The History of Willard's Bakery 

      Willard's Bakery has an interesting and long history in Athens, Ontario. The bakery started by Carl Willard in the 1960's in his basement at his home in Delta, Ontario. The original recipe were Willard's fried cakes, a recipe that he got from my Edna Carrie Willard (nee Henderson) who was born in 1900 in Lake Eloida, Ontario. When the bakery first started Carl wanted to substitute the butter for a cheaper fat, and Grandma Willard said "No!" Carl drove the truck to make deliveries all around South Easter Ontario and the business became Father/Son with his son Graydon Willard. A fire at Carl's house in 1976 meant the bakery was temporarily displaced, but by 1977 found lodgings in 1977. The business was successful with the fried cakes (doughnuts) but after the move, Carl started baking the now infamous oatmeal cookies. Allison Easton, and her mother Cindy Easton (nee Willard) have many fond memories of Uncle Carl loading the family down with free doughnuts and cookies when they visited Athens. Cindy's father Gerald Willard used to drive around with his brother making deliveries. The Willard family is original from Morrisburg, Ontario. When the St Lawrence River was dredged to make the St. Lawrence Seaway the Willard family motel business and home was destroyed and the Willard family moved to Delta at that time in 1958. One of the Willard family homes/motels is now the Willard Hotel at Upper Canada Village in Morrisburg, Ontario. Willard's Bakery is now mostly operated by Carl's daughter Carol Anne Willard.

 

Written by A.D.H.S. student Sawyer Knox (family member)