Nestled just outside of downtown Mocksville is Elderflour Baking Company, a small business founded and curated in 2022 by its owner and operator, Regina “Gee” Burcham. This small-batch baker out of Winston-Salem prioritizes her focus on local produce and fresh-milled flour and flawlessly executes her passion and craft for making gorgeous floral cakes, pies, cookies, and various other delicious, celebratory treats.  

Except Burcham didn’t quite know what to expect when she went into work on the morning of Saturday, December 14. Even after setting various safety measures into place, she had spent the past week sifting through anonymous online chatter that consisted of protests and complaints. Burcham had announced that she would be hosting a Drag Story Time event featuring local drag performer, Anna Yacht. 

But in reality, Burcham had nothing to fear.

Over 150 people flowed into the bakery, ranging of all ages and backgrounds, and they all dipped into cups of delicious hot chocolate made from oat milk, colorful Christmas cookies, and the opportunity to decorate and take home a clay ornament—over 100 made their way into parents’ hands to take home and put on their trees. Inside Elderflour, kids and adults alike scattered themselves in chairs and across the floor to listen as Yacht read timeless Christmas stories and shared heartwarming advice. Even amidst the few protestors lined up across the street, holding signs expressing their distaste with the event, the bakery flourished with people. 

Although the event was organized just a few days prior, Burcham and Yacht’s friendship has been baking in the oven for quite some time. 

“We met through being in some of the same social circles, and various events, but I literally asked Anna last week if she wanted to do this and she immediately said yes,” Burcham said. When asked if she felt any sense of worry or ever considered canceling amidst the backlash she faced in the days leading up to the event, Burcham replied that she “said what she said.” Her only concern was everyone’s safety, for both the supporters and the protestors lined up outside. 

“I just wanted to make sure that these kids felt loved, accepted, heard, and safe while in here,” Burcham said. 

Anna Yacht, the drag performer who was a part of the event, said being at Elderflour felt like a full circle moment. 

“I grew up in Davie, so the idea of coming back and doing something as Anna, this character that I’ve been able to go all around America as, was something I never expected to happen,” said Yacht after the event came to a close. “This was a really cool opportunity, even if people weren’t going to necessarily understand it… But there’s a lot of things that they don’t understand about how the world works.” 

While Yacht believes being a part of the drag world has so many rewards, it also carries a lot of challenges. Yacht recalled how difficult it is to sometimes find the balance between being in drag and their life outside of it.

“When you do drag at this level and it takes up so much of your life, it can be really easy to forget who you are day to day,” Yacht said. “But luckily I’ve gotten better at it with time. It’s fun to connect and meet new people, but at the end of the day my purpose for drag is to learn how I can make the world around me a better place, starting with the community.”

All in all, Saturday’s event flourished, showing that even in a small town such as Mocksville, where the idea of not conforming to the “standard” lifestyle is seen as a threat, those who feel excluded don’t have to let this difference define who they are for the rest of their lives. As Burcham and Yacht sat down together after the event to take in all of the support they both received from the people of Davie and surrounding areas, they reflected on the level of community they saw coming in and out of the bakery. 

“The diversity that was in here tells you everything you need to know compared to the one type of person that was standing out there protesting,” Yacht said. 

Overall, the level of support received outnumbered the protestors, but it mainly served as a buoy for a baker who proudly dares to be different. 

“When you have things that you believe in, go at them wholeheartedly. A hundred percent. No matter what the outcome is going to be,” Burcham said after the event came to a close. 

Yacht’s final message to our community stands as such: “It’s okay to be afraid, but it’s not okay to let fear win. Love will always win.”