Grahame's Bakery
Kemptville, Ontario

Rick Grahame comes by his love of fresh-from-the-oven baked goods honestly. He is a third generation baker. Starting in 1930, his grandfather and then his father Ken operated Grahame's Bakery on Clothier Street in Kemptville. Since their father's death in 2005, Rick and his sister Debbie have carried on the business.

The bakery is located in a downtown neighbourhood of prosperous old stone buildings, some more than 150 years old.

The original deed to the building that houses the bakery dates to 1885. Other documents show that a bakery operated here as early as 1917. This makes Grahame's Bakery not only a family tradition, but a community tradition as well.

The bakery occupies an addition to a large two-storey hip-roofed structure. With its white vinyl siding, the building resembles older residential and commercial buildings common to many Canadian towns.

A typical day begins early, when Rick piles the split cedar logs deep in the old Marsh wall oven and lights the fire.

Cedar makes the best fire because the wood burns fast and hot, Rick explained. Modern technology can't improve on the old Marsh stove, which retains a constant heat over the course of a baking day.

Everyday the customers stream in for fresh baked loaves, buns, and the butter tarts that have earned Grahame's Bakery a loyal clientele all over the Ottawa Valley. Rick is proud of the fact that all the baked goods are made without preservatives.

Already the next generation of Grahames has started to learn the baker's trade. Rick's son Wesley helps out after school and on weekends.



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