Financial Gifts with a Lasting Impact
The gift-giving season is fast approaching. If you are like a lot of people, this means you are brainstorming presents to give your children and grandchildren. While it may be tempting to purchase items like toys and clothes that can be immediately enjoyed, you may want to consider gifts that will provide value to the recipients for years to come. Here are a few financial gift ideas that they can use and appreciate long after the wrapping paper comes off.
Contribute to a savings account. Help instill the importance of financial discipline by gifting funds to open a savings account. Encourage young ones to save at least a portion of what they earn through allowance, chores, or a part-time job. Like any habit, saving takes practice before it becomes second nature.
Purchase a U.S. savings bond. Give someone you care about a secure way to save. Savings bonds are an investment backed by the U.S. government. There are no fees or
(Financial cont’d
expenses, and bonds generally do not trigger state or local taxes.
Donate to charity in the recipient’s honor. A charitable donation is a thoughtful way to acknowledge a cause your loved one cares about. As you research charities to support, look for ratings that indicate how efficiently these organizations use donations.
Fund education savings. Your generous gift can help a student start saving for future college costs. There are several types of savings and investment plans designed to help students, parents and other supporters save for future education expenses. Every little bit helps. A small contribution to a 529 plan today will be given the chance to potentially grow and could make a significant difference when your child or grandchild is ready for college
Help chip away at a debt. Many young adults are burdened by student loan debt. Juggling work and loan repayments can be challenging. Your loved one will be pleasantly surprised when you relieve them of loan payments.
Help with a down payment. Purchasing a car or a first home may be out of reach for
many young adults. If you have loved ones who could use help with these major purchases, your financial gift can assist them as they get settled and on their way to greater financial stability.
Give the gift of cash. Everyone appreciates a cash infusion. If you’re so inclined, you can suggest how the money is spent, but they may appreciate being able to decide for themselves.
Gift an appointment with a financial advisor. Help your loved ones establish a financial plan with the assistance of an advisor you know and trust. This thoughtful gesture can create lasting value by helping lay the foundation for future financial security.
Texas Donuts
After church this morning, I went downstairs for fellowship - donuts and coffee, which is a good choice of refreshments. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like donuts. Granted, there are some people who shouldn’t be eating them (myself included,) but it doesn’t mean we don’t like them. Most everyone will agree donuts are delicious, but they can become a source of dispute.
Even the spelling causes differences; is it a donut, or a doughnut? I usually spell it donut just to appease the masses (mostly Americans) who are spelling doughnut incorrectly. However, spelling is not the only issue. Many foods fall under the title of donut. But what exactly is a donut?
A donut is usually a round baked good, topped, or filled in a variety of ways.
(Although I don’t know why it’s considered a baked good when most donuts are deep fried.)
Most donuts have a hole in the middle. A donut without a hole is a Bismark, unless the Bismark gets stretched out of its roundish shape, then it’s a long john. Whether they are filled with custard, crème, or jelly; frosted or plain, the long john and Bismark are still donuts. Both have an interesting history with similarities, and differences. Have you ever wondered why the B in Bismark is always capitalized?
The Bismark was named after Otto von Bismarck, the Chancellor of Germany in the late 19th century. So, grammatically, it is a proper name. But why is the J not capitalized in long john? During my research I found the term long john, is supposedly named after the late-19thcentury heavyweight boxer John Sullivan. Sullivan was known for entering the ring wearing men’s long underwear, thus the name, long john. And so, by my way of thinking the J in long john should also be capitalized. But I digress.
Not only do I digress, I am most likely incorrect as I am confusing long john underwear, (named after the boxer) to the long john donut. I have no idea why these donuts are called long johns. One thing is certain, Otto von Bismark, and John Sullivan, teach us the donut has long been an internationally acclaimed treat.
The French bring the beignet, and cruller, to the donut case. Italians offer the bombolone, and zeppole. The apple fritter,
dates to the 14th century in England, Scotland, and Wales; even the churro is often referred to as a Mexican donut. It seems everyone worldwide, wants to be part of the donut business – even the Texans.
