Time to Make the Donuts

“It’s time to make the donuts.”  Fred the baker first uttered that memorable line for a Dunkin’ Donuts commercial in 1983, and it has since become part of the American vernacular.   I must admit that getting up at 3 a.m. every morning to make donuts is not my dream job.  At that hour of the day, I’d do worse than Lucille Ball did on the candy assembly line.  But Michael Vale’s oft-repeated declaration stands as a symbol to those who, day after day, do what needs to be done to support their family, to stand tall in their community, and yes, to make sure we’ve got fresh donuts for the breakfast table or the office coffee break.

There’s something about a donut that spells comfort.  Whether it’s an old-fashioned fried cake dusted with sugar, a puffy glazed donut that melts in your mouth, or the luscious creamstick worth fighting over, a donut and a cup of coffee can make a bad day bearable.  And yes, I know that too many donuts can pack on the pounds, but that’s a subject for another day. 

Today is National Donut Day, surely on my top ten list of favorite holidays, along with National Go Barefoot Day (today as well) and Old Maid Day (Monday).  Unfortunately, I missed celebrating No Diet Day last month, so I’ll just have to eat a donut in the spirit of that day.  Any excuse for a donut!

While donuts may simply seem a fattening addition to our caloric intake, they are also an integral part of the Salvation Army’s heritage, symbolic of service in the most dangerous of venues.  The story began with the Army’s national commander, Evangeline Booth, determined to do something in support of the war effort as the US entered World War I.  The service centers and hostels adjacent to United States military camps weren’t enough for Evangeline.  “American boys are going to France," she said.  "We must go with them."     

About 250 young Salvation Army volunteers, many of them girls in their teens, went to France with the Commandant’s words ringing in their ears: "I promise you nothing. I don't know what you will get into, it may be life, it may be death; it may be sickness, it may be loss - I promise you nothing!"   

Helen Purviance and Margaret Sheldon were two of these young women, and after weeks of terrible weather, they wanted lift the spirits of the soldiers in their charge.  With supplies at a premium, they were only able to get flour, sugar, lard, and a bit of sugar and cinnamon.  Frying just a few at a time, these young women met a need in the midst of the war zone, a taste of home for those bedraggled, homesick young soldiers. The aroma of frying donuts was enticing, and soon donuts were appearing in huts across the battle zone in France.  The Salvation Army Donut Girl was born, and the lowly donut became a Salvation Army symbol of service that extends into this century.

So I was excited to discover that our own Buehlers Market has a promotion every Friday and Saturday in June, with a special price on a dozen Salvation Army Cake Donuts.  Sweet!  Let’s see – we can have donuts for Sunday School class, donuts to celebrate the spraypark opening, donuts for the Rio movie under the stars, donuts for . . . you get the picture.

So how can this column be redeemed from a blatant “go buy donuts” ploy?  I return to Fred the Baker – “it’s time to make the donuts.” That’s the clarion call of all those who serve – from the Salvation Army donut girls of 1917 to the Kroc Center caseworkers in 2012; to the plumber, the cook, the firefighter and many more.  When it’s time to “make the donuts,” they are there – ready to do what has to be done so that the people of our community have what we need.   

Go ahead.  Get yourself a donut.  And as you lick your fingers in contentment, take a moment to whisper a word of thanks for the Fred the Baker’s of our world.