school students on a field trip to
the state capitol last year proposed a "bill" in a mock
legislative session to make whoopie pies the official
state dessert. In January, state representatives
submitted a real version of the bill, and on April 21,
whoopie pies became Maine's official treat.
Then Pennsylvania fought back ...
Pennsylvanians rallied against Maine's whoopie
pie bill in Lancaster City, PA, with signs saying,
"Give Me Whoopie or Give Me Death!" Nearly
4,000 residents signed a petition to keep
the whoopie pie from being "'officially'
appropriated
by Maine, Mauritania, Mars or anywh.he;r;'e
--":::':::::=~J.
else:' Meanwhile, Bird-in-Hand Bakery, outside of Lancaster, started
giving free whoopie pies to anyone with a Maine driver's license to
prove that Pennsylvania's pies are superior. Owner John Smucker has
given away more than 200 since March .
... andMaine
attacked again.
In March, Wicked Whoopies
bakery in Freeport, ME, set
out to make the world's
biggest whoopie pie. Owner
Amy Bouchard's goal was a 50 a-pounder, but her
final confection weighed 1,062 pounds. Soon after, on
April Fool's Day, the Maine Whoopie Pie Association sent
Pennsylvania newspapers and TV stations a press release
announcing the discovery of a petrified whoopie pie in
Maine made by the Paleo Indians about 10,000 years ago.
Larges-
Now PA wants the last word. ~Orld's
At Pennsylvania's sixth annual Whoopie
Pie Festival on September 17, Hershey
Farm Restaurant & Inn will attempt to
'
"",'!hooPie Pie'
b.... U
;".
-
make a whoopie pie even bigger than
Maine's 1,062-pounder.
Festival reps
even invited a Guinness World Record
representative, a step that Maine did not
take. Hit the festival in Lancaster orfollow"l"
the drama at whoopiepiefestival.com
1?PIJIIIIL:.IAh"
t.n..,.
will tvlg- to
~V\e-'
58
,
FOOD NETWORK MAGAZINE.
SEPTEMBER
2011
•
~.-v0'v~a
k7v'~
~ vecCJvd\