‘My favorite was a little town: Blooming Prairie’

The coronavirus pandemic has left an indelible mark on all of us.
Baker Bill Hanisch of the Hanisch Bakery and Coffee Shop in Red Wing "pulled out all the stops for high school seniors graduating during the pandemic," wrote Guideposts writer Mari Pack in the February issue.
Guideposts is a spiritual non-profit organization that encourages wellness through inspirational content creation.
Founded in 1945 by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, Raymond Thornburg, and Peale's wife, Ruth Stafford Peale, with just one inaugural magazine, Guideposts has since grown to publish annual devotionals, books about faith, Christian fiction novels, five spiritual magazines, prayer content, as well as a content rich website for daily inspiration.
Guideposts has outreach programs to encourage wellness and help lift the spirits of those in need – including military personnel, military families, support groups, hospitalized children, etc.
Kathy Samuelson kindly sent me a link to the article in the February issue, pointing out that Blooming Prairie was mentioned toward the end of the article.
Local realtor Jennifer Walsh was impressed by a Facebook Live video she saw about baker Hanisch and his idea of creating small graduating cakes for members of the Class of 2020.
Walsh provided cakes made by Hanisch for all 50 Awesome Blossom graduates of 2020.
"I wanted to make sure these kids had as memorable a graduation as mine was in 1998," Hanisch said.
When COVID-19 shut down schools in the area last March, seniors missed major milestones, such as prom, graduation and sports.
Hanisch consulted with his wife Robyn because she is the bakery's cake decorator. She endorsed the idea.
The Guideposts article reads: "With Robyn on board, Bill took to Facebook on Sunday, April 26, outlining his sweet plan to celebrate the 200 seniors of Red Wing High School."
This is when Walsh resolved to bring cakes to Blooming Prairie.
 
Guideposts continues: "Like most restaurants, Hanisch Bakery was struggling during the pandemic, barely making ends meet. The coffee shop had to close, and just a fraction of the original 42 employees were working.
"The local CBS news channel picked up Bill’s Facebook post on May 5, broadcasting his idea across the Twin Cities. “That’s when it took off,” he says. Requests started coming in by the dozens, then hundreds, like a cake rising out of control, bursting from the pan. Could Bill and his employees possibly cover all the requests in time for graduation?"
Walsh first contacted renowned local baker Gregg Fristedt of Blooming Prairie. His bakery burned in a Jan. 28, 2020 fire. Fristedt said he did not have the equipment to honor Walsh's request.
She then contacted Hanisch and give him the OK to create two-layer cakes measuring seven inches in diameter.
The cakes read: "Congratulations BPHS, 2020."
Walsh told The Times that she could have spent dollars on promotional advertising but said this gesture was much "cooler" and represented more fun. "I love cakes and even ordered an extra one for me," she laughs.
"I feel bad for the kids because they won't have a traditional celebration with a cake and I thought, let's have fun with it," Walsh remarked.
Local photographer Tammy Wolf set up a photo booth to capture the moment of the seniors receiving their cakes.
Mari Pack's article concludes:
"Bill received videos from parents of high school seniors receiving the cakes, but nothing beat watching the reveal in person. “My favorite was a little town, Blooming Prairie, an hour and 15 minutes away,” he says. “Kids got to graduate in their family vehicles in a parade through the whole town. With fire trucks and everything!”
"A Blooming Prairie alum who’d initially contacted Hanisch Bakery set up a photo booth in her yard for students to take pictures with their cakes. 'A few times, I thought the cakes were going to slide right off their boards,' Hanisch says, chuckling.
"With the mad rush of graduation season finally over, Hanisch looked over the numbers to survey the damage. How much had it cost to deliver all those smiles? After adding up all the donations, he realized he’d broken exactly even at $15 a cake.
"Bill and his band of merry Red Wing bakers never set out to earn a million dollars in cake sales. They’d just wanted to give some high school seniors a graduation to remember. That it kept Hanisch Bakery and its staff afloat through such hard times? The Bunman grins and says, 'That’s the icing on the cake.'”