Fat Tuesday Creates a Craving in Wyandotte

The paczkis were flying off the baking racks on Fat Tuesday as locals and visitors flocked to to get their hands on the delicious treats.

“The line was much longer earlier this morning," said Sue Bogoevski, one of the bakery owners.

By 9 a.m., the custard-filled paczkis were dwindling. An hour after that, they were gone and the blueberry, raspberry and lemon-filled treasures also were snagged by the army of people who descended on the bakery. No worries, though. The next batch of packzis was on its way out. The popular treats sell well into the afternoon.

Sharon Resst works at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Ecorse and was there to pick up a box.

“I used to go to Hamtramck,” she said. “I found out about this place and have been coming here ever since.”

And come they do, young and old alike.

Amy Richardson overlooked the fact that she was dependant on crutches and came to stand in line.

“I have some cartilage damage in my leg, but the paczkis are worth the wait,” she said.

Tony Fischer lives in Wyandotte and comes every year.

“I have a family at home waiting for these,” Fischer said as he left the crowded bakery.

The paczki (pronounced punch-key in Polish) is a deep-friend doughnut made of very rich dough and usually filled with custard or several different kinds of jelly.

The custard-filled were the hot sellers at Vinewood, followed by raspberry jelly, lemon and blueberry. The prune-filled version stayed on the racks the longest.

Sam Park of Brighton came in to get his fair share.

“I work in Wyandotte and found out this is the place to come to get paczkis,” he said.

Paczkis are traditionally made for Fat Tuesday, the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. “Mardi Gras,” as it is known in French, signals the last day of indulgences before the fasting and holy traditions of Lent begin.

Many Detroiters drive to Hamtramck to get paczkis from popular “Poletown" bakeries, but Vinewood Bakery has the same rich history. In fact, folks have been coming here for quite some time.

“I grew up in Wyandotte,” Judy Stein said. “Hamtramck doesn’t have anything on this place. Wyandotte is a great community because we have places like Vinewood Bakery.”

Owner Sue Bogoevski said her family has owned the bakery at the corner of 10th and Vinewood streets for 35 years. The bakery itself has an even longer history.

“We will be celebrating the bakery’s 100th year of operation this fall,” she said.

With that kind of record, looks like Vinewood will be around for a while. Fat Tuesday is not the only day to make a trip to Vinewood. The bakery also serves a variety of fresh baked goods and homemade pizza.