I was first introduced to the Texas Donut, when my parents owned the Runway Café, at the Ottumwa Airport. A regular glazed donut was twentyfive cents, where a Texas Donut would set you back four-bits. A Texas Donut is like a traditional glazed donut on steroids. It’s a giant size would fill a seveninch plate, and it was eaten with a knife and fork opposed to one’s fingers. They were big, soft, and plenty sweet – when they were fresh.
Day old, or more, the Texas donut was dry and tough. I would put a dayold Texas Donut in the microwave oven for fifteen seconds and it was once again soft, but the glaze was melted giving the donut a different texture. Texas donuts are best served fresh. At the Runway Café, ours came from the Hy-Vee bakery.
I knew a lady who worked in the Hy-Vee bakery, and she made Texas Donuts. I thought I would love a job like that, until she told me her shift started at 3 a.m., making donuts. I decided it would be best for me to remain on the consumer side of the donut industry. Texas Donuts seemed to lose their popularity and finally disappeared. Also, Hy-Vee stopped baking their donuts in the local store.
Hy-Vee donuts were shipped in, prebaked from places unknown to me. The local bakery simply glazed, or frosted the donuts and put them in the case. I could tell the difference; they were not the same. For many years, I was forced to eat regular donuts that did not compare to Hy-Vee’s Texas Donut, in size, or softness. I found a new source to
satisfy my sweet tooth.
Just down from the high school, was a small bakery: Paris Pastry and Cakes. Donna Paris made a great cake, but her donuts weren’t anything special. One day, I tried one of her Crème Horns and I was in love! It was a hallow horn shaped puffpastry, filled with crème. As Donna’s business grew, she added more goodies to her pastry case. She started selling Dutch Letters.
A Dutch Letter is a puff pastry, filled with almond paste, and lightly sugared. “These are every bit as good as the Dutch Letters from Jaarsma’s Bakery in Pella, Iowa,” I said.
“You goof,” Donna replied. “Those are Jaarsma Dutch Letters. I drive to Pella twice a week to get them, and the crème horns, too.” My world was shattered. I thought Donna was making her own crème horns.
Maybe I was better off not knowing where the pastries came from. Ever since that day of truth, the crème horns just didn’t taste as fresh as when I got them from Jaarsma’s Bakery in Pella. I again found myself settling for lesser donuts. I wanted fresh.
One day, a new donut shop appeared on the corner of Richmond Avenue and Milner Street, in Ottumwa, Iowa; Dunkin Donuts. I thought I was in heaven. I hadn’t been to a Dunkin Donut shop since my brother Gerard and I had our paper route in Madison, Wisconsin. Near the end of our route, there was a Dunkin Donut shop on Monona Drive, but the place made us a little nervous.
Monona Drive divides the Cities of Madison, and Monona. It may sound cliché, but every time Gerard and I went to Dunkin Donuts, the parking lot was filled with squad cars. The counter was lined
with police officers from both cities, who were 10-7. Also, it was hard to get there. Crossing the busy four lane road was like playing Frogger; the object was to get across the street without getting smashed by a car. Although both stores always seemed to have cops present, the Dunkin Donut store in Ottumwa was much easier to access.
Dan and Joy Quigley were the owners, and their donuts were made in house, not shipped in. The freshness was like a blast from the past. The first time I visited, I ordered a Texas Donut. “We don’t have Texas Donuts,” Joy said. Instead, I bought three
glazed donuts, about the same volume, but at thirty-nine cents each, it cost a lot more than the fifty-cents I was used to paying. They say all good things must come to an end, and eventually the Ottumwa store closed, and I once again settled for sub-standard donuts. Then came the Krispy Kreme era; I was an instant customer.
Krispy Kreme donuts set the new standard, by
(Just the Other Day cont’d from pg 3)
which all other donuts were to be measured. I would go to the Home Oil convenience store across from the radio station where I worked, and eat several glazed, and raspberry jelly-filled Bismarks in one setting. You might say I was addicted to them. They were so soft they melted in my mouth. After a few months (maybe a year) (or two), of this over-indulgence, the sweetness lost its allure. I cut back to one or two donuts per occasional visit, until I lost interest in donuts. Time marches on.
