Kicking Off the Summer of VGB Season 4!

Hello Friends!
Welcome back to another great summer season in Victoria Beach and surrounding Hwy 59 Communities! We’re so grateful to be back in the Bakery and with our community — we missed you all so much!

I hope you all had a great and productive winter - made some good memories, tried something new and you are now ready to get into summer mode! School is almost wrapped up and travel plans (and packing) is underway!

We’ve just wrapped up weekend SIX at the Bakery, and it’s been busy and amazing! We kicked off our Season 4 May long weekend and created some great memories and defeated some interesting challenges….more on that later.

Thank you so much to all of you have stopped by the bakery to say helllloooooo and enjoy our goodies.

VGB is going full 7-days a week starting on Friday - June 27th. Our hours are going to stay the same at 10 am to 4 pm. As much as we want to stay open later - there is still not a lot of people around after 4 pm to justify the doors staying open. That being said - if you have come after 4 pm and we see you - we will most likely open the doors back up to you. We can’t deny you from that last minute dessert you need for your guests or the cookie your promised your kiddo. We typically leave at 5….so you have time and with your patience and smiles we will open the doors for you.

Coffee Club will resume on the 27th - 8:30 am coffee and potentially some goodies will be available for self-serve in the Bakery Green Space. Coffee cards are available to buy in the Bakery. If by chance you haven’t bought a card - but see the coffee ☕️ - do not deny yourself and help yourself to a coffee. Again - we go on the honour system so come visit us later to cover the cost or buy a card and do an extra punch next time.

Delivery is back this summer! You can pre-order and add a delivery to your order. We currently only deliver within the gates, and to the gate. If you don’t want to walk in - you have the option of setting up a delivery and we can meet you at the gates. Day passes at the parking lot are available too if you want to walk and check us out - and the other amazing businesses here in VB …and our beaches of course!

Country Market - Let’s go! Starting the weekend of July 5th we will set up a tent at the Country Market and sell some bread! We won’t have our full line up - however you can be guaranteed that there will Beach Bread, Pecan Loaves, BAC’s, Face & Imperial Cookies and some other goodies. If you want to pre-order for pick up at the Market - we can arrange this too.

The Kids Market - Is still on this summer - but it will be under a new name - “KIDS MARKET”. The Kids market will be taking place on July 20th from 11 am to 1 pm (only 2 hours). Registration is not open as of yet - please follow Social Media for updates on registration. There is also a ‘story’ for this market and why were a wee bit delayed in opening registration… read below.

What’s New for Summer 2025?!

So glad you asked! Let’s get into it!

The VGB Team

Huge congrats to our team members who are graduating this year — we’re so proud of you!
• Grade 12 Grads: Brody, Grayce & Audrey
• University – Education: Andrew

We lost a few OG’s - It was bound to happen - after 3 years a few of our OG’s decided to try something new. It’s a hard and sad goodbye to those moving on — you’ll always be part of our VGB story. You are a huge reason why we are where we are today. Thank you for all your time and your memories of working at VGB.

VGB 4.0

We are kicking off this season with 21 VGB team members - sounds like a lot… however not all work over the summer, and more than half are part time. It takes a village to run a business - and I am very proud and grateful of our village.

Returning for Season 4:

Barbie (aka my mom)
Jay (Baker - Year 3)
Jackson (Baker / my kid - Year 4)
Brody & Audrey ( Retail - Year 4)
Grayce (Retail - Year 3)
Nick (Baker/Retail - Year 2)
Lucia (Prep - Year 2+2)
Liam & Andrew (Retail - Year 3)
Shelia & Gregg and Connie & Tom (Backyard Management - Year 4)
Ryan (Proofer, Quality Control, Dishwasher, Coffee Drinker, Cinnamon Bun Critic, Chair Builder, and my bestie - Year 20+)

Welcome to the team:

Bakers: Sean & Eden (welcome to 5:30 a.m. starts!)
Dishwashing/Cookie Scooping: Jace & Abi
Cookie Decorating/Cake Pops/Front: Maddie & Arabella
Front of House: Olivia, Luke & Ellie
(Hint: two of our newbies are siblings of our 4-year vets — can you guess who?)

Special Thanks 💕

Jade: My spring/fall rock. Your last weekend is right now as I am editing this post and I am going to miss my personal cheerleader and Stat tracker — thank you for everything (again). AND we will see you back over the summer for visits, and back at ‘work’ in the Fall.
Justine: Thought she was done but came back for one more spring. We miss you already — cleaner than Jackson, and your cake pops are legendary perfect.

