Remembering the Cake Walk

Recently, on one of our Tucker County Facebook pages, an interesting discussion about the old cakewalks piqued my memory a little, because it is something I remember fondly.  I want to just share some of that with you today.

The cakewalks in my hometown of Hendricks, WV, were tied into the Hick Fair that was a part of the town's tradition for decades.  To explain what the Hick Fair was, it dates back to the times the lumber industry was more prominent in the area, and those who processed the lumber from the woods to the railyards were called "woodhicks," hence the name (a "woodhick" was distinct from a lumberjack in that the latter actually had the task of cutting down the trees, while the former processed the cut lumber for production) - many of these "woodhicks" would on their weekends off come into towns like Hendricks to have a good time and kick back a little after a long stretch of work in the railyards.  According to Cleta Long's county history, the Hick Fair dated back to 1962 in Hendricks, when the first was held by the local Ruritans (Cleta Long, History of Tucker County {Parsons, WV: McClain Printing, 1996}p. 19).  The grounds for the Hick Fair were located between the railroad and the Black Fork River area on the south-central area of town, just adjacent to where my great-grandmother's old place used to be on Charles Street - the Hick Fairgrounds were separated from our area by a thicket of brush bordering what was then Delmar Snyder's old property, just behind the old United Methodist church.  Although the Hick Fair itself was held on Labor Day weekend, throughout the year many other events were held in the large pavillion on the grounds, including on Saturday nights the weekly cakewalks.  Unfortunately, when the '85 Flood hit Hendricks, it pretty much destroyed the fairgrounds and the Hick Fair is now held nearby at what is called Camp Kidd Park.  Any rate, although the Hick Fair and its history is tied into the local cakewalks, I wanted to mention the cakewalks specifically as I remember them.

Back when I was a kid, the weekly cakewalks were held on Saturdays in the evening at the Hick Fair pavilion in Hendricks, and they were usually MC'ed by a prominent local businessman by the name of Luther McCrum.  My great-grandmother would usually designate Saturdays as a baking day anyway, and she would bake all the week's bread, etc., and along with that she would often bake a cake for the cakewalks.  I remember that, because the house smelled so good on Saturdays with all that baking, and to this day it still makes my mouth water thinking about it.  Any rate, Granny's way of unwinding from the day's activities was to participate - as many local ladies did - in the weekly cakewalks, which were fun.  So, as a little youngster of 7, I would go with her to those on Saturdays because to be honest I had nothing better to do, and I also had an ambition to actually win one of those delicious cakes.  Kids today don't really appreciate the fun in stuff like that as many of us used to, because nowadays it's hard to get many of these kids off their lazy butts and away from the Wii's, cellphones, and computers to actually do a constructive activity.  It is another reason I feel blessed many times with being from the generation I am from.

I suppose now I should explain how the cakewalk works.  Essentially, you have to get a ticket, which was usually purchased at the door.  There were a set number of tickets sold to correspond with a set of numbered squares on the floor, and each number in the square corresponded to a number on the ticket.  The sales from the tickets usually went to some local charity as a fundraising project.   Any rate, from that point the concept of the game was similar to the childhood "musical chairs," in that as a record or band would play a tune, the participants walked around the squares until the music stopped and a random number was called by the MC.  If someone's ticket corresponded to the number on the square, that person won the cake that the walk was for.  Ah yes - almost forgot to explain that part!  Each cake was put up as a prize for each round, and the person whose number was called won that particular cake.  The cakes were usually baked that day by a lot of the local ladies who contributed them, and I remember the great variety of those delicious cakes on display - your mouth would water just looking at them!  And, they were all shapes, sizes, and varieties - many were as plain as yellow cakes with chocolate icing, or they would be elaborate confections made with fresh-picked local berries or other different ingredients.  Some less-motivated people would even contribute a cake they bought at the local A&P in Parsons from the bakery, but that was fine too - there was no clause saying the cake had to be baked at home, so contributing a "store-bought" cake from the A&P was acceptable as well.  Besides, a cake won tasted just as good, whether one of the town ladies baked it from scratch or they got it from the bakery at the store; as kids especially, we didn't really care where it came from, as long as we got to win one. 

I remember as a kid really having the ambition to win one of those cakes, and when I went with Granny to the cakewalks I was always praying my number would be called.  When it didn't happen, I got ticked off at Luther McCrum (as if it were his fault - he just called as he drew the tickets from the basket) for not calling my number.  But, eventually, if you go to enough of those cakewalks, you are bound to win at some point, and one day I finally did!  I still remember it - nothing fancy, as it was just a yellow cake with chocolate icing, but I won one!  The joy of a 7-year-old kid winning something is an experience that you have to actually be a 7-year-old kid to understand, but I can remember it to this day.  As I was talking to some other Tucker County natives the other day about memories of the cakewalks, I found out there were similar memories.  And, as I mentioned on the discussion, that day for me was truly and literally a sweet victory - in particular that good homemade chocolate icing!  I don't even recall who actually made the cake I won, but I remember I didn't have any complaints about eating it!  It is the little joys in life sometimes that are the most memorable, and that one truly was for me.

Since those days, I have attended one cakewalk since - back in 1990 at my step-grandmother's family reunion up at Camp Horseshoe, I was a 20-year-old college student at home on summer break and participated in the cakewalk they had there.  I don't recall winning anything, but it was still fun to do.  It would be nice if people went back to simple community activities like this, because the old and young both enjoy them.  Unfortunately, in the crowded urban environments many of us now live it, that is practically an impossibility due to the fact often we don't even know who the people next door to us are, and in some cases that can be a good thing!  The small towns in West Virginia where I grew up were not like that though - not only did you often know everyone in town, but more than likely you were probably related to many of them!  I do miss that on occasion, especially when I realize in many aspects how society has depreciated itself in recent years.  People are becoming more isolated due to many things, and the sense of community no longer has any relevance to many people like it once did.  This new generation, the "Millenials," are a particularly scary group - while they diddle their I-Phones while clad in skinny jeans and hoodies at the local Starbucks, they miss out on so much.  Many churches would do well to have more things like cakewalks and less crap like "Christian rock" concerts, because if they did that not only would it enrich the lives of their own members, but it could also be a witness to the community.  God is not against having a little clean fun once in a while, and a cakewalk is about as clean as one can get.  I know that for much of our society this is unrealistic nowadays, but for those of us who are like-minded, we could form our own communities to hold events like that.  That is something many of us should consider.  Community cohesiveness and a sense of good values may be the ticket that saves some facet of the nation we live in, and perhaps we need to think about fostering those more.  Any rate, I am honored to share some good memories with you again, but that concludes today's thoughts until next time.