HENDRUM, Minn. — This is how you know you live in a small town.
Dena Bishop, owner of the Sugar Mama Bakery & Catering, which opened in the former school here, sent an emergency text to a group of friends telling them she had run out of eggs and asking if they had any to spare.
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One of the text recipients, Sarah Anderson, knew Bishop wouldn’t be able to make breakfasts or bake a single thing without that vital ingredient. So she rushed to nearby Halstad and picked up eggs at the local market.
When she returned to the bakery with a carton in tow, she discovered Bishop had received enough eggs to make Paul Bunyan an omelet. Every woman in the text had already dropped off eggs or was in the process of doing so.
Bishop was delighted — if not entirely surprised. “All of our towns are like that here,” she said. “I know that if a call for help goes out, I have people across the county willing to stop and help.”
Besides, after years without a restaurant, Hendrum is pretty grateful for Sugar Mama.
Bishop opened her bakery/eatery in the former Norman County West Elementary School’s kitchen/cafeteria last June, and has become a hot spot for grab-and-go lunches, homemade pies and soups, fancy birthday cakes, hot breakfasts and locally made gifts.
Sugar Mama is starting to attract regulars, including a faithful group of “Wednesday coffee ladies,” who follow up their exercise classes in the old school’s gymnasium with java and treats down the hall at Sugar Mama.
“I can usually set my watch by them,” Bishop said.
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It even has given a boost to the little town's community spirit. This year, Sugar Mama’s owner was instrumental in launching a “Deck the Halls” Christmas event at the school which brought the community together for a holiday event and helped spark a new community-booster group.
“I’m having a blast,” said Bishop, sporting the trademark cat-eye glasses that also decorate her signage. “Even on those hard days. Like Sunday, I had a $3 sale. That’s what I made for the day, but you know what? I got a lot of stuff done. I had time to get to work on future things and just brainstorm.”
A start-up sparked in a school lunchroom
School officials made the decision to close the Norman West elementary school — which serviced Hendrum, Halstad and Perley — in 2021 due to dwindling enrollment. Most of those students now attend the Ada-Borup-West School in Ada.
As a long-time member of the Ada-Borup-West School Board, Bishop knew the school’s fate. As a cottage baker, she couldn’t help but view its commercial kitchen as the ideal start-up spot.
So Bishop asked city leaders if they would consider leasing the space. Anxious to find a new use for their school, officials readily agreed. The only caveat is that she share the kitchen with residents for their occasional community dinners.
Bishop proceeded with caution. She had spent eight years getting rid of debt from a previous marriage and wasn’t anxious to be in the red again. One of the things she’s proudest of is that she launched her business with a mere $5,000 loan.
“We’re starting simple,” she said. "I’m a grower, not a show-er. I want to see my business grow. I don’t want to start with a lot of debt and then try and have to keep up.”
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When Bishop opened her doors at the school in June, she was one of two small businesses located in the 44,000-square-foot building.
Seven months later, several other tenants have set up shop there, including a quilting business and a wedding decor-rental spot.
But Sugar Mama is the most prominent tenant, thanks partly to a large sign along Highway 75, which runs right through the town and brings travelers to her doorstep.
Inside, Bishop has decorated simply. Red gingham tablecloths add a splash of homespun style to the cafeteria with its white and blue cement-block walls. An electric fireplace flanked by wing chairs dominates one corner and groupings of tables and chairs fill the north end of the old lunchroom. A chalkboard listing the day’s available menu items — wild rice soup and grilled cheese sandwiches — hangs behind the counter.
Her soups, including her top-selling wild rice variety, are made in-house from scratch, she said. She is also working with a local food-service vendor in hopes of offering options like chef salads and hot sandwiches by next summer.
As more customers want "grab-and-go" foods, Bishop just added "picnic packs" — a choice of egg salad, tuna salad or BLT sandwich, along with cookie and chips, for $8.
I just want to have my place and cook some food. Following a dream, helping others along the way, helping the community — that’s the main thing.
Bishop also has learned what locals don’t want. She tried adding suppers, but they didn’t draw much interest.
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She has offered “dirty sodas” — trendy, soda-based concoctions amped up with flavored syrups, cream or fruit juice. Although the punchy pop drinks didn’t sell well in the past, she hopes to try again next summer as they become more familiar to a wider audience.
Baked goods and breakfast do best
On the other hand, items like Sugar Mama’s baked goods, homemade pies and hotcakes sell like, well, hotcakes.
She makes 12 types of pie, including a hefty, 3-pound apple pie and her best-selling lemon meringue. “When we have pie day on Thursdays, the lemon meringue always sells out,” she said. “There’s not many places you can get a homemade pie these days.”
Anderson said she’s a “frequent flier” at the bakery. After she’s dropped off the kids for school, she likes to stop and grab something to go, whether it's a scone, cheesecake or — her personal favorite — one of Bishop’s trademark Sugar Mama Chews, spiked with coconut, raisins and pecans.
“It’s one of the only things I like with raisins in them,” Anderson said. “They’re amazing.”
Bishop also receives special orders for items like caramel rolls or nostalgic items like butterscotch pie.
The cafe owner stirred breakfast into her repertoire, following customers’ requests. Thanks to the new flat-top grill placed over her gas range, she can sling everything from an $8 pancake plate (two cakes, two eggs, two bacon strips or sausage patties) to $6 for biscuits and gravy.
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Breakfast burritos and omelets are her top sellers.
She’s been pleased to see more residents traveling from nearby towns to order baked goods or eat there. “A lot of people drive from Fargo-Moorhead. They place orders and they drive up. It’s been good,” she said.
A sweet benefit to community
Perhaps one of Sugar Mama’s biggest contributions has been its collateral benefits to the Hendrum community.
Before opening, Bishop talked of showcasing products from local cottage businesses. Interest from local makers has been so strong that Sugar Mama now carries the products of 10 vendors. “And I’ve got more coming,” she said.
People routinely drop by to shop for gifts, she said.
She also has been able to provide two part-time jobs for locals who help out during busier times, such as breakfasts. And she provides work one day a week for a person with disabilities through the Norman County Developmental Activities Center in Ada.
Another success story sprang from Bishop’s idea for a Deck the Halls event. She approached a few other locals, including Anderson, about her ideas for infusing some holiday cheer into the building.
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“They were all over it,” Bishop said.
The group rounded up “anything we could forage and scavenge” in Christmas trees and trimmings. They decorated the halls, but left open spaces along the hallways which people could rent and decorate in any holiday theme they saw fit.
“We had an ATV in here, with the Grinch driving the ATV,” said Bishop, who happened to be the aforementioned Grinch. “It was awesome.”
In addition to a decorating contest, they offered an appearance by Santa, storytime, crafts and hot chocolate.
The event was so successful that the group of women who planned it are forming a permanent community club to find other ways to improve and promote the area. One of them, Anderson, was also invited to join the local Economic Development Authority.
Anderson said Sugar Mama has been a major positive addition to the community. When she and her family moved to Hendrum 2 ½ years ago for a more peaceful way of life, people could still eat out at the local bar.
But since then, the bar is closed. “It left a little dent,” Anderson said.
“It’s just a nice gathering space for people to visit and grab coffee,” said Anderson, pointing out the giant color posters and board games Bishop has added to the space to bring people together. “Especially on Sundays, people can come across the street after church for French toast and pancakes. That’s really neat. I like that.”
For Bishop, it's a dream that has been 20 years in the making: “I just want to have my place and cook some food. Following a dream, helping others along the way, helping the community — that’s the main thing.”
Sugar Mama is on Facebook under "SugarMamaBakeryandCateringLLC."
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