New Goodies & Cool Stuff 🍪

We have some new items being added to the VGB Lineup - and I bet more will be added throughout the summer. We have new Makers, Authors and Artists - and of course our own Baked Goodies.

New Goodies….so far:

Pecan Buns: Thanks to a very persistent couple — we now have Pecan buns in our gooey bun line up. Don’t try one - honestly - it will just make it hard to not keep eating them. Do it for your calorie count.
Apple Crisp Slice: Jade demanded it, Barbie said yes, I said ‘fine’ — and it’s delicious….like too good. Good luck in picking between all of our Slice options. #sorrynotsorry
Macarons: Back soon (weather permitting). I guess these are not new - but they have been missing and you have been asking.
Wolseley Kombucha: Spring test = success. Welcome to the To Go cooler Wolseley - happy to have you!

New to the Bakery Yard:

Water Feature - Sheila and Barb’s creativity is endless!! They wanted a water feature and now we have the most cutest tiny pond for our birds, deer and well hopefully not mosquitos.
Seating Expansion - Two new Red Adirondack chairs…not as exciting as the water feature, but six weeks in and they are constantly being used so huge win of happiness by me!
Fairy/Gnome - Come and check out the path and see if you can find the new gems that have been added. Coming soon - #lobstercage !
Visitors - We ‘think’ we had an Otter taking up camp under the bakery. Not 100% sure but he is huge and only seen when not looking. All bird houses have also locked down their tenants - some protests by other birds who missed out….but I am sure it will be fine.

Maker Updates – Supporting Local:

Posters/Postcards by Mitchell Fenton: The Lake Winnipeg series is back in stock in both posters and post-cards — Connaught, Sunset, Clubhouse & more!
Farmers Co: Candles restocked and ‘scents’ have expanded.
Cornelia Bean: All the beach teas and more have been re-stocked.
Key Chains & Bookmarks - NEW!

Anise Leather Inc: Already sold out of “Face” keychains! More stock coming soon.
Stuff by Oliver: “I ❤️ VB” keychains — stay tuned!
Earth and Hide: Manitoba-made leather. Travel cases and keychains in stock — bags may appear (unless I keep them all 😏).

VGB Merch:

The Face is EVERYWHERE:

T-Shirts – Kids & Adults: $20–$22
White Bucket Hats: $22
Water Bottles: $26
Crewnecks: $38
Backpack Cooler Bags: $155 (limited stock)
Coming soon: Golf Towels & Mini 6-Pack coolers

VGB - Season 4…..“How’s It Going?…..so far??

So many of you ask, “How’s it going?” or “Got any good stories yet?” Well, let’s get into it — because my stories already have impacted a few events we had planned for 2025!

May Long was ‘interesting’ to say the least. In a nutshell - we got through it and we are still smiling and laughing about how hard it ended up being - but also so insanely grateful of how it ended.

Running a seasonal business or any small business has it challenges - and you really can’t plan or anticipate them…you can try and plan …but the universe doesn’t work that way.

If you know me, you know I don’t shy away from the hard stuff — I share it all. Some may call it oversharing, but that’s how I move forward. Maybe my story helps someone else. Either way, it helps me stay grounded and process everything. The happy stories? I share those too — they’re my gold stars. The good stuff validates, and the hard stuff teaches. Both matter.

Let’s Get Into it - and Share….the hard stuff.

Challenges of 2025

Round 1: Water 💦 …. or Lack of Water

If you didn’t hear, Victoria Beach had major water challenges over May Long due to the new Fibre installation. We were in the same situation as most of the beach - no water, or no water pressure.

To open the Bakery or any business, you need water — to clean, bake, and, yep, flush toilets 🚽!

Prior to realizing that we ‘may’ not have water I had already planned to open for business May Long - my ONLY concern was the pump house working and the water being on for the Wednesday before the long weekend (I laugh now thinking that was my worry). I didn’t have any clue that the Fibre installation had caused so many issues. Anyway - to plan for our kick off - I scheduled for our team to be working ($$), brought in supplies ($$), activated our POS and Workforce services ($$) - which then requires us to ‘sell’ something to help cover the $$.

For five days leading up to baking prep we had no water - not even a trickle….just like everyone else.

The team wouldn’t be defeated by the lack of water - Thank you to Jay, Ryan & Barbie for your encouragement and positive vibes through this challenge.

