Gaylord’s Cops & Doughnuts

Land is calling where the river begins.

Is this calling you? Gaylord’s Cops & Doughnuts Where nine protectors of the law became purveyors of the bear claw.

www.primaverapeace.org/landsale

By Al Parker decaf (Off-Duty). Personal Finance magazine, the 2011 book An assortment of breads are baked “Locavesting,” and the online cooking and

There’s a cop shop in Gaylord where the daily, including Italian, cinnamon-raisin, culture site, AmericanProfile.com. phrase “D.W.I.” has nothing to do with adult pumpernickel rye, cheddar cheese, and more. In 2013, Saveur magazine even named beverages or erratic driving. “We have a fifth-generation breadmaker Cops & Doughnuts — then only one

At the Cops & Doughnuts Bakery, overseeing things,” said White. location, in Clare — one of the finest “D.W.I.” means “Donuts Were Involved,” a All products are handmade at the main doughnut shops in the nation and their bit of sly humor that adorns coffee mugs, bakery in downtown Clare and delivered by “NightStick” (a triple-chocolate Long John) T-shirts, hats, and police-related gear truck no later than 5am each day to the Cops as one of the best doughnuts in the world. available for visitors. & Doughnuts Gaylord location — aka, the The following year, Doughnut Showdown,

Don’t like that one? “Jay’s Precinct” shop, at 1151 South Otsego a popular television show on the Food Channel,

Try “Don’t Glaze Me, Bro.” or “Cereal Killer” Ave., which is connected to the Jay’s Sporting picked Cops & Doughnuts’ “Driftwood or “You Have the Right to Remain Glazed.” Goods store. Doughnut” (a Long John filled with coconut

Lots of thin-blue-line silliness here. But “We looked into putting an oven into cream and topped with chocolate ganache and folks don’t stop in for the cop shop corny swag, the Gaylord shop,” said White. “But it toasted coconut) as a contest winner, netting they come for the goods — the baked goods. would be about $250,000. For about $50 a the bakers a $10,000 top prize.

“We offer a full line of great pastries,” said day, we can deliver.” Alan White, one of the nine active and retired NORTHWARD EXPANSION Clare police officers who own the bakery. RAP SHEET The Gaylord location opened in

White, a big guy who’s gone by the The backstory to this bustling business September 2015, and it’s been busy since nickname “Bubba” all his life, is one of the begins in 2009 when Clare’s historic bakery day one, says White. General Manager Tina owners. He and Greg “Ryno” Rynearson are — Clare City Bakery — was within weeks of Collison oversees operations there. retired from law enforcement and run the closing. “It’s been very successful, a really good day-to-day bakery operation. “You gotta remember, Clare’s a town of match,” said White.

The other seven owners — all of whom some 3,000 people,” said White. “We only had Prompted by the good buzz in Gaylord, have nicknames, too — are still on patrol as nine officers on the whole police force. So five the guys opened two more “precincts” — one officers, but they help out in the bakery on of us were eating lunch one day, and we heard in Bay City in 2016 and another in Mt. Pleasant

TRAVERSE CITY 231-929-3200 • 4952 Skyview Ct. occasion. (One of is City of Clare Chief of Police Brian Gregory.) CUFF ’EM the bakery was gonna close. We were scared for our little town. We talked about it and said, ‘Hey, what if we bought it?’” All nine officers stepped up and invested in 2017. When all the shops are running at capacity, they employ almost 50 workers. When the COVID-19 virus began spreading earlier this year, the Clare bakery CHARLEVOIX Some of the bakery’s most popular creations include the sweet-and-salty $1,500 each as a down payment to keep the historic bakery humming. ‘ stayed open, but the Gaylord operation closed temporarily. Business fell off about 85 percent 231-237-0955 • 106 E. Garfield Ave. Bacon Squealer, an elongated mapleglazed doughnut with two bacon strips. Nine protectors of the law became purveyors of the bear claw. The pairing of compared to last year, according to White. “When it started, we were the only place Other popular choices include the Fleeing police and pastries was too ironic for them in Clare that had bread,” said White. “We Felon Fritter (an apple creation that is big, — or the media — to overlook. were deemed essential because we could cinnamon-y, and moist) and the custard“Our plan was, if it breaks even, we’ll be make bread.” filled, chocolate-frosted Bismarck. happy,” said White. “We thought we’d run it The Gaylord shop reopened in May and Cookie lovers will want to try the jumbo for a few years, then sell it. But the media got is seeing steady traffic again. oatmeal raisin date-filled cookies, the jumbo hold of it, and it just took off.” “People are getting out now,” he said. chocolate chip, or the jumbo peanut butter. NBC Nightly News, Fox News, MSNBC, “We’re gonna bounce back.” (Jumbo is a common theme here.) and Good Morning, America each did Wash that sweet treat down with their features on the police-pastry sensation. Find the Gaylord location at 1151 S. Otsego www.schulzortho.com signature coffee — available in medium roast (Day Shift) dark roast (Night Shift) or Cops & Doughnuts also has been featured in several publications, including Kiplinger’s Ave. Learn more at www.copsdoughnuts.com or call (989) 968-4488. 20 • sept 14, 2020 • Northern Express Weekly