the almanac F E B R U A RY 25, 2024
SOUTH HILLS COMMUNITY NEWS
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Upper St. Clair’s Sharma sweet on Cake4Kids Organization looking for bakers
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF LAURA MAGONE
Laura Magone, right, poses with Cathy Neiderberger at Magone’s home in Monongahela, where Neiderberger picked up cookies to drive to the Today show set in New York City.
‘A simple thing’ Local tradition showcased on national TV By Katherine Mansfield Staff writer
mansfield@observer-reporter.com
When Laura Magone launched a cookie-themed Facebook page in 2015, the business consultant from the Mon Valley never dreamed social media would land her on national TV. But on Feb. 14, Magone welcomed viewers nationwide into her mother’s kitchen in Monongahela to share Pittsburgh’s unique cookie table tradition, during a Today show segment titled “Inside the tradition of the wedding cookie table.” “In Pittsburgh, you’ll hear the expression, that ‘We don’t ask, what did the bride wear to the wedding? We ask, how were the cookies?’” Magone told the Today show audience. “The wedding cookie table tradition is all about community.” Communities of immigrant women, Magone explained, settled in the greater Pittsburgh region and donated their time and talents to fill wedding reception tables with the sweet taste of home. Baking cookies for weddings brought women together and expressed generosity and love to couples starting the next chapter. “People have this idea that that tradition started during the Depression: People could not afford cakes, so they had cookies instead. I find no ev-
Ishaan Sharma of Upper St. Clair is on a mission to spread joy one birthday cake at a time. Along with his mom, Priyanka, he is establishing a Greater Pittsburgh Chapter of Cake4Kids. “Our mission is to provide birthday cakes to at-risk/underserved youth because we believe everyone, regardless of socio-economic status, deserves such a seemingly simple joy,” Sharma said. “We have already connected with and signed on a few agencies to work with, and are now in the volunteer recruitment process.” To date, Cake4Kids has partnered with Beverly’s Birthdays, the Bair Foundation and the South Hills Interfaith Movement. Founded in 2010, Cake4Kids is a national nonprofit with 29 chapters in 17 states that has delivered more than 60,000 cakes to children. The Greater Pittsburgh Chapter is Pennsylvania’s first. Sharma said he learned about Cake4Kids through a family friend. After the high school junior did further research, he learned the organization was accepting new chapter applications. “So my mom and I submitted one,” he said. “It’s an untapped niche that affects far more people in our area than you could imagine.” Combining his love of baking and his desire to make a positive impact on the lives of area children, Cake4Kids was a natural fit for Ishaan. “I’ve loved to bake for several years, and I wanted to see if I could productively extend my passion,” he said. “I’ve been blessed to grow up in the situation that I have, and not everyone is so lucky. Something that most of us take for granted, the joy of just celebrating your birthday, is not as common as I want it to be. I wanted to change that, and I did it in the best way I knew how – cakes.” Cake4Kids is not the only activity in which Sharma is involved. In addition to baking,
“OUR MISSION IS TO PROVIDE BIRTHDAY CAKES TO AT-RISK/ UNDERSERVED YOUTH BECAUSE WE BELIEVE EVERYONE, REGARDLESS OF SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, DESERVES SUCH A SEEMINGLY SIMPLE JOY.” — ISHAAN SHARMA, RESIDENT OF UPPER ST. CLAIR he serves as treasurer of the USC Robotics Club, extemporaneous captain within the Speech & Debate team and treasurer of the Technology Student Association. Currently, Sharma is recruiting volunteer bakers. Volunteers should be age 16 or older with moderate baking experience. “People who can ice cakes (nothing fancy needed) are preferred, but if you are good at simple cookies/brownies, we can work with that,” he said. “They will have access to a portal where agencies submit requests, and bakers then take up the request, bake, and deliver to the agency.” Volunteers donate all the ingredients and supplies to bake cakes in their own homes and then deliver them to the partner agencies. SEE SWEET PAGE A5
Laura Magone watches her mother, Wanda, shape a batch of biscotti. The pair appeared on the Today show for a segment highlighting the Pittsburgh wedding cookie table tradition.
idence to support that,” Magone said. She would know. For the last nearly 10 years, Magone has been “knead” deep in wedding cookie table history. In fact, her Wedding Cookie Table Community Facebook page, which currently has 211,500 members, began as a research project. “I’m a filmmaker. I have created some short and feature length documentaries.
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This was the next story that I wanted to tell,” Magone said. “I started the page hoping people would post historic photos or movie footage. Then I learned it doesn’t exist, for the most part. The research on this subject is very difficult to do, because people didn’t take pictures over the years of their cookie tables.” The small collection of images depicting women baking and tables spilling over with
pizzelles, kolache and lady locks (the most popular wedding cookie) that Magone was able to compile over the years was submitted to the Today show and appeared as part of the segment, to the delight of those pictured. “It was a big deal. I know how proud it made my members. I know how proud it made people from this area. SEE SIMPLE PAGE A2
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Cupcakes made by Ishaan Sharma
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