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 recipe 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.
Mrs. 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 brought their own many years
of experience in baking. David remained working at the bakery. 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.
