Fun Meeting

An elderly couple walked in to the shop this morning shortly after we opened. I greeted them and they introduced themselves to me. The man spoke saying "I used to own this place, I'm Ron" and then he said pointing to his spouse "and this is Chris". You see I would have never guessed that Ron and Chris were husband and wife. I always thought they were business partners. The comments I heard about the old bakery lead me to believe they were two guys. Well, not the case. Ron and Chris started business back in 1962. They built our building in 1971. The sold the business 5 years or so ago and retired. I told them about all the customers that come in wanting Alligator Jaws which is a frosted triangular donut. Ron said if we got him a donut fryer and some shortening he would come out of retirement and make them. What a hoot. I also told them about the 43 bags of cherry chips that were down in the basement. They laughed and thought that was pretty funny.

I have to say that I probably have been under the wrong impression of Ron and Chris having spent days degreasing the building and dealing with little issues here and there. I am beginning to think it was the owner that came after them, the young kid Chris (who incidentally tried to claim that he was the Chris of Ron and Chris) that was a major source of the issues. I say this because today Ron and Chris were very gracious and they were a little emotional about the place and how much they loved what we had done to it. Chris talked about how upset she was when she came in when the other owners were in the building. Ron installed the hardwood floor that we refinished. Chris talked about the day they went in and saw the dark varnish that the other owner had put on and how upset they were about it. I think they had a very hard time watching this building that they had built and this business that they had established go down the tubes. Anyhow, Chris talked about how much she loved what we did to the floor. She loved what we had done throughout. It was neat to see them take pride in that old building. I am sure it was hard for them to see it go down.

I introduced them to dad and they shared some of their stories. Ron said he would go through 300 pounds of flour a day. He would by shortening by the ton. He would cook 70 dozen donuts a day. During the first two years of the Summer Games he cooked 150 Turkeys in his oven for an opening meal. He used to strip and refinish his hardwood floor every two years and kept it in pristine condition.

It was a treat getting to meet them and being able to visit with them some. I walked them through the building and enjoyed a few minutes together. I am glad for this meeting. It gave me a new respect for Ron and Chris. They are good people, hard working people. It is no wonder that their bakery is remembered and revered in this community.