The transcription of the Alexander-Crawford Historical Society tape (May 18, 1982)of Reed Holmes' talk about the trip from Jonesport to Jaffa in 1866 contained the following statement made by Mr. Holmes. "And to drool along with the rest of you at the chocolate cakes in back of me here." It didn't pertain to the story and didn't make much sense to me at the time. It made a lot of sense when I came across the following article in a back issue of Yankee Magazine. The article on page 100 of the May, 1983 issue of Yankee was written by Susan Mahnke Peery. Jim Collins, editor of Yankee, has given me permission to submit it to the genealogy mailing lists that have carried my condensations of the tapes. He also asked that I let you know about the genealogical information included on the Yankee web page at <http://www.NewEngland.com>. THE POCOMOONSHINE CHOCOLATE CAKEWALK You have to dance for dessert at this annual fund-raising event for the Alexander-Crawford (Maine) Historical Society, but for the lucky winner@ the effort is deliciously repaid. "Meet promptly at seven at the old Grange Hall, Bring your walking shoos, we 11 have a ball. Oh boy! Let the good times roll! Don't balk At the Pocomoonshine Chocolate Cakewalk. (To be sung in an upbeat talkin -blues style) When Jane Dudley, founder and president of the Alexander-Crawford (Maine) Historical Society, gavels the annual Community Meeting to order on May 17, all eyes will be on the cake table, where upwards of 20 chocolate cakes in sweet permutations - devil's food, fudge, and sour cream, cheesecake, pound cake, and upside-down cake - lure cakewalkers to dance the night away. As Jane plays a recording of the rollicking, multi-versed "Cakewalk Song" (composed and performed by her son, Richard Olson), the audience parades around the room, and when the music suddenly stops, the person standing on a cake-shaped circle on the floor gets to buy one of the dark, rich cakes. The cakewalk continues until all the cakes are spoken for, at which point the historical society members serve coffee and cookies (so the cakes can make it home intact), Alexander and Crawford are tiny Maine towns on "the Airline" (Route 9) not far from Pocomoonshine Lake and the New Brunswick border. Around here, store-bought cakes are not only undesirable, they're nonexistent, and every local cook has developed a favorite, sometimes secret, recipe for chocolate cake, the kind of cake you bake in layers, frost lavishly, put on a cake stand, and present to someone special. Some cooks use only butter as shortening, some add sour cream, some advocate lard; there is even a variation that incorporates sauerkraut to add moist ness. These cakes have been turning up at church suppers and Grange meetings for decades. Ethel Wallace, who was born in Crawford, remembers church suppers at which the desserts all were hidden in an anteroom, each fastened to a long string that came out the door and twined around the meeting room. Bidders for the desserts would have to follow the string of their choice into the other room to get the prize. So it was no accident that when Jane Dudley was thinking of a way to raise money for the fledgling historical society, her thoughts turned to chocolate cake. The Alexander-Crawford Historical Society, which grew out of a historical committee in the local Extension group, was loaded with culinary talent, and a cakewalk would be an attractive way to involve people in the community with the society. That first year (1980),18 chocolate cakes were gobbled up at $1 (!) each, and the society made $18. This year Jane's cakewalk committee may raise the price - to $3. Proceeds will go toward the society's efforts to preserve the history - the memory of a way of life - of the rural communities in the pine woods and blueberry barrens of Washington County. The society's membership of more than 400 (astounding when you realize that the combined population of Alexander and Crawford falls short of 500) is encouraged and cajoled by Jane's creative energy. She and her husband Jack live in a beautiful log cabin built by Jack's father in 1910 on the shore of Pocomoonshine Lake. The cabin, filled with the relics and mementos of north-woods life - everything from tree squeaks to sleigh bells - is the head-quarters for most winter meetings of the society, and is the genesis for most of Jane's dreams and schemes. She organizes nature programs and treasure hunts for children, convinces long-time residents to demonstrate crafts, and with her dedicated co-workers puts on fish fries and blueberry festivals and sends out a bimonthly newsletter filled with local news and historical tidbits. So far the cakewalk is her crowning achievement. If you can, show up at the Grange Hall at 7 P.M. on May 17 wearing your fanciest dancing shoes, and step lively - maybe you can go home with the Pocomoonshine Chocolate Cake. If you can't be there, be content to slowly, methodically, happily work your way through the following recipes. As Jane says, "They're all delicious. They're irresistible. They're sinfully good!"