There’s a saying in Bolton, “if you want to buy something at the UMW bake sale, you better get there early.” As a matter of fact, if you don’t place your order in advance you may not get anything at all. That’s a merchants dream!
None of the women in the ten to twelve member United Methodist Women group can remember exactly how long this tradition has been in place in Bolton, but they all agree it’s been long time, at least 45 or 50 years. “This started out as a bake sale to raise money to buy bottles of vanilla to sell and then we finally realized that we made almost as much money on the bake sale as we did on the vanilla, so it was then that the bake sale became our main fundraiser,” says Mary Kendall.
It’s no secret that Bolton is full of great cooks and it’s no surprise that the baked items are in high demand. “It’s gotten to where people place their orders in advance and sometimes we don’t even bring them to the sale; we just deliver them to the buyer,” says Mary Bess Boyd.
The bake sale is a great event not just because of the great food but because all of the proceeds go directly towards local missions, like the Methodist Children’s Home, Gateway, Bolton Toys for Tots, and local veterans. “We meet every month, except in the summer, but we’re always on call for people in our community who could benefit from our local missions ministry,” says Martha Anne Alford. “Sometimes we send the money to people in our area who we know have great needs and we visit the Ronald McDonald House at UMMC at least once a year to help out there,” she continues.
The Memorial United Methodist Church UMW is a part of the United Methodist Church’s national organization and is the largest denominational faith organization for women with approximately 800,000 members whose mission is fostering spiritual growth, developing leaders and advocating for justice.
All of the women in the Bolton UMW group want to encourage the younger women in Bolton to become active and carry the tradition of the bake sale to the next generation.
Learn more about the bake sale and Memorial United Methodist Church on their website at BoltonMUMC.org.
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