Cedars, November 2018

November 2018 12 OFF CAMPUS Corner Bakery Back in Business Kim Herron’s journey to reopen classic pastry shop in downtown Cedarville by Jacob Oedy After being closed for almost a year, Cedarville’s Corner Bakery has finally re- opened with new desserts, new hours and a new owner. Sophomore Emily Huck smiled as she expressed excitement over the shop’s reviv- al. “I grew up in Cedarville,” she said. “My dad and I would go before school some- times. He would always get a sticky bun with nuts on top.” The process of reopening the tradition- al bakery has taken a series of unexpected turns for the new owner, KimHerron, trans- forming both her work and spiritual life. “We ended up finding that path that God led us down, and here we are,” Herron said. Herron and her family first moved to Cedarville to care for Kim’s mother, who died before they completed the transition. But they had already sold their previous house, and Herron’s father wanted them to live on the family farm. “Neither my husband nor I were saved at the time,” Herron said. “So now I feel like it was all orchestrated and planned to get us here.” After completing the move, the Her- rons became connected to Grace Baptist Church through their son, who attended Grace’s youth group. Through the church, Herron and her husband both converted to Christianity and were looking for ways to get connected. “We ended up in a small group, and in the small group was Cliff Fawcett and his wife, Patty,” Herron said. “Cliff was brother to Glen, who used to be here with the bak- ery.” Herron developed a curiosity about the bakery, which had to temporarily shut down due to Glen’s struggle with an illness that claimed his life. As Glen’s wife Linda consid- ered the shop’s future, Herron began work- ing as a caretaker for the mother-in-law of Cedarville’s dean of men, Brad Smith. She worked for the family until Smith’s mother- in-law, Joyce, died in April. Having faithfully cared for Joyce, Her- ron and her husband began discussing an offer they had received from Linda to take over the bakery. “We just happened to be here at the right time,” said Herron. “Things fell into place, and we purchased it.” Managing the pastry store, which en- joyed a soft reopening in August, is not Kim’s first time working in the food busi- ness; the industry has always appealed to her. “I like to make people happy,” she said. “I always like it when people come in and there’s something good that they see. I like to be creative, so this way I get to play and do whatever I want to. I go back there, and it’s just like a big playground.” While some of the pastries offered at the bakery are products of Herron’s cre- ativity, others are recipes that were handed down to her from the previous owners and will be familiar to longtime members of the Cedarville community. The small-town, personal atmosphere of the long-running bakery make visits both friendly and delicious. “I always loved going there because it was super cute and tiny,” Huck said. “It’s fun living in a small town and going to small-town shops and knowing the people who own them.” While the bakery may not belong to the same people Huck remembers from her childhood, Herron is working to become similarly involved with the community. She has expanded the seating area, inviting customers to stay and eat inside. She is also developing a website and Facebook page so that she can reach the community online. Finally, Herron hopes to get connected with the university by adding evening and week- end hours to accommodate the after-class cravings of college students. The bakery is closed from Sunday through Tuesday and is open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Friday. It is also open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. Jacob Oedy is a freshman journalism ma- jor and a staff writer for off-campus news and arts and entertainment. He enjoys cre- ative writing, investigating, and hanging out with the best hall on campus, Brock 3 East. Photo by Lauren Jacobs The scones, donuts, and other delicious goods entice customers inside to enjoy the warm, small-town atmosphere of the bakery.