Spreading joy, love in retirement

By Rita Kostreba

When Jan and Mary Nelson of Garfield retired from their full-time jobs, it was not a question of “what do we do now,” it was, and is, a way that they continue to bring joy, warmth, good food, and laughter into people’s lives.  

We will begin with Mary.  For many years, she ran a family daycare from their home. One of the most important aspects of that job was to provide nourishing meals for the children in her care. She loved to bake, so a part of the daycare children’s meals always included fresh from the oven “Mary Bread.” When parents would come to pick up their children the aroma would still be lingering in the house and parents started asking if they could buy some of it. This became a way for Mary to help fund her daughter to study abroad in London.

Mary and Jan Nelson of Garfield. Mary bakes for the fun of seeing people enjoy good quality bread. Jan likes to make doodles/cartoons for people. He has been known to leave drawings on napkins at restaurants and freeway rest areas, and when he returns there weeks later, the drawings will be hanging on the walls. Contributed photo

In 2015, Mary and Jan moved to The Cities to be closer to, and provide daycare for,  their oldest daughter and her family. Upon returning to the area  three years later, Mary finally found the time to go back to baking. That’s when Mary was approached for baking for the Holmes City Farmers Market.

“I decided to give it a try,” Mary said.

Mary and Jan both agree that being part of the producers at the market is one of the best decisions they have ever made.

“It’s almost a magical group,” Jan said. “The people just come and visit and even though a lot of us don’t have common interests, we have become a community.”

Mary’s bread baking is called “Loaves of Love.” Mary said that when people ask her about the name, she explains: “It is a ministry. My goal has been to create a quality product. It’s not at all about making money. I bake for the widow who used to bake for her family, and can no longer afford the ingredients. I bake for the fun of seeing people enjoy good quality bread.”

Mary has some specialty breads like her English Muffin bread that she bakes in cans. Cranberry Wild Rice bread, Honey Granola, Nine Grain, White Oat bread, and Blueberry Muffins are some of the varieties that make her products sell out fast. She tries to always have a variety for people to choose from. And people love her choices.

“I use quality ingredients. The flour comes right from the flour mill. The eggs and honey are locally grown.”

Some muffins and loaves of bread Mary has baked. Contributed photo

If it should ever happen that she has any leftover loaves, they will quietly be left in one of the other producers vehicles. Somehow Mary’s example has caught on as many of the other producers also leave “presents” of their leftovers. But sometimes an extra loaf can be exchanged for a jar of pickles or a butternut squash.

Mary never thought she would be a baker. She has a degree in English. But she has found baking very rewarding. She is registered as an official cottage industry in the State of Minnesota. She has many local customers as well as those that are summer lake families, and they return year after year. One of the families told her that at Thanksgiving  and Christmas they hold a lottery to see who will get a loaf of Mary’s bread. Another customer told her of a 94-year-old woman who will only eat Mary’s bread. One 103-year-old will only eat Mary’s blueberry muffins. Proof of a quality product.

After the Holmes City Market closes for the winter, Mary continues to bake. Her breads are often donated to “Sharing Love and Hope,” a non-profit 24-hour food pantry.

“It’s my way of helping people during their difficult times,” she said. Mary also sells her bread at Anderson Florist during the winter months.

One of the many cartoons Jan has created. Contributed photo

Jan always enjoyed eating Mary’s baking, but even before he met her, he enjoyed scribbling.

“I am not to be trusted with a pen and paper. Jan’s first job as an artist was in fourth grade. The assignment was to do a drawing and the “kids paid me five cents to do their drawing for them. It was not real profitable.”

His drawing got him in trouble in high school. In his notebook, he drew caricatures of the principal and the staff. When the notebook showed up in a locker check, Jan was called to the office. The principal was offended as he had been drawn as Hitler. Jan was put to work putting up fencing for the school district for two day that summer, “to pay for my crimes.”

He continued drawing though, sometimes on practice jerseys and sweatshirts. He illustrated Peggy Trimble’s book, “Charlie’s Chocolate Chip Dream” in the 70s.

He also drew illustrations for a cookbook project that could have been called, “Cook Book for Hopeless Husbands,” that unfortunately was never published.

“Ron Lindley and I worked on making a cookbook to provide a rotating schedule of easy meals that husbands could make,” Jan said. “Ron made the schedule of recipes, while I did the illustrations. We never finished the project, but we had fun working on it.

“I first went to college long before I met Mary,” he said. His college notebooks were filled with cartoons. Jan jokes that, “I bounced from one job to another while going to school part time. I was ‘seven year a sophomore.’” He also did some cartooning for a local newspaper (Hubbard County Independent) and some advertising work back then.

“When Mary met me,” Jan said, “she stabilized my life. Once we got married, she worked to support us so I could go back to college to get my teaching degree.”

One of the many cartoons Jan has created. Contributed photo

With all of the talent Jan had in drawing he chose instead to become a teacher.  When asked if he wanted to become an artist, he said, “No way. I love teaching. I only draw for fun. When an idea pops in my head, I put it down. I can’t produce them on demand. Drawing cartoons on kids’ papers and in their yearbooks was always the most enjoyable way of doing the cartoons.” Jan taught 4th, 5th, and 6th grade at the Garfield school for 30 years.

When Jan retired the first time, one of his students made a scrapbook of the drawings he has done on their papers and presented it to him as a retirement gift. It is a cherished memento. Imagine getting your paper back, no matter the grade, with a funny cartoon on it.

After flunking retirement, Jan went back to teaching art at Lincoln School. Students that were in his classes there will fondly remember Buster the talking ruler who lived in the art room closet. Jan still keeps Buster in a closet at home.

Now that Jan is fully retired, his drawings show up in many places around the area. He loves to draw on napkins and imagine his joy when a teacher’s convention had paper tablecloths! He has left drawings on napkins at restaurants and the freeway rest area, and when he returns there weeks later, the drawings will be hanging on the walls. The employees will quietly point to him and say, “He’s the one who draws the cartoons!”

These two bring so much joy. Jan and Mary live by the personal philosophy of “See God in the little things, and do anything you can to serve people by who you are. Make people smile.”