CLEVELAND — For some, Fat Tuesday is the last chance to indulge in goodies before the start of Lent, and for many folks across Ohio, that calls for one particular Polish pastry. In fact, the treat is so popular, the day is better known as “Paczki Day.”
Rudy’s Strudel & Bakery in Parma pulled out all the stops to celebrate Paczki Day, with music, food trucks and other festivities. They also had birthday cake, since it’s the business’s 75th anniversary.
The bakery opened at 5 a.m. Tuesday, but some people were lined up as early as 2:30 a.m. to get a taste of the traditional treats, with a long line of folks waiting down the street for hours just to get into the building.
“It’s all about the environment,” said Tom Sheppard, who was here for the second year. “There are so many people here to have a great time. This is such a great event to have in the middle of winter. When everyone is otherwise used to seeing these gray Cleveland days. Seeing this many bright faces this early in the morning really jazzes you up. And then you get to eat a delicious paczki at the end of it.”
Nick Huffman waited in the line for the first time this year and agreed with Sheppard.
“The music’s good. The food’s gonna be good,” he said. “Got free birthday cakes. I’m ready to smash some food and have a good time.”
Tom Mroczka and The Music Box performed the world premier of the “Paczki Polka” at the party, written especially about Paczki Day at Rudy’s Strudel & Bakery, and other small businesses created collaborations with the bakery in honor of their 75th year in business.
Schnitz Ale Brewery crafted Rudy’s Currant Ale, adding paczki to the beer recipe for a special limited-time offering. The flavor’s a collaboration between the brewery, bakery and The Current Year record shop.
“It tastes like paczki,” said Jerome Moore, Schnitz Ale Brewery head brewer. “You know, it’s got that sweetness then we got the fruitiness to it with the currant and the strawberries that we added.”
Schnitz Ale’s co-founder Igor Djurin said it’s a way to toast support to fellow small businesses.
“Show the community that we’re all a team and we’re here with them together,” he said.
Lidia Trempe, owner of Rudy’s Strudel & Bakery, made a special addition to the milestone year’s menu: paczki pops.
“What says birthday besides buttercream and sprinkles?” Trempe said, while pouring rainbow sprinkles into the festive filling.
Rudy’s Strudel & Bakery in Parma pulled out all the stops to celebrate Paczki Day. (Spectrum News)
Trempe’s parents purchased the bakery after the original owner, Rudy Belohlavek, passed away shortly after Trempe was born.
“My first job was, ‘Mama, a customer!’” Trempe said, demonstrating her childhood contributions to the shop.
She has a photo of Rudy, his wife Ann, and daughters, Anita and Jeanne, framed at the bakery.
“This is really special to me,” she said, while looking at the photo.
Anita Lock, Belohlavek’s daughter, visited the festivities for Paczki Day for the first time this year. She said the crowd was “mind-blowing.”
Lock said her father focused on strudel when he owned the bakery and paczki wasn’t even on the menu but said her parents would be proud of what the business is today.
“Seventy-five years for a small business?” Lock said. “That’s unheard of. So, I consider it all a miracle.”
Trempe said she shadowed Lock’s mother, Belohlavek’s wife Ann, around the bakery as a child.
“I learned so much from her,” Trempe said. “I’d watch while she’d make the strudel.”
Trempe went on to learn more about baking from her mother, Eugenia Polatajko. Polatajko was also on-hand to be a part of the 75th anniversary Paczki Day party, happy to see friends, family and the community supporting their family business.
The Paczki Day demand requires extra helping hands and staff to fill the shells and orders. Last year they sold about 79,000 of the polish pastries.
“It takes a lot of math, and how much flour I’m mixing and how much dough I’m scaling, but we are looking at… I gotta say we gotta get to 80 or 81 (thousand),” Trempe said, of the amount of paczki they plan to make this year.
And customers come from all over.
“Everybody here is always super friendly and super nice and it’s like coming to your family’s kitchen,” Barb Kosinski said.
Kosinski drives an hour each way from Warren to take some home each year.
“The fillings are super great and they’re like packed full with fillings,” she said. “They just melt in your mouth.”
Awards and recognitions also provide proof of Rudy’s paczki power.
“On behalf of the members of the Senate of the 135th General Assembly of Ohio, we are pleased to congratulate Rudy’s Strudel & Bakery on its 75th anniversary,” Trempe read from a commendation issued by legislators.
She got a little emotional while reading the words aloud.
“This is my living room,” she said. “It’s home. And like, the invitation was put out and the invitation was accepted. Like, thanks, guys. It means the world.”
