'The new 100': Baker Doris Day celebrates birthday surrounded by Honesdale community
She still bakes cookies, something generations remember with savor when Mrs. Doris Day of Honesdale, who just turned 100 on March 16, owned and operated Day's Bakery on North Main Street.
She was all smiles, the reluctant center of attention at the Honesdale Senior Center on St. Patrick's Day when state and local officials and a host of family, friends and former Day's patrons celebrated her centennial.
"I'm kind of a quiet person," Doris said. "But it was very nice… I was glad to see my family. I didn't need all that falling around but I guess I should be glad for it. I'm just 100 and that's all there is to it."
State Representative Jonathan Fritz (R-111) and Senator Rosemary Brown (R-40), as well as Wayne County Commissioners Brian Smith, Jocelyn Cramer and Jeffrey Shook presented her with proclamations. Honesdale's Mayor Derek Williams also greeted her.
"Mrs. Day has demonstrated the ideals of citizenship throughout the years and truly deserves special recognition," Fritz's statement read in part. Noting the many family members present, Senator Brown commented on the value of family, telling Doris, "It all started with you."
"You look absolutely fabulous, " Brown told her. "This is the new 100."
Commissioner Shook reminisced the childhood memories of Day's tasty donuts purchased every morning by one of the drivers for the Shook family distributorship.
"One thing we can all relate to," Commissioner Smith recalled. "I fondly remember after church and during the week, my parents would come and buy glazed-nut donuts you can't get anywhere that tastes like that… Thank you for the contributions you made in our lives; and I really don't think sugar hurts you at all, it just makes you sweeter."
After the crowd sang "Happy Birthday", she was given a single candle on her immense cake to blow out.
"I couldn't blow out a hundred," she said. Day then cut the first slice.
A slice of history
Doris (Maudsley) Day was born in Binghamton, New York on March 16, 1923. She and her husband, the late Maurice Day, were married on August 30, 1940 in Equinunk.
They raised four children: Elmer Day (deceased), Edwin Day (deceased), Carolyn Love, and Lois Day. She has 10 grandchildren (one is deceased), 15 great-grandchildren, and 10 great-great-grandchildren.
Day’s Bakery operated in Honesdale from 1952 to 2015. It was located at 1215 Main Street, where the family also lived. They first rented the house from Norman Farnham, who suggested they open a bakery in the front part of the building. They later bought it.
"Mr. Farnham was very good to us," Day said. They had begun by selling bread from a panel truck, a 2002 Citizens’ Voice article reported.
She said she started making sticky buns which were very popular. "One thing led to another," Day said. All of their children helped at the store when they were growing up.
Day's was also known for its bread, donuts, brownies, cakes, pastries, butter rolls and a vast array of cookies. They hired another woman to make the pies. "I never could make a pie without the flour going all over the floor and everywhere else," She reflected.
"I decorated all the cakes," Day said. "I wish I had a penny for every rose I made. A wedding cake might have 250 roses on it."
Her late son Eddie graduated from The Culinary Institute and took over the day-to-day management of the family bakery. Maurice died in 1999.
Day's usual working hours were 9 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., which she kept up until the bakery closed. She was 92.She moved out of the house after a fire in 2018.
More local history:Wayne County's canal boat replica to be named after Clinton Leet
Still something else to do
Day continues to bake treats every week and gives away cookies throughout the year.
When telephoned for the interview for this story, she was in the middle of making another batch of lebkuchen, a popular Christmas cookie which she makes all year.
Staying active, Day faithfully attends Central United Methodist Church, participating in Bible studies; she is active with Wayne County Public Library and the senior center. She hosts a weekly game and card night including Canasta and Rummikub at her home in Honesdale. She loves to read.
Although having had a broken hip, Day commented: "I'm really much healthier than most 70-year-olds… I'm really blessed. There's not a thing wrong with me that amounts to anything." Reflecting on her 100th birthday, she added, "The good Lord must have something else for me to do."
Some of the background on the bakery was taken from an article by Mary Baldwin written for Central United Methodist Church on the occasion of Doris' 98th birthday, and shared by the commissioners.
This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: Beloved Honesdale baker Doris Day celebrates 100th birthday
