Monongahela seeks to set wedding cookie table world record

MONONGAHELA – Monongahela is seeking to set a world record for having the largest wedding cookie table when the city celebrates its 250th birthday in August.
The table will accompany back-to-back weddings at the Chess Park Gazebo Aug. 11, with a representative from Guinness World Records on hand to establish the category, said Laura Magone, president of Monongahela Area Historical Society.
“I’ve had this dream for five years. Now, the time is right,” said Magone, whose society is organizing the events that will include a free concert that afternoon by the Jakob’s Ferry Stragglers.
She said six couples have expressed interest in getting married that day in the park, where the receptions will include a lot of cookies.
“We will have more than enough cookies for the people who sign up for this,” Magone said.
Magone has been working on a documentary about the cookie tables, which are unique to the Pittsburgh region.
Her project took flight after she started a Facebook page, The Wedding Cookie Table Community, which now has more than 19,000 members. She also has hosted events that have drawn large crowds of bakers to Washington County from across the country.
“This park is going to be full,” she said. “The Wedding Cookie Table Community travels.”
“The members on Facebook are very excited about this,” Magone added.
She said organizers hope to have hundreds of thousands of cookies at the event.
She said people from Washington, D.C., and Michigan have said they were planning to travel to Monongahela for the party.
“It’s just a fun event for the 250th,” she said.
She said the anniversary recognizes the first settler, Joseph Parkinson, who procured land where the small city now stands in 1769.
She said the historical society is preparing to release the schedule for the four-day celebration that begins Aug. 8.
The group plans to open a time capsule the city buried in the park in 1969, the last time the birthday was recognized with events.
The cookies will begin arriving at the park at noon, followed by the weddings at 2:30 p.m. The band will begin performing about 3 p.m.
“The weddings are going to be quick,” Magone said.