As a team - we physically hauled in water, boiled water for sanitizing, and relied on Trainor Water for all of our baking needs. We all built some serious muscles (and patience!) that first week.

Water returned just in time — Friday morning. We baked till the water literally stopped flowing. Then, somehow, the water came back on Saturday morning. We were lucky — most of the Beach wasn’t as fortunate. Big love to the universe for granting us water for all our dishes….there was a lot!!

A wise friend once told me, “Challenges are handed to those who can handle them — and Jen, you always do.” She was right — but I wasn’t alone. My team is amazing, and they kept me going.

Thank you to Chris from Trainor Water for daily water jug deliveries and to all of YOU who cheered us on. Your gratitude and kind words meant everything.

Round 1: Crushed.
Next up…

Round 2: Insurance

This one was an email surprise / disappointment - and heart break.

Long story short: insurance companies don’t appreciate or love fun bakery events. I get it – sorta – but then our insurer learned we were hosting events in our green space and we were dropped with notice. These events planned were deemed too risky - Kids Market, ukulele jams, and the idea of cookie decorating were apparently too much liability. Listen I get it - they are looking out for my best interests…and costs.

Now they do give you some time to find someone else to cover you, but after 2 weeks and 11 out of 22 insurance rejections I was officially getting a little nervous.

To quickly jump ahead - so you don’t panic read - I am covered right now. I have the right insurance on my business.

To continue.. Insurance companies were not interested in my business mainly due to the Kids Market, but also I was deemed high risk being a seasonal business, and one indicated I was too ‘close’ to the fires (ummm all businesses could be considered close).

A shoutout to Garriock Insurance who worked tirelessly to help and negotiating through each rejection….and through my own emotions and disappointments. They were so kind, informative and supportive through this challenge.

I chose to support and run these events, and I don’t regret it. But I do have to adjust as a result of this challange - I need to follow the rules of my insurance and scale back my events due to the risk and the increased costs.

That said —I won’t give up on the Kids Market – it means to much to me and our kiddos/Junior Entrepreneurs.

Here’s the new plan:

The VGB Kids Market is being rebranded to... drumroll 🥁… “Kids Market” (creative, I know).

It will be hosted by a new entity and continued to be supported by our community volunteers.
VGB will not have their name associated with the event….it is about the kids anyway!
Special event insurance will be purchased $$
One event only: July 20th (11 am to 1 pm)
Waivers will be required by our participants
Same awesome vibes in the Bakery Yard!

Watch for a new social media for the Kids Market for sign-up info…coming soon.

As for the other events I “had” planned - sadly, cookie decorating and other possible outdoor events have to be shelved — insurance costs are just too high for me for now. We’re already doing a lot, so I’m taking it as a sign to pause.

The Ukulele Group will still meet at the green space on Wednesdays – but like the Kids Market I have been advised to remove all reference to these events from my Website….did I mention that? I can’t promote, but I can share updates?

Round 3: CocoGate 🍫

Yes, this is real — cocoa prices have skyrocketed. Honestly, everything has gone up in costs - minimum wage, sugar, and butter over the past four years. The costs of business is going up - this is not new to anyone personally or professionally. The joys of time.

Since 2022:

Chocolate chips from Costco: $16.99 → $28.99 (a 70% increase!)
Cocoa - over 300% increase

Why? Supply and demand. Climate and political issues in harvest regions have taken a toll. No conspiracy here — just tough economics. I won’t compromise on quality, but we may need to adjust elsewhere.

Bright side: Vanilla prices have stayed the same — a tiny, sweet win!

Round 4: Just Kidding 😉

Three rounds of challenges is enough... for now. It’s early days yet, but I’m manifesting FUN, full crowds, hungry people and sneaking in Monday/Wednesday yoga escapes at the Clubhouse…come join me!
The challenges won’t slow us down - they will make us work a bit harder, get more creative and keep us on our toes. We use these moments to learn - and to share.

Thanks for sharing this journey with us!

Final Thoughts

Yes, challenges make better stories — but I’m thrilled this newsletter has more positives than hurdles.

And yes i am rocking two set of glasses - two is better than one

I'm so proud of what we've built — and you’re a big part of that. Your energy, visits, and smiles make this fun.

If you’ve read all the way to the end — THANK YOU. Time is precious, and I appreciate you spending it here.

Back to baking and having fun!

Love you all — huge!

– Jen 💛

Season 4