This article appeared in the October, 2018, issue of Catholic Courier, a publication of the diocese of Rochester, NY.  The headline read:  Serving up bread and kindness               

“If you listen and don’t fall asleep, you get a free loaf of bread,” announced the man in a green apron and baker’s hat.  That introductory quip by Chet Fery set the tone for a frequently humorous presentation based on two interrelated themes:  bread and kindness.

 Appearing before more than 50 people in the parish center of St. Mary Church, Fery—also known as “The Bread Man”—demonstrated the art of baking bread while sharing bread-related memories from his life.  For instance, Fery, who grew up in Buffalo, recalled being sent to the bakery by his mother to buy some rye bread.  On the way home he would sneak a bite or two and was then ordered to turn around and get another loaf.

Fery, 68, noted that his own odyssey into baking began in the late 1990’s when he sought to duplicate his favorite pizza crust.  He gave up that pursuit after his family complained about having to eat pizza every night for three weeks.  Eventually he began to specialize in baking bread, and on Monday mornings would bring the loaves to work in the Gates-Chili School District where he served as an administrator, leaving the bread on a table for people to take home at no cost.

          His bread turned out to be a hit, and he kept up the practice for years. He said it dawned on him that “they weren’t looking for the bread, but they were looking for this,” he told his audience while holding up a sign displaying the word KINDNESS.                                                                                          

Since his retirement in 2006, Fery has expanded his custom of baking bread to give away; he now has two ovens in his Brockport home and estimates that he’s baked 85,000 loaves over a nearly twenty-year period.  Along the way he has incorporated speaking engagements into his hobby.  He drives thousands of miles per year, averaging four appearances per week at such venues as churches, schools, senior living facilities, businesses and college campuses.  “I make bread with children, and I make bread with people who are 100 years old,” said Fery, who belongs to the SUNY Brockport Newman Community along with his wife, Marina.  He is a member of the Knights of Columbus Council 7707.

Fery has also created a website http://breadtimestoriesandmore.com.  In addition he regularly goes out into the community to give away his bread, often doing so with strangers with whom he enjoys striking up conversations.  He likewise spent several minutes before and after the presentation chatting with audience members.  Also that morning, Fery set out dozens of his loaves of bread for those in attendance to take home, as well as flyers containing his recipes for different types of bread including Toasted Oatmeal Wheat and Tonawanda Rye.

Prior to Fery’s talk, Father Hoan Dinh, pastor of St. Mary gave a blessing in which he implored all who were gathered to pray for folks who experience hunger either spiritually, materially or physically; and Fery emphasized that his bread ministry is, at its core, a vehicle for extending care and compassion to others.  “A Loaf of bread and an act of kindness can ripple through a community,” he said.  Fery went on to stress that all of us are capable of such kindness. “Don’t put it in someone else’s hands” “If you want the world to change, do it through acts of kindness,” he told the group.  “Kindness should be part of everything we do.  It should be putting our prayers into action.”

He added that such actions are needed in this day and age, saying “the world around us is losing its sense of personal connectedness.”“We’re all good alone, but we’re better together.  We need more community, we need more of that feeling of kindness,” he remarked. “People are desperate for kindness.”

                                                                    Spread some kindness this holiday and every day.

God Bless and Happy Thanksgiving.

LovEstelle

To view previous postings and works in progress visit my website at http://www.LovEstelle.com