The Taste of McDonald is an event for which residents from in and around this country town make and serve their favorite family recipes with others. It's all about sharing.

To a point.

One of the organizers, Kelly Sturdivant of McDonald's First Baptist Church, says they tried to collect and type up all the recipes so attendees could buy a deck of recipe cards. "No way," she says. "People weren't willing to give them up. These really are secret family recipes."

For foods such as Peggy's Asian Salad. Doris' Collard Greens. Mildred's Haluski. Leigh's Sweet Potato Pie. Even Kelly's own Hummingbird Cake.

"A guy in line one year was telling everybody that we used hummingbird eggs to make it," says a laughing Ms. Sturdivant, who actually uses pineapple, bananas and coconut.

She's making at least one of those cakes for this year's feed, held from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday at the McDonald Trail Station and Meeting House near the intersection of the Montour and Panhandle trails.

The church sells tickets for $1. Each gets you a pretty-good-sized serving of any one item, from hot foods, such as ribs, served up under tents outside -- to side dishes and salads and desserts, served inside. So you can chow down on your favorites, and try something new, and still get quite a meal for under $10.

You get music and fellowship, too. And help a good cause.

The proceeds will be used to support the return next September of a large Emancipation Day Celebration. That commemorates Sept. 22, 1862, when President Lincoln declared that all slaves in rebel states would be freed.

McDonald's celebration of that day goes back for more than a century, but it has waned in recent years. The church took it over in 2004, when the parade had to be canceled due to Hurricane Ivan, but they continued on, taking a pause last year and this year to do it right next. They're hoping to bring the Emancipation Day Celebration back to its old glory.

"They would have an ox roast, and they would have like sack races for the women, and some other kind of race for the men," says Ms. Sturdivant, citing a 1911 newspaper account that she recently read as she and others research the event's history.

She's not sure how the community came to McDonald, but she says the town is famous for several African-Americans, including football coach Marvin Lewis, now head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals. Lots of people come back for the Emancipation Day doings, during which many families hold reunions.

Ms. Sturdivant's sister, Linda Boswell, heads up the Emancipation Day planning and the Taste of McDonald, too. But with all that work, she still insists that she cook for it, too.

Don't miss Linda's Peach Cobbler and Loaded Stuffed Potato Casserole.

For more information and directions, call 724-926-4216 or visit mcdonaldtrailstation.com.