Published: November 15, 2009 11:46 pm      

‘Worthy’

Cake proves ‘worthy’ for White Sulphur’s centennial

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS — For Amy Sowder Mills, executive pastry chef at The Greenbrier Sporting Club, the display cake she created for the resort village’s 100th birthday was a labor of love.

“I wanted to do a big, pretty cake worthy of White Sulphur’s centennial,” she said. “It’s like leafing through a pretty book. You can’t turn the pages, but you can turn the cake.”

The white cake boasts four layers. Each side is filled with history of the little community known as Dry Creek until it received its charter on Nov. 16, 1909.

“It’s Kate’s Mountain clover,” Mills explains, pointing to the top of the display cake. The plant is named for Kate Carpenter, a pioneer woman who sought refuge on the mountain when her husband, Nathan, was killed during an Indian raid.

The sign which tells the story of the raid is enhanced by box huckleberry, which also flourishes on Kate’s Mountain.

Portraits of two of the Spa City’s distinguished citizens, Gen. John L. Hines and A.E. Huddleston, are featured on the cake.

Hines, a graduate of West Point, was U.S. Army chief of staff as well as commanding general in the Philippines before his retirement in 1932. He was featured on the Distinguished Soldiers Stamp Series in 1990.

Huddleston, one of the early mayors of the Spa City, founded White Sulphur Supply Co. and Mountain Milling Co. and also introduced the community to electricity in the early 1900s.

The gazebo featured on the display cake is in Old Mill Park, site of Mountain Milling. The engine room in the background is all that remains of the business.

Also enhancing the display cake are a pair of airplanes, symbolic of Greenbrier Airport, which operated from 1939 to 1987 with the exception of the World War II years; the medal for Oakhurst Links, founded in 1884 and the first organized golf course in America; and two more signs, one for the White Sulphur Springs National Fish Hatchery and the other for Sam Snead Boulevard.

The fish hatchery made its debut at the turn of the 20th century. Sam Snead Boulevard honors the legendary golfer who won every major tournament with the exception of the U.S. Open in a career that spanned more than six decades.

A cannon is used by Mills to depict the Battle of Dry Creek (Aug. 26-27, 1863) in which the Confederates emerged victorious. The Springhouse and Old White Hotel bring a touch of The Greenbrier to the cake.

The Springhouse shelters the white sulphur springs for which the resort is famous. Old White Hotel, which opened in 1858, was the forerunner of The Greenbrier, which welcomed its first guests in 1913.

Built in 1819, the James Wylie House is on the display cake as well as a bridge reminiscent of the ones which are part of the landscape, not only in the village, but also at The Greenbrier Sporting Club and The Greenbrier.

It was in July 1869 that the first train rolled into the community on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway line.

Creating the centennial display cake was not an easy task, according to Mills.

“The hardest part was trying to keep it (the history) authentic,” she said. “It took more than 30 hours for us to do the cake.”

She was assisted by Margaret McEnally, pastry assistant at The Greenbrier Sporting Club, and Maria Snider, pastry extern.

“It was a learning experience for them,” she said. “We used a Styrofoam frame, white rolled fondant and copied the photographs on edible rice paper.

“This cake will keep for years.”

The display cake was showcased at the centennial celebration sponsored by the city and is presently is on display at City Hall. It also will serve as a conversation piece at today’s Charter Date Dinner at First Presbyterian Church.