Customers Arrive At 6:00am Jackson County Crash Kills 1, Injures 2

By Marla Ballard Reporter

SCOTTSBORO, ALA - For 18 years

Sherrell Frederick has been getting to work at midnight to prepare for opening her shop at 6:00 a.m. Frederick owns Variety Bake Shop on “the square” in downtown Scottsboro.

The bake shop has been in the same location since the 1940s. When former owner Fred Casteel passed away and Frederick found out the shop was available, she decided to try her hand at it. “I’ve loved baking since I was just eight years old,” said Frederick. “I had never owned my own business prior to this, but I was determined to make it work.”

Most days the bake shop runs out of edibles by 10:00 a.m. “I put a big sign in the window as soon a we run out of food so customers don’t have to get out of their cars and come in to find out we’ve ran out,” said Frederick.

Frederick says her number one seller are the sausage rolls. Casteel sold them as well, but not nearly as many as Frederick sells. “Casteel sold about three dozen sausage rolls daily,” said Frederick. “I sell anywhere from 60 to 100 dozen per day.”

Another popular item is Frederick’s Southern Pecan Praline Cake. The cake is a single layer with pecan glaze poured into handmade holes to create a moistness that’s worth writing home about.

Getting to work at midnight is a must when there are 60 dozen doughnuts to be made. Frederick has the typical glazed doughnuts, but also sells doughnuts filled with cream cheese, white butter cream, custard, and more.

“I don’t skimp on my filling for my doughnuts,” said Frederick.

On a weekly basis Frederick and her team crank out three to four hundred dozen cookies. During holidays that number increases to five to six hundred dozen. Other items typical of any bakery include breakfast biscuits with meat, coffee, pastries, candy, and cakes. Breakfast plates are also served and the shop has a dining room. “We call it the gathering room,” said

Frederick. “We have customers who have been comin here for breakfast all 18 years that I have been here. We know them on a first name basis, they are just like family to us.” One customer got a plate named after him, the Jim Ed plate comes with biscuits, gravy, eggs, meat, and tomato slices.

The business is a family operation with Frederick’s daughter, grandson, niece, cousin, and sisterin-law all working there. Frederick’s mother also helped before her passing in 2020.

Variety Bake Shop is located at 108 E. Peachtree St. Scottsboro. Hours; Tuesday - Saturday 6:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Phone: 256-574-2424. Frederick thanks her loyal customers, but is preparing to hang up her apron and retire from her commercial endeavor, contact Redstone Family Realty if interested in purchasing an established business and building.

By David Hall Reporter david@southerntorch.com

On Wednesday, a two-vehicle crash near Skyline left one dead and sent two injured to the hospital. According to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA), Michael D. Cooper, 65, of Bridgeport, was fatally injured when his 2007 Ford Ranger crashed into a 2004 Toyota 4Runner. Cooper was driving his vehicle.

ALEA says the wreck occurred in the morning on Jackson County Road 33 near Jackson County Road