Saint Paul Bread Club
We knead to bake!
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A bit of history
Founding and Purpose
The SPBC was founded in 2003 by Dan “Klecko” McGleno, as a way for him to give something back to the community. He created the club to bring together people interested in bread and bread baking to share information and their passion for bread and bread making. The SPBC may be the biggest bread club in the United States (not there is a lot of competition). It’s not like bread clubs associated with bakeries where you can pay for a bread subscription or you get a free loaf after you’ve bought a bunch of loaves over time.
2003—The First Year
For the first year, we met quarterly at the community meet room at the Mississippi Market Co-op at Selby and Dale in St. Paul. People brought samples which we critiqued. We typically had 6 to 8 people.
2004—The Year of Change
Starting in 2004, we started meeting at Saint Agness Baking Company, where Klecko worked as production manager.
2005—The Year of Growth
Starting in 2005, we started getting more publicity, and recognition around the Twin Cities. This led to increases in the number of people showing up at quarterly meetings.
2006—The Year of the Cookbook
The Minnesota Historical Society published a cookbook written by Kim Ode based on interviews with members of the SPBC.
The October quarterly meeting had about 100 people because of all the publicity we got from the release of the book.
The SPBC domain is now over two years old, having been established in October of 2005. Time flies when you are having fun.
2007—A Year of Diverse Events
We continued to meet quarterly at St. Agnes. Another interesting bake-off. A lot more interesting people showing up.