Bob’s Bakery celebrates its 50th anniversary

Date: 11/20/2015

CHICOPEE – For Paul Czajka working overnight in the bakery his father founded in 1965 wasn’t his first career choice.

In the early 1980s, he thought he was going to find a job in computers. He had helped his father Zygmunt since he was a child, but the bakery life didn’t appeal to him.

 In 1981, though, Paul made the decision to take on the family business, and today as Bob’s Bakery  celebrates its 50th anniversary, he has no regrets.

“I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished. I’m happy,” he told Reminder Publications.

His many customers are undoubtedly happy as well. During an interview, the phone rings several times with people putting in orders. Paul is preparing for the demand for his breads and pies created by Thanksgiving and Christmas. In late afternoon there is a stream of customers.

Another testimony to the success of the bakery and its many authentic Polish recipes is the customers who drive from Schenectady and Utica, NY, to buy the breads and other items.

“They remember the old tastes,” he said.

When one goes into the shop at 218 Exchange St. the sheer number of baked goods ranging from cookies and doughnuts to pies and breads is astounding. When you realize that Paul does it essentially by himself – his son Christopher does help him with some tasks – you are even more impressed.

Paul’s workday starts at 11 p.m. and he bakes overnight generally until 8 a.m., although with the holidays he can easily put in a 12-hour shift.

His wife Dorothy mans the shop, and Paul generally comes back to it later in the day.

He explained that his father began his baking career in Poland at the age of 12 when he began training to be a master baker. World War II interrupted his plans, and the Nazis initially imprisoned him. When the Germans learned he was a baker they brought him to Germany where he was forced to work.

In 1949, he came to the United States and to Easthampton where his sponsor lived. He initially went to work in the tobacco fields, but after two days on the farm when it was discovered he was a baker, he was then helped to find a baking job.

Paul said his father looked for a location around the region and liked the corner on Exchange Street. There was also an apartment upstairs. The store was originally a clothing shop and Paul’s father converted it to a bakery.

At that time Chicopee had 12 other bakeries with his father’s being the 13th.  

Paul grew up in the bakery. “I was always here,” he said with a smile, “I was five years-old. Where could I go?”

He helped his father even at a young age by allowing him to put an egg wash on some of pastries.

“Father had patience,” Paul said.

The recipes for many of the items are from Poland, although Paul has “tweaked them a bit” for both taste and the availability of ingredients.

Dorothy noted, “The rye bread is unique, it only has a few ingredients but is very tasty.”

Another feature for which the shop is well known is its paczi – the rich Polish jelly doughnut served originally served as a treat on Fat Tuesday.

Paul makes them fresh all year-round and recalled that one year he went with tradition.

“I took them away on Ash Wednesday and they [the customers] yelled at me,” he recalled.

He said he makes them “the old way” including hand glazing them while they are hot. He does like experimenting with the fillings and had great success last year by adding liqueurs to some.

Besides the baked goods, one corner of the shop is filled with imported Polish food items as well as the French meat pies and golumpki Dorothy makes.

The couple’s two children have other careers planned, but both Dorothy and Paul noted that perhaps they would reconsider.

In the meantime, Paul isn’t considering retiring anytime soon and those late nights when he’s working he said he is never alone.

He said with a smile that Zygmunt is there with him sitting on a chair in the corner and watching him work.