A popular Muskoka bakery that’s been serving cottage country for nearly 80 years almost disappeared for good this spring; that is, until a former employee made a major life change to keep the ovens running.
Don’s Bakery has been a fixture in Bala since 1947, when Don Lloyd first opened its doors. Over the decades, generations of cottage-goers and locals have stopped by for its doughnuts, Chelsea buns and other freshly baked treats.
This year, however, the longtime bakery faced an uncertain future after its previous owners filed for bankruptcy.
That’s when 24-year-old Lily McDonald stepped in.
McDonald, who spent her summers in Bala and worked at Don’s for seven seasons when she was younger, reportedly quit her job, moved north and got to work getting the bakery back up and running. Within about three weeks, she had secured a lease, assembled a team and reopened the doors on May 15.
And the connection is more than just professional. McDonald had said her parents met at the bakery, while her mom and cousins also worked there over the years, too!
The story sounds like a straight-up cottage-country fairy tale so far, but the transition was a bit more complicated.
MuskokaRegion.com reported that former owners Jana and Bryan Foster, who bought Don’s Bakery in 2010, had been negotiating with McDonald to sell her the bakery before their company went bankrupt, but that deal never went through.
After the negotiations ended, the Fosters filed for bankruptcy, while McDonald made a separate agreement with the building’s landlord to lease the bakery space. She reopened it as Don’s Bakery while the former company’s assets were still tied up in the bankruptcy process.
In an email, Jana told the publication that she felt “betrayed” after seeing the bakery reopen under the Don’s name, arguing at the time that McDonald didn’t yet have the right to use the Don’s name, recipes or equipment (McDonald later addressed the allegations in an Instagram video).
By late July, McDonald had officially purchased the bakery’s assets, putting the ownership issue behind her and allowing the nearly 80-year-old Don’s tradition to continue.
And despite the complicated road to get there, the community couldn’t be happier!
“My family has been going there for three generations! So glad to see this iconic place lives on!” one person commented on a recent Insta post. Another customer said they had visited just a few weeks earlier and bought “the best lemon meringue pie I’ve ever tasted,” while another wrote, “Can’t wait to visit again in Bala!”
Don’s Bakery is located at 3119 Muskoka Rd. 169 in Bala.
