Donald Teuma-Castelletti
SHAWVILLE Oct. 20, 2018
With live music, lots of laughs and plenty of donuts from the sweetest bakery in Eastern Canada, the Pontiac Home Bakery gave back to its community in style as it celebrated a big win.
Seeing over 300 people attend the Agricultural Hall at the Shawville Fairgrounds, guests were treated to the live acts of four comedians before the night gave way to the Steve Stock Band for free, as bakery owner Dan Duggan thanked Pontiac voters for their support in the Sweetest Bakery in Canada Contest.
“One of the keys to the success here was really Dan,” said Pierre Boutet, the sales director for Quebec and the Atlantic of Dawn Foods, the contest sponsor. “He really sold it. I saw the advertising he did, on the bales of hay, he had spots on television, he really got the whole community behind him.”
Starting at the end of April, Canadians had the chance to vote for their favourite bakeries and very quickly the Pontiac Home Bakery rose through the ranks. After months of petitioning for votes, holding contests, appearing on live morning television and much more, voting wrapped up on July 31 and Duggan knew his bakery placed somewhere in the top three.
It wouldn’t be until Sept. 14 that he found out his business had not only placed second in Canada, but was voted number one in both the Quebec and Eastern Canada divisions. Staying true to his word, he set about organizing Saturday’s party, calling in some family to help celebrate.
The evening began with Dawn Foods representatives Boutet and Pascal Pinotti presenting Duggan with a plaque for his success in their contest, after Pontiac MP Will Amos and MNA André Fortin gave their public congratulations to the local business owner.
Duggan then invited his whole staff up to the podium, thanking them for their efforts and persistence through the contest period, before he introduced a longtime customer and previous employee of the Shawville bakery.
“There’s a special lady in the audience tonight … She worked there and ran the cash in 1969,” said Duggan. “She told me when she started working there, she was making $60 a week – $60 a week – and helping support a family. A loaf of bread was 25 cents, today it’s $3.25.”
Mary Allen has purchased her loaf every week from the bakery for over 50 years and Duggan wanted to give back to her years of support in a special way. That’s why he presented her with the Golden Loaf Award, providing her with free bread every week for life.
“The reason he’s giving it to me for life is because I’m 89-years-old and he doesn’t think I’ll get it much longer,” said Allen, inciting an eruption of laughter from the audience.
Once the awards had been handed out, it was time for everyone to sit back and enjoy a whole bunch of laughs. Four comedians kicked off the entertainment, as David Brennan, Karen Joy, Colin O’Brien, and Clint Gibbons – who is also Duggan’s cousin – brought their routines to the Ag Hall’s stage.
After an hour and a half of laughs, more of Duggan’s cousins took the stage, as the Steve Stock Band provided the rest of the evening’s entertainment. Featuring a lot of country and rock n’ roll, plus a few old school stompers, the crowd partied the rest of the night away.
All night, the Shawville District Minor Hockey Association ran the bar, serving drinks in support of their organization.
Boutet said Duggan’s success in the campaign was exceptional, especially as it’s considered that the Shawville bakery received 10 per cent of the total votes, nationwide.
“The number of votes that Dan got here in Shawville were astronomical,” said Boutet.
After some reflection, he remarked that the small community aspect of their business, combined with Duggan’s social media success, really helped propel the business to the top.
“It’s really a community thing, because you can have a large following in a city with hundreds of bakeries, but if they don’t have the … whole community rallying behind them, they’re not going to get the votes,” said Boutet.
Dawn Foods ran the contest as a way to help promote their customers, to which the company supplies the ingredients for over 350 small bakeries across the country. Boutet explained it was an exciting way for communities to rally behind their local businesses, while also providing them with national exposure.
When all was said and done, Duggan was proud of his business’ success, and humbled to give back to his community as best he could.
“It’s all about saying thank you to the people who got me where I am,” concluded Duggan.