Tuesday, November 13, 2007

You can't sell cake without frosting

The Duluth City Council is considering a proposal to reduce the funding of the Public Arts Commission. Councilor Russ Stewart, who proposed this, said, "It seems like if the council is serious about cutting funding, let's find things that are nonessential to running a city."

I find this counterproductive for a city that is trying to attract tourists and get young people to stay. We already have too many blah areas that could use some art, like many parts of the skyway system.

This just in. The Duluth Bakery Council, in the interest of cutting costs, has decided that's its members will no longer frost cakes. Considering the high cost of sugar and butter, bakers will be able to provide more cakes to more people at a lower cost.

This just in. The Duluth Bakery Council reports that sales at its member bakeries is down 30%. Cake sales are almost nonexistent and bread sales have dropped 10%.

This just in. The Duluth Bakery Council reports that three of its members have closed their doors. Lots of Dough, one of the largest of these three, said that it has been giving much of its daily production to local food shelves because so few people visit its shop. Lots of Dough owner, Chuck Boyd, said that people used to come in for a cake for a party and also buy several loaves of bread. Since Lots of Dough stopped putting frosting on its cakes, the shop has sold only one or two cakes a day and only a couple dozen loaves of bread a day.

This just in. The mayor of Hinckley, Minnesota reports a dramatic increase in housing construction. He was at a loss to explain it until he visited Tobie's, a popular half-way point for the drive between Duluth and the Twin Cities. He couldn't believe the lines at Tobie's bakery counter. People weren't asking for Tobie's signature cinnamon rolls but frosted cakes of all kinds. When the mayor asked John Fuss, a former resident of Duluth, why he would move from a city with such great lake views to a city surrounded by farms and casino parking lots, Mr. Fuss replied, "I'd rather eat my cake than have a lake view."