Some people may have missed National Doughnut Day last week and some may have only thought about donuts all last week.
Amrah Canul | Summer Arg
Marc Cramer gives Anaura Cramer a better view of doughnut production June 7 at “buy the dozen” doughnuts. The doughnut shop, located on Sixth Street in Moscow, distributed half a dozen free doughnuts to each customer in recognition of National Doughnut Day.
After going more than eight years without a doughnut shop, this year Moscow celebrated National Doughnut Day sponsored by buy the dozen donuts, which joined the Moscow community in December with its many flavors of homemade mini donuts.
The owner of buy the dozen donuts, Kris Wallace, said National Doughnut Day was a great way to meet new customers and to spread the news about the shop. Wallace’s mother, Salie Travis, said at least 100 half-dozen size packages of doughnuts were given away.
“It started to get crowded at 7 p.m. then it died down and started again at 8:30 p.m,” Wallace said. “It was packed for about three hours. I’ve got a few comments on Facebook from people saying it was their first time yesterday, and that they’re gonna come back.”
Unlike other food days, National Doughnut Day has a longer historical background. It started in 1917 when The Salvation Army sent approximately 250 volunteers to France serving doughnuts and coffee to American soldiers during World War I.
After World War I, The Salvation Army continued caring for people by providing social service programs. Some of the programs included providing meals such as doughnuts. The first National Doughnut Day was celebrated during the Great Depression, in June of 1938. It was a way to have fun and bring awareness to The Salvation Army’s programs.
In the United States, National Doughnut Day is the time for donut shops, like Dunkin’ Donuts, Krispy Kreme, Tim Hortons and LaMar’s Donuts: to promote their new donut flavors by giving them away to its customers, according to a report by NBC news.
Wallace started her doughnut business in May 2009 at Moscow Farmers Market. She said that with enough spirit and encouragement from her family and loyal customers, she decided to open a store.
“It’s been a lot busier for me. And I think more people are talking and hearing about this,” Wallace said. “I only wish there’s like a monthly doughnut day. I think I can do that like once a month. We also sold a lot of doughnuts yesterday — it was better than a normal Friday.”
Hannah Johnson, one of the customers, stopped by buy the dozen donuts with her kids to get free doughnuts. She said she didn’t know that it was National Doughnut Day until her friend called.
“My kids love doughnuts and it’s great to celebrate together,” Johnson said. “We were able to come to (the) Farmers Market, and we got to know about the doughnut store — we definitely have to make a stop there every time we see it.”
Nurainy Darono can be reached at [email protected]