Melissa accepted a position as Photo Editor of the Daily News, and moved to Winona, Minnesota. Meanwhile, two of our daughters, Sydney, and Delaney, were living in Waterloo, Iowa; both were students at University of Northern Iowa, in Cedar falls. I still worked at the radio stations in Ottumwa during the week, then went to Winona on the weekends. Every Monday I would get up at two in the morning to drive back to Ottumwa, to be on the air at 6 a.m. I laughed thinking, “I might as well be making donuts at HyVee.”
In Winona, I discovered two new donut sources: Bloedow Bakery is a local small corner shop with fresh baked breads and amazing donuts! You were best off arriving at Bloedow’s early before they sold out of donuts.
Kwik Trip is a chain of convenience stores I first frequented in Winona.
Their donut selection was no match for Bloedow’s, however Kwik Trip offered their own brand of donuts, called Glazers, and they were very similar to my old friend, the Krispy Kreme glazed donut. Yum.
Waterloo was about half way on my commute from Minnesota to Iowa, and there was a Kwik Trip just a few blocks from the girl’s house. Most Mondays, I would stop by their house in the wee hours of the morning, leaving a halfdozen box of Glazers and a gallon of milk inside their front porch. Occasionally, the box would be missing one or two donuts. Those were memorable days.
Melissa and I were spending more of our weekends on the north shore of Lake Superior. We found another great little donut shop, World’s Best Donuts, in downtown Grand Marais. Their donuts are indeed good, but now I found myself challenged to verify the claim within their name. To do so, we would have to travel the world starting with the United States, and Canada.
We’ve visited many donut shops all around the country. Competing with Dunkin Donuts, and Krispy Kreme, Canada has Tim Horton’s. Very, good, and fresh! There are some really good chains. Although our research is far from complete, to date, we’re finding the best donuts are made fresh, in-house at smaller, local shops.
Recently, we visited Lyons Cemetery in Greenwood, Indiana, where some of Melissa’s ancestors are
buried. We planned to eat on our way out of town. I wanted something healthy, like chicken, or fish, but Melissa was in the mood for a donut. “Not just a donut,” she said. “A maple frosted, glazed donut.”
I stuck to my guns, “We need to eat healthy, honey. Do you want fish or chicken?”
“KFC and Long John Silvers, are probably less healthy than donuts,” She argued. I don’t know if that’s true, but she was very persuasive. Besides, she had been searching online and had a local place in mind. “It’s called Nana’s Daylight Donuts, and it’s not far from here.”
I wept a bit as we passed KFC and Long Johns, but admittedly, Nana’s sounded good, too. We decided to go inside rather than using the drive up.
Melissa asked if they had any maple frosted, glazed donuts. “I will make them for you,” the lady said. So, Melissa ordered two, and a blueberry cake donut. I had an apple fritter.
I took one bite of my fritter from Nana’s Daylight Donuts. It was amazing. I hadn’t had an apple fritter this fresh and delicious since our last Circle Tour around Lake Superior. Voyageur’s Lodge in Batchawana Bay, Ontario Canada, make their fritters fresh from scratch, daily. “Try this, babe,” I said and gave her a bite. Melissa agreed, it was fantastic. As I finished my fritter, the lady brought melissa her freshly maple frosted glazed donuts, and blueberry cake donuts. We headed to the van with our
goodies.
Melissa took one bite of her maple frosted donut. “You’ve gotta try this,” she said, handing me her donut.
“Wow! That is darn good,” I said taking a second bite. Melissa accused me of eating her whole donut. (It wasn’t whole, she took the first bite.) “Well, I shared my apple fritter with you,” I rebutted. Melissa and I recall that story a bit differently.
“No, you did not,” she was adamant. “You handed me the empty bag your fritter came in. I found a small crumb in the bottom, and ate it. You ate the whole thing before we even got in the van; snarfed it all down!”
“Well, technically that is a bite,” I claimed. Yes, Nana’s Daylight Donuts are that good! I do like donuts.
I even like Hostess powdered sugar, and Crunch Donettes, the little mini donuts. Personally, I don’t know if there is such a thing as a bad donut, it’s just that some donuts are better than others. Much better!
Our quest to find the best donuts in the world continues, and I will let you know when we find “thee best.” In the meantime, people will debate, and bakers will claim to have the best. Still, I don’t think any donut will ever match my first Texas Donut at the Runway Café.
