The Hangout

continued

Dudek also brought back Bill Marx, who learned to bake the bakery's famous German holiday delicacies from Jack Owen, his uncle, who owned the bakery from 1972 to 1993. Marx promises to have the bakery's traditional holiday loaves and cookies, including lebkuchen and springerle, available the week before Thanksgiving.

Dudek recalls when her own youngsters got ready for school faster if they were promised a bakery stop. Now she drops off treats at her son's and daughter's schools in Dexter and donates day-old baked goods to nonprofit groups like the Dexter Senior Center. "I enjoy owning a business here," she says, "because I get to see everyone."   

[Originally published in January, 2010.]