Cookie Walk helps feed community
Holiday event supports church food pantry
Hundreds of attendees loaded up on Christmas cookies when Faith Lutheran Church held its 13th Annual Cookie Walk and Craft Fair.
The event raised $3,905 for Shepherd of Hope Food Pantry at Faith Lutheran Church, Lynda Primka, event co-chairwoman with Hartley Savitz.
Shepherd Hope Food Pantry, provides food to underprivileged families in the community, Jane Darnell, who oversees the pantry, said.
Attendees found many varieties in the 11,600 made-from-scratch cookies during the event, which took place Saturday morning, Dec. 3, in the church at 225 Jamestowne Blvd., Farragut,
“It starts off the Christmas season. It’s part of a tradition,” West Knoxville attendee Lisa Shipley said. “I have a son in the military and he gets all kinds of cookies.”
“I love this,” Marie Barreto said. “A friend of mine invited me. I love the sugar.”
“I like the different kinds of de-signs on the cookies,” Cedar Bluff resident Mary Mix said. “I brought my grandkids, Caleb and Maria.”
“I’ve been coming for some time — I don’t know how many years now — now [Caleb and Maria — are old enough to pick out their own cookies.”
“We have a lot of cookies this year,” Primka said.
About 61 bakers from the church made more than 30 varieties of cookies, from the traditional gingerbread and sugar cookies to lemon, almond and raspberry kinds, Primka said.
To complement the Cookie Walk, attendees could browse around the craft booths instead of standing in line to get their cookies. While some crafters sold fabric crafts and knitwear, others sold lavender, wood ornaments and signs.
“We have 28 crafters this year,” Primka said.
“They all have to be handmade,” Jane Darnell, who oversaw the craft fair with Kristi Thomas, sald.
Many of the cookie shoppers said they have attended for several years.
“It is just a tradition,” Melissa Cate said. “We like to support the local community.”
She attended with her mother, Marilyn Edwards of Farragut.
“She’s a repeater,” Edwards said about her daughter. “This is my first time here.”
Pat Johnson of Knoxville said this was her third year attending the Cookie Walk. For her, the selection of cookies was the draw.
“There’s really not a bad holiday cookie,” Thomas, one of the bakers, said.
Thomas said the bakers looked for festive designs.
“And, lots of frosting and sprinkles,” Darnell, who also baked cookies, said. “We asked people to make 10 to 12 dozen, but if they wanted to, they could make more.”
“Never overbake your cookies,” Faith Lutheran baker Melanie Moore said. “They continue to cook and they will dry out. There’s nothing worse than a dried-out cookie.
“I always cook mine a little less than the recipe calls for so they are a little underdone.”
“I think it’s just so fun,” Elaine Murphy of Tellico Village said about the event. “I heard about it two nights ago, so we left at 8 a.m.
“[The event] is well-organized and everyone is so nice here. The money goes to charity and that makes me feel good.”
Venders, such as Dez Boles, also bought a box of cookies.
“I wanted to have some cookies, too,” she said.
“I got caught with my hand in the cookie jar,” Knoxville crafter Laura Zelenak said and laughed.
“We come every year,” Emily Siano said.
“I think it’s a nice Christmas thing to do.”
