With the theme of “The Heat Is On,” bakers from across the Midwest heated up Red Wing on February 23-24 as over 600 people attended this year’s Upper Midwest Bakery Convention at Treasure Island Resort and Casino. The weekend started with three tracks of education on Saturday morning with a hands-on session for cake decorators presented by Mike Terry CMSA, plus 6 sessions of baking and business sessions presented by Greg Wagner, Bill Hanisch, Tom Johnson, Chef Andy Revella, Matt Rush and John Lupo. Meanwhile six cake decorators began decorating at 8 a.m. for their all-day on-site American Bakery Expo Competition. The exhibit floor opened at 11 a.m. with over 50 booths along with displays of cakes and bakied foods to be judged for the annual competitions. The education program continued on the floor with floor demos presented by Vonnie Hansen, Mike Manderfield, Mike Terry CMSA, Colleen Conway, and Jaime VanderWoude. Festivities moved from the show floor to the ballroom with the annual banquet attended with over 300 attendees.
The banquet honored Hall of Fame inductee Lance Wilke, and included a tribute to former UMBA Executive Director, Curt Borchert, who died in June. The winner of the American Bakery Expo was Keeann Kramer of Jerry’s Food. She will represent the UMBA at the Pillsbury Bakers Plus Creative Decorating Competition at IBIE on October 6-9. Seventeen Gold Medals were given out for the Deco Cake Competition, and the winners of the Baked Foods competition received trophies. The banquet concluded with the awarding of door prizes including 3- 42” TV’s.
Sunday morning began with the annual membership/board meeting followed by brunch.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Upper Midwest Bakery Association