Helen Bernhard Bakery was established in 1924, beginning, as many bakeries did in those early days, by baking cakes for neighbors and friends. At the time, the Bernhard family lived in the house next to the present shop. Ben Bernhard’s father was a minister at Grace Lutheran Church and his mother, Helen, created the cake business as a hobby and an addition to the family’s income. Her earliest reci
pe book, dated September 1923, was written in heavy pencil, its smudges and rewrites showing much trial and error. As business grew, additions were made to the back and side of the old house to accommodate baking and sales demands. Eventually, the family moved one street away and their former home became devoted to the bakery. In 1939, the present bakery building was erected under the supervision and planning of Ben and his mother. Bernhard died in 1968, at 86 years old, but had long since sold her business to Ben. Many years later, David, a third generation Bernhard, purchased the bakery and succeeded in keeping the home bakery aspect alive in a busy retail bakery
In 1988, David Bernhard sold the bakery to Richard and Mary Laufer, local bakery owners, who have devoted their lives to family and baking. Most recently, the bakery was purchased by their son-in- law and daughter, Mike and Kellie Snaadt. They are inspired by the rich history and loving memories the bakery provides the community. The bakery has seen many changes in it’s over 80 years of existence, but amid all those changes, the home bakery feeling still remains.
