LIMESTONE, Maine — For a quarter of a century, the Maine Preceptor Tau Sorority in Limestone has sold strawberry shortcakes in order to raise money for a myriad of organizations in Limestone and beyond.
For their 25th annual strawberry shortcake festival, 10 sorority members and six volunteers whipped up a total of 1,125 strawberry shortcakes, 950 of which were purchased by pre-orders. By noon, only a few dozen shortcakes remained at the Limestone Methodist Church.
The long-standing event has seen a few changes over the years, and sorority member Lynn Voisine said that while she and others used to pick strawberries by hand, the demand grew to the point where that wasn’t possible.
They do, however, still make the whipped cream the old-fashioned way.
Voisine was confident that the remaining shortcakes would be sold, which would earn the Sorority close to $4,000.
Money from the sale supports a myriad of organizations based in Limestone and beyond, from the Maine School of Science and Mathematics and Limestone Community School’s Destination Imagination program to the Northern Maine Veterans Cemetery, the Hope and Justice Project, and the Francis Malcolm Science Center. Proceeds also help projects in town, funding banners and wreaths on Main Street during festive occasions, and helping to decorate the gazeebo with lights and flowers.
Voisine said she would like to see the event continue for another 25 years if possible.
“I don’t know if we’ll survive that long, but it would be nice,” she said. “We’re down to 10 members, and actually have to get our husbands to help us deliver shortcakes, and our friends come in to help put them together and make it a community effort.”
Whatever the future may bring, Voisine is grateful to Limestone and surrounding communities for their support over the years.
“We just want to thank everybody for their loyal support throughout all these years,” she said. “A lot of our customers are repeat customers and we want to thank them.”
-
- Members of the Maine Preceptor Tau Sorority in Limestone sold over 1,100 strawberry shortcakes during their 25th annual strawberry shortcake festival at the Limestone Methodist Church on June 28. Sorority members pictured here are, from left, Brenda Curry, Lynn Voisine. LouAnn Watt, Mary Webster, and Irma LaBreck. (Christopher Bouchard)
