In the festivities of downtown Painesville’s annual Shop and Stroll event, Gartman Model Bakery unveiled its storefront gingerbread house on 30 N State Street in downtown on Nov. 18.
Opened in 1898, Gartman has been family owned and operated since 1917, with the store run by third-generation bakers, priding themselves on their best quality ingredients and no used preservatives.
Constructed over a long number of weeks, the gingerbread house will be on display throughout the entire holiday season in the historic bakery. What made the decoration noteworthy this year was the size of the construction.
“This is the first time it’s actually been this big. We normally make gingerbread houses for the store and sell them throughout the holiday season,” said Amy Carney, an employee at the Bakery for 31 years.
“This was a (Gartman) family member’s idea, and she thought it would be really cool. She’s really creative. She decided it would be really cool if she designed something and then she wants to give it away after the holidays, not necessarily to a charity, but someone who would make good use of it,” Carney said.
While it may currently be a display item, the large structure is sure to find a welcoming home to settle into.
“Somebody’s going to enjoy it for a long time. That’s a lot of gingerbread!” she said with a laugh.
Carney says that gingerbread can remain good for months, though summer insects can end up infesting it if left around for too long.
“If you put a lot of work into something like this, I think you would want to shellac it if you plan on keeping it for a period of a long, long time so moths and other insects don’t get to it.”
With the unveiling of the gingerbread house, set on a rotating turntable, the piece has drawn a lot of excitement from folks around town.
“People are very excited! We’re very excited about it as the workers. You got to show it off like ‘Hey! Did you guys see the gingerbread in the front window when you came in?’ Oh yeah, I’m sure to show everybody,” Carney said.
“The Gartmans are very creative. There are five girl and one boy in the family, with the boy being the owner, but the girls are always around,” she said.
Carney explained that each of the third-generation Gartman children worked in the shop as little kids before heading off to work in their own careers outside of the bakery. But there was always a path back home to the bakery.
“Now that they are retiring, a lot of them are coming back and want some more hands-on roles with the bakery. It’s more than welcome to keep things in the family business. They want to draw attention and bring more people into Gartman’s.”
One thing that would seem surprising for an over 120-year-old bakery is the matter of so many people in the City of Painesville who don’t know about the sweets and treats made by the bakery on State Street.
“When I tell some people around here about the bakery, I’ll get a few here and there saying ‘Oh! I’ve never been in here!’ And then they’re like ‘I’ve gotta come back. I’ve got to bring the kids.’ We’ve heard a lot of that the past few days.”
