[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 26 (Thursday, February 16, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E219]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 IN HONOR OF TIM KIEDROWSKI WHO FOR DECADES HAS WORKED TO PRESERVE AND 
                 CELEBRATE POLISH CULTURE AND HERITAGE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 16, 2012

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, entrepreneur Tim Kiedrowski grew up in 
Lorain, Ohio and is a proud 1973 graduate of Admiral King High School, 
named for Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King, a Lorain native and Chief of 
Naval Operations during WWII. Tim was a drummer in the Admiral King 
(HS) Admirals band, as well as in numerous local rock-n-roll bands.
  Shortly after his high school graduation, in search of employment, 
Tim was hired by Leonard DeLuca, the owner of DeLuca's Bakery in 
Downtown Lorain. Len soon entrusted Tim with the responsibility of 
opening the bakery every morning to start the preparation of baked 
goods for the day. Tim continued to work at DeLuca's Bakery until 1975 
and continued playing drums in area bands.
  Tim married his sweetheart, Terri Girz in 1977, and wanting more job 
security, he became a welder for P.C. Campana, Inc. in 1975 until 1981. 
A downturn in the local economy caused many layoffs, and Tim was one of 
the casualties. Terri continued her work as an OB-GYN Registered Nurse 
at St. Joseph Hospital in Lorain, and Tim became `Mr. Mom' for their 
family for the next 2 years.
  On Christmas Eve, 1983, Tim was hired as a baker at the Simply 
Delicious Bakery in Downtown Amherst, Ohio. Tim enjoyed his return to 
the ``dough business'', but 1 month into the job, the owner of the 
bakery declared bankruptcy and asked Tim if he wanted to become chief 
cook and bottlewasher. Never afraid of a challenge, Tim and Terri took 
out a small business loan to buy the bakery. Proud of their Polish 
heritage, the name was officially changed to Kiedrowski's Simply 
Delicious Bakery as of November, 1984. They remained in Downtown 
Amherst for 11 years.
  Accidents can be disastrous in a bakery, but the ``snoogle accident'' 
was a welcome one for the Kiedrowski's. Late one evening in the bakery, 
Tim was preparing Ladylocks and Terri was working on a batch of cheese 
Danish. With leftover ingredients, these two happy bakers set out to 
create something new. A little of this, a little of that, and voila!, 
the Snoogle was born. These airy, cheese-filled concoctions have become 
Kiedrowski's biggest seller, and in April, 2011, they were awarded a 
patent for the Snoogle. It is not unusual for the bakery to sell 100 
dozen over the course of a weekend.
  In 1994, Tim and his crew packed up the mixers, ovens and all of the 
baking ingredients and moved into their current location at 2267 Cooper 
Foster Park Road in Amherst.
  In 1997, again on Christmas Eve, Tim and Terri started brainstorming 
about ways to get customers into the bakery during the January ``slow 
season.'' After much discussion with family and friends, Tim proposed 
to host an old-fashioned Polish wedding (aka The Paczki Ball) just 
before Lent. Naysayers told Tim he could never organize this type of 
feast in 6-weeks time, but he set out to prove them wrong. With a few 
ads on local radio stations WEOL and WOBL as well as word-of-mouth, Tim 
and Terri hoped to sell 100 tickets to the first Paczki Ball in 1998, 
held at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Lorain. Party-goers quickly 
lined up at the door, and after 150 tickets were sold, the remaining 
guests had to be turned away. Karol Kiedrowski Peltz was crowned the 
first Paczki Ball Queen. Joseph Girz, Terri's father and well-known as 
``Doughboy Joe'' (and the inspiration for the Kiedrowski logo) was 
crowned the first Paczki Ball King.
  The Paczki Ball was moved to Lorain Catholic High School in 1999, a 
larger venue, and 375 tickets were sold. In 2002, the event moved to 
DeLuca's Place in the Park, a large party center owned by Tim's former 
boss, Leonard DeLuca. In 2003, the production of paczki as well as the 
Paczki Ball were videotaped by Army Armstrong for a film that would 
debut the following year. In this same year, new entertainment was 
added at the ball, the ``Presentation of the Paczkis'', was the hit of 
the party, and continues to this day. In 2011, Kiedrowski's Bakery sold 
over 50,000 paczkis during the Lenten season.
  Life is never easy as a bakery owner. Tim and Terri had four boys: 
Matthew, Mark, Michael and Timmy, and there were nights that the boys 
did their homework and slept at the bakery while their parents did 
``prep work'' for the next day's business. Terri became a self-taught 
cake decorator, working on birthday, graduation and wedding cakes at 
night after her shift was done at the hospital. Proud of their Catholic 
upbringing, Tim and Terri sent their boys to St. Anthony's elementary 
school followed by Lorain Catholic High School. Tim never had the 
opportunity to go to college, but encouraged his sons to further their 
education. Each of the boys went on to college to earn their respective 
degrees.
  At the beginning of the Lenten season in 2011, Tim was notified that 
he was a finalist for the first-ever ``Best Bakery in America'' online 
contest, sponsored by Baking Buyer Magazine and Dawn Foods. With 
creative brainstorming over the course of 6 weeks, Kiedrowski's Simply 
Delicious Bakery was declared the winner, with more than 50 percent of 
the votes cast. Tim remarked that all of his years of hard work 
provided him with his honorary ``Degree of Baking'', but the Best 
Bakery in America Award provided him with the validation.
  Kiedrowski's has celebrated its Polish heritage for 28 years through 
baking, and plans to share their delicious pastries for many years to 
come as they sweeten America's palate as America's Best Bakery.

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