Bakkerij Krijnen

12/22/2023

By now you may have heard that the former home of Bakkerij Krijnen is now the future home of Island Flavor. Hans would have been proud to hand the business baton to another hardworking immigrant family. Please show the Gilpin Family your support by liking their page, but please also let them know you'll be there to support their business in person after they get all of their proverbial permit ducks in a row!

Wishing the Gilpins success, blessings and the unfailing community support Bennington showered on our little family bakery. ✌🏼💜🙏🏼

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=860617499404189&id=100063678394245&mibextid=Nif5oz

The owners of the Jamaican restaurant Island Flavor and Nix Nax Variety have purchased the former Krijnen Bakery building at 1001 Main St. and are in the process of moving to the new site.

03/20/2022

Sending BIG LOVE to all who came to Bakkerij Krijnen today, in person or in spirit, to pack boxes for this week's move to the Bennington Community Market. The majority of small wares and paper goods were boxed up within an hour. MANY HANDS really DO make light work! Thank you ALL so much. I'm feeling the LOVE! xoxox ~Jen

03/18/2022

Dear Bennington and Beyond,

So many of you amazing souls have reached out to me before and since Hans' transition to ask what you could do to *help* and I really didn't know how y'all could help me *get through this*.

One of Hans' frequently quoted proverbs was, "Many hands make light work."

This Sunday from 9am until finished, I will be packing boxes at Bakkerij Krijnen with members of the Bennington Community Market who purchased Hans' cooking and baking implements.

If you are able, I am asking for your help on this one day, the Spring Equinox...almost exactly three months since Hans "left the building" on the Winter Solstice, to bring one empty box and pack it for the move to it's new home at the former LaFlamme's Furniture/Hogan Chevrolet on the opposite end of downtown Main Street.

I will also need hugs. Lots and lots of hugs.
Please & thank YOU very much!

Much love and many blessings!

Jen

07/01/2021

thoughts on life or death, to live or die...

the longer we live, the greater our chances of dying ☠️

no one gets out alive 😁

someone has to be the 2% who lives longer than 5 yrs with GBM, why not Hans?! 🤔

Hans has cancer, cancer doesn't have him!

things can always be worse and we're thankful they aren't!

he's not dead yet! so stop writing his obit already!(y'all know who you are...lol, then again, maybe not.) 🤪

we are better prepared than most:
we have GOOD health & life insurance
our mortgage is paid off (courtesy of hard work, determination and, in part, ALL of YOU 😁...NOT Uncle Bruce, thank-you-very-much!)
our kids are grown and are adulting on their own 💜💜
we've enjoyed an exceptionally blessed life, especially the years of EXCELLENT food and hospitality we've shared and the many dear friends we've made...we've wanted for nothing and have been relatively healthy throughout...more fortunate than many in so many ways...and so very grateful...for all.of.it.including this *cancer* experience.

don't be sad, we're not 🙂

life is a continuous chain of events, both positive and negative and if we're just lucky enough, more the former than the latter.

we so appreciate all of the expressions of care and love we've received and understand the desire to help in some way(it's what makes you all so very dear to us). we want you all to trust that we will let you know if there's anything at all either of us needs to get through this, but for now, we got this!

MUCH love and MANY blessings to each and every one of YOU! 💜

xoxox, Jen & Hans

06/29/2021

Dear Bennington & Beyond,

It is with heavy hearts that we announce our intent to shutter Bakkerij Krijnen permanently. Hans contracted the COVID-19 virus last summer and while he mostly recovered from it, he still struggles with ongoing fatigue as a result. As with too many of our peers and customers, cancer has reared its ugly head and turned our world upside-down and inside-out. A month ago, Hans was diagnosed with a very aggressive, terminal brain cancer, glioblastoma multiforme. It has been an overwhelming experience thus far, but we are making peace with it. We have named it "The Hangover" because Hans' first symptoms were a headache that felt like a hangover and a clumsiness as comes with drunkenness. We ask that you allow us the time and space to process all that has transpired and all that is yet to come. You are welcome to ask questions here on this post and we will respond as we are able and hopefully in so doing, will eliminate repetition and time constraints of answering multiple privately messaged questions.

We well know the depth and breadth of your caring for us and consider you all part of our bakery family. We are honored and humbled by all who have shared a little piece of us at your tables with family, friends, neighbors and colleagues. We want to thank you all for permitting us to successfully live one of our dreams for !!! TEN !!! years, in this tiny little village, in beautiful southwestern Vermont. We also rest easy knowing Hans will receive the very best of care from the AMAZING health care professionals we are blessed to have among us in our Bennington & Beyond community ('cuz a LOT of them were our customers - y'all know who you are!😎).

Our hope in making this very *public* announcement is multipurpose. We endeavor to eliminate the inevitable rumors and gossip (yeah - y'all know who you are, too! 😎) that rise and bulk like sourdough on a summer day. We also want to plant a seed that may not take root right away, but maybe in the not-too-distant-future will sprout and start reaching for the sun, and that is the eventual lease or sale or re-purposing of 1001 Main Street with or without the equipment of Bakkerij Krijnen. Maybe you have an unfulfilled dream or know someone who would be the perfect follow-up act? Serious inquiries only, these ones privately via DM, please & thank you!

REMEMBER -
DON'T wait for *someday*!
Eat naughty things.
Do naughty things (as long as they're legal). 😎
Live life to the fullest - WE ARE!
It rymes: "The sun is always shinin' at Bakkerij Krijnen!"