Moravian cookies are a star attraction for NC. Could they become a state symbol?
Before the pandemic, a class of elementary school kids came up with an idea: give North Carolina a state cookie.
But if you give a state a cookie, will there be a bill? And will it become law?
If you give the House a cookie bill, they’ll probably pass it.
The bill in question would make the Moravian cookie the state cookie, and would also create a state star, the Moravian star. The Moravian star and Moravian cookies are already closely tied to the identity of North Carolina, but aren’t among the state’s official symbols.
The bill passed the House on Wednesday unanimously, 114-0, amid cookie samples, cookie humor and the watchful eyes of visiting school groups in the gallery.
Fourth graders pitch state cookie
In public schools, fourth graders learn the state symbols. Things like the state beverage that goes with cookies: milk. Or the state mammal, the gray squirrel, which is also ubiquitous in Raleigh, the City of Oaks. They might learn about the state bird, a cardinal, or the state reptile, the Eastern box turtle.
It was before COVID times, in 2019, when a class at Brooks Global Elementary, a magnet school in Greensboro, were learning all those symbols. And the fourth graders noticed there was no state cookie. Together, they researched and discussed and decided that the best pitch was the Moravian cookie.
John Phillips, their teacher, has since moved and now teaches fourth graders at H.B. Sugg and Sam D. Bundy elementary schools in Farmville.
“We had been studying about state symbols. We took a trip to Raleigh, talked about how bills became laws and stuff,” Phillips told The News & Observer. “I said, ‘Why can’t we do something?’”
He said the students had all kinds of ideas for what could be state symbols.
“And knowing 9- and 10-year-olds, some could be outlandish, but it came down to a state cookie because there isn’t a state cookie,” Phillips said.
The students learned how to write formal letters and made their pitch to lawmakers.
Four years later, with the students rounding the corner on middle school, the government is moving their idea along. And added to it, too.
If the bill becomes law, future fourth graders across North Carolina would learn about Moravians, cookies and stars. If, though. As with all legislation, there’s a big “if.”
Moravian history in North Carolina
Surely as you can buy them in the gift shop at the North Carolina Museum of History, Moravian cookies are a state staple.
If you’ve never been to Old Salem or you’re not familiar with the Moravians, they settled in the Winston-Salem area and brought traditions with them that include the aforementioned cookies.
According to the City of Winston-Salem, the city began as the Bethabara settlement in 1753, when a group of Moravian Brethren arrived from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the location of an earlier settlement. The Moravian Church, according to the Christian denomination’s history, began in the 1400s in what is present day Czech Republic, and expanded into what is now the United States in the 1740s.
Moravians’ cultural influence in North Carolina also includes the Moravian star, which is part of House Bill 89, too.
Seen most frequently at Christmastime hanging from North Carolina porches or as ornaments, the stars started as a geometry project in Moravian schools in Germany. Usually white, the star is a symbol of Advent, the Christian preparation for celebrating the birth of Jesus.
In 2020, the economic impact of tourism in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County was $527 million and more than 5,000 jobs, according to Visit Winston-Salem. One major tourism destination is Old Salem Museum & Gardens, which includes many historic buildings and sites.
State symbols in the Senate
The House passes a lot of bills like this, but the Senate never takes them up. Even when a bill is sponsored by a powerful Republican senator, like Sen. Ralph Hise’s 2020 bill making the rhododendron the state shrub. That was also a request from elementary school students.
Springtime is prime time for school field trips to the General Assembly, with a steady stream of visiting students seen daily the past few weeks.
“It’s a sweet bill,” Rep. Jon Hardister, a Guilford County Republican and a sponsor, said of the Moravian cookie bill in a House committee meeting. Hardister noted that this is the second attempt to add the designation for the cookie. This time the star was added at the suggestion of Rep. Donna McDowell White.
Rep. John Torbett, a Gaston County Republican, is on board, saying in committee he can consume “the paper thin ginger snaps” a box at a time. Torbett said he has the star on his porch, too.
With those Moravian ginger cookies available across the street from the Legislative Building, a supply is nearby. Lemon and sugar version of the cookies are also available at the museum.
The N&O asked House Speaker Tim Moore why his chamber keeps passing the bills that stall in the Senate, instead of just adding them into a bill that will pass.
“That’s a good question,” Moore said, but didn’t have an answer.
As for the Moravian cookie and star becoming state symbols, Moore said: “This might be the year. This might be the year.”
Hardister said before the vote that he hopes the bill doesn’t “crumble” in the Senate.
A few hours later, The N&O asked Senate leader Phil Berger if there was any chance for a state symbol bill — cookies and stars or otherwise — to be taken up in the Senate.
“We carefully consider everything that comes over from the House. No decision has been made,” Berger, an Eden Republican, told reporters after session.
This story was originally published March 1, 2023 at 2:52 PM.
.jpg)