It's not every day that a gaggle of regulars go out of their way to recognize a business owner who is going through perhaps the biggest moment of her life.
But that is indeed what happened when regular customers at the Upper Crust Bakery in Magnolia Village made a special cake for bakery co-owner Anna Beard.
Beard is very pregnant with her first child and has a due date of Dec. 5. She and her husband, who operates the bakery with her, are on edge about being parents. And Upper Crust regulars, some who have been going to the bakery for more than a dozen years, wanted to show their appreciation for the couple and to acknowledge the impending birth of their child.
So Julie Weitz, Karen Michaelsen, Cathy Carney, Gloria Hablewitz, Joan Cain, Pat Hutton and Peggy Sue Danz presented Beard with a big congratulatory cake in the bakery Nov. 16.
Weitz, Michaelsen and Carney congregated at Weitz' kitchen armed with a box of Betty Crocker's super moist chocolate cake mix, some eggs, a bottle of white wine and some cheese. The latter two didn't go into the batter.
They used two heart-shaped cake molds and bowl mold and two cupcakes to create one big cake that looked like a pregnant woman's body.
Then they adorned the cake with Weitz' homemade butter cream frosting and decorative flowers. The kicker was a little Fisher Price baby boy with a string attached to it that they strategically placed inside the bulging belly of the cake.
Later that day, with Beard's husband in on the surprise, the regulars presented the cake to Beard who was delighted and humbled by the surprise - particularly when she pulled the toy baby from the cake. Michael Beard later recalled the moment.
"It was really, incredibly nice of them," he said of the regulars as he pulled toasty baguettes from the bakery oven.
The regulars meet most mornings at the bakery for coffee and some treats, swapping stories about their own kids and other things going on in their lives. They each said they loved what the Beards have done to the homey bakery and just have grown appreciative of it.
"We've been coming here every morning before they bought the bakery, and they're such a delightful couple," Carney said.
"It was really fun," Weitz chimed. "Anna was surprised."[[In-content Ad]]
