The Rose Factory home bakery and bake shop will have its grand re-opening Friday Nov. 16 from 4-8 p.m. at the store, located between Haines Lane and Shaw Road on SR 136 south of Hillsboro.
Sixteen-year-old Savannah Warnock and her 25-year-old sister Hannah have dedicated the special occasion to their late mother, Teresa Warnock, who succumbed to cancer on Oct. 4 of this year.
“It all began with our great-grandmother Isabell Rose,” Hannah Warnock told The Times-Gazette. “She had a joy for baking and was a widow at a young age when her husband was killed in a coal mine accident.”
Hannah said her great-grandmother often baked items to give to the “hobos and transients” who came through the New Lexington/Lancaster, Ohio area, and in turn passed both her love and talent for baking down to her four daughters.
One of those daughters was Hannah’s grandmother, Shirley Rose, who built on her family’s baking heritage and enrolled in cake decorating classes so she could later take orders for birthdays and weddings.
“Grandma then passed her knowledge down to our mother,” Hannah said. “Mom loved to bake for others, too, and she baked everything from pies to pastry to cookies, and did all the different cakes as well.”
The girls’ mother always dreamed of having her own bakery, Hannah said, wanting a store where people could come in and choose from a wide selection without having to place an order ahead of time.
She said the dream materialized one day when they were all working outside at the family farm and her mother caught sight of an old milk house that wasn’t being used.
“We renovated it and made her dream come true,” she said, “and in November of last year, we opened the bakery on and off, usually on weekends.”
At the beginning of the year, the girls’ mother’s health began to decline due to the cancer diagnosis, and she said they had to close the store and only take phone orders until Teresa’s death at age 51 from adenocarcinoma.
The torch has now been passed to a fourth generation of bakers, and Hannah said they decided to hold a grand re-opening to honor their mother’s legacy.
Launching out as new entrepreneurs has been a bit overwhelming, she said, at least until they take to heart the wise words of advice that their mother gave them.
“Mom always told us that if you bake with love and a passion,” Hannah said, “then you’ll be giving that love and passion to those that enjoy what you made for them.”
The Rose Factory home bakery and bake shop will feature Savannah and Hannah Warnock’s cream horns, soft pretzels, donut holes, pies, cakes, cookies, holiday specials, coffee, tea and more at their store, located at 3210 SR 136, south of Hillsboro.
Orders can be placed by calling 937-205-0722, or online at www.cakesbyteresa.weebly.com.
Reach Tim Colliver at 937-402-2571.
