BLOOMINGTON — If you do a Google search of the phrase “dumpster fire,” you will get more than 5 million results. People who ordered from a Bloomington bakery are getting a sweet version of a dumpster fire: decorated cookies.
It all started with a custom order from Grove Street Bakery, 812 E. Grove St.
“A customer asked us if we could do some 2020 theme cookies,” said Parker Boyes, who owns the bakery with his wife, Peggy Finnegan-Boyes. They came up with cookies that looked like the COVID-19 virus, toilet paper and a burning dumpster with “2020” on it.
They thought the “dumpster fire,” in particular, was funny and “we thought other people might like them,” said Boyes.
So, once the Christmas rush was over, they offered them as a pre-order option on Tuesday with pickup on New Year’s Eve. They got orders for 635 cookies.
“I think people like to laugh when they can,” said Finnegan-Boyes.
“It’s good medicine,” added her husband.
The phrase “dumpster fire,” defined by Merriam-Webster as “an utterly calamitous or mismanaged situation or occurrence,” has captured the essence of 2020 and joined “pivot,” “Zoom” and “new normal” in our everyday language.
“I’m glad that we can giggle at the end of it,” said Finnegan-Boyes, who admitted the year has had its ups and downs.
Consider this: The couple became the new owners of the bakery in March, a week before the pandemic hit and restrictions were placed on businesses.
“We had six days of normal business,” said Boyes.
But Finnegan-Boyes said, “In some ways, we’re lucky. We don’t know how it’s supposed to go.”
Before buying the bakery, she had been an art teacher at Metcalf Laboratory School, Illinois State University’s College of Fine Arts and at schools in Texas.
“Teaching was the best job to prepare me for owning a business because it’s different every day and you have to adapt,” she said.
They removed a screen from a sliding front window at the bakery and converted it into a walk-up window.
“We have a great team,” said Boyes, referring to their employees, who were busy taking orders and baking Wednesday. The bakery has a variety of products in addition to cookies, including doughnuts, cinnamon rolls and other pastries.
“We’ve been so lucky because the community is so supportive,” Finnegan-Boyes said. “People have been willing to stand out in the cold and rain and wait.”
Lenore Sobota's most memorable stories of 2020
Contact Lenore Sobota at (309) 820-3240. Follow her on Twitter: @Pg_Sobota
December 31, 2020 at 08:16AM
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For Bloomington bakery, 'dumpster fire' is how 2020 cookies crumble - Herald & Review
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