Bakery makes hundreds of cakes for graduates

When bakery owner Bill Hanisch heard traditional high school graduation ceremonies would be canceled this year, he figured he could help sweeten the day for the disappointed teens.

He made a free personalized cake for each of the 220 graduating seniors at his alma mater, Red Wing High School in Red Wing, Minnesota, about an hour southeast of Minneapolis.

As soon as the owner of Hanisch Bakery and Coffee Shop posted his idea on Facebook, he was surprised at the response. Business owners, school administrators and parents in surrounding towns like Cannon Falls, Minnesota, and Plum City, Wisconsin, reached out asking if they could send him donations to make cakes for seniors at their schools.

Suddenly, he had 800 orders to fill: one cake for every senior graduating in a dozen small towns along the upper Mississippi River in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Hanisch, 40, used the donations he received, over $10,000, for labor and ingredients only.

The ovens at his downtown bakery went full-time, and his ex-wife, Robin Hanisch, an ace cake decorator who works at the shop, helped to answer the call to complete 800 graduation cakes.

“To me, a cake is one of those things that symbolizes the graduation experience,” Bill Hanisch said. “Most of us had one.”

Principals and teachers arranged for seniors to pick up their cakes with the caps and gowns they ordered months ago.

“These kids are losing some priceless memories because of the pandemic, so I’m glad that I can help them create a new kind of memory,” he said.