One Hour To Prepare For History

Vice President Joe Biden with Rudy's Strudel & Bakery owner Lidia Trempe and some of her staff. | Photo by Tim DeGeeter.

An hour can pass quickly, and it is certainly not a long time at all in which to prepare for a truly historic event. This is such a tale. When Vice President Joe Biden visited Parma recently for a campaign rally at the UAW Local 1005 Hall, he mentioned to Parma Mayor Tim DeGeeter that he would like to visit a business in Parma on his way in from the airport. This presented a bit of a dilemma - which business would this be? Difficult choice, since we have so many fine businesses in Parma, but a decision had to be made quickly, and the Mayor picked Rudy's Strudel & Bakery at 5580 Ridge Rd. in the Polish Village Neighborhood of Parma. "Owners Lidia Trempe and her mother have become icons in Parma," said Mayor DeGeeter. "They are a full service bakery in business for 68 years and are completely pro-Parma," he added. 

When he called Lidia to tell her the news, he was glad that they had not closed for the day yet, and he had some difficult instructions for her; She was not to tell anyone of the impending visit, even her staff, and she had about one hour before numerous Secret Service agents and the crew which accompanies such visits would descend on her place of business. Things went well after that, without a hitch, and soon the Vice President of the United States was standing in Rudy's Strudel & Bakery in Parma, Ohio.  

Apparently, Joe Biden felt right at home in a business like this (who wouldn't?) and he indeed spent a good amount of quality time here. He was of course willing and able to experience some of the delicious baked goods offered by this wonderful bakery. So much so that when the mayor kindly asked Lidia to speed things up a little, on account of the hundreds of people waiting patiently back at the UAW Hall for the arrival of the Vice President, she informed him that it was in fact the Vice President who was slowing down the process, since he was having such a good time with the staff and making a nice connection with them. The Mayor snapped a photo of them together in front of the counter. Finally, it was time to move on.

I've been wondering just what the Vice President took with him in a box to eat later, perhaps on the plane. Whatever it was, he's sure not to forget his visit here, and I wouldn't be surprised if his next visit to Parma includes a stop at Rudy's Strudel & Bakery.