The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

'The Amazing Story About Flamingo Butter Tarts In 2 Years Production Increased From 400 To 35,000 Dozens Weeki Not very long ago, as a matter of fact less than three years ago, Ken Jackson and' his wife Marj owned and operated the Flamingo Restaurant on Queen Street in Port Perry. The place - had a wonderful reputation for its excellent cuisine, but' exceeding this was Mr. Jackson's own recipe for butter tarts known as the best, not only to 'residents in Port Perry, but to people much far- dher away. When Ken Jackson sold his Flamin- gn Restaurant in March, 1966 he did have in mind his famous butter tarts, and on a small scale did start to bake them for distribution to stores in Port ¢Perry and area. From this small beginning in 1966 . in a converted garage on his own resi- dential property, Ken Jackson with the able assistance of his wife Marj started out on their production of 'butter tarts. Shortly after, the first employee, Mrs. Ruth Gibson, was hired. - At the start production of butter tarts was 400 dozens per week, but increased to 3,000 in a short time. time. a ans The garage measured 11' x 20', and "by January, 1967, the working area was inadequate, due to an increase in orders coming in. An addition was built to the garage, and when it was completed the size of the plant had been enlarged to 31' x 50'. With the added working space, and a staff of 10 employees, the bakery was able to meet demand for butter tarts, and from the small start of 400 dozens per week, the production at this point kept on climbing. Mr. Jackson at this stage thought they had reached a point where every- thing would come into balance. This was nét so. In February orders from fudditional stores and restaurants be- gan to pile up, but with the hiring of extra "employees, and working two shifts the immediate demand was met Not too many weeks after- changing -- oto two shifts, and a total staff of 40, broughfi up to an all time high of 16,000 dozens per week. Mrs. Joy Thompson, general man- » ager, and a highly valued employee has Christmas always tax industries and any type of business to the limit. And the same happened to Flamingo Pastries Limited. When extra orders started to come in, production was brought up to an all time high 20,000 - dozens per week. It now became quite clear that with a mushrooming progress from 400 dozen tarts in June 1966 to a pro- duction of 20,000 dozens 18 months later, the demands could only increase. At this point, there was no room for expansion on the present pro- perty, and plans were made to acquire a location within Port Perry suffici- ently large to build a new plant to adequately look after future demands. A property was purchased on Sim- coe Street close to the originial loca- tion, and in October, 1967 construc- tion was started on a plant 125' x 60". Mr. Jackson, a firm believer in em- ploying local manpower to the great- est extent possible, awarded the con- tract to a Port Perry construction firm, Lake Scugog Lumber Co. Limit- ed. And a fine structure it is, one that Mr. Jackson, as well as the con- tractor can be proud. of. On May 18, new bakery equipment was installed and production in the new plant gradually began, 3 The building is modern, and has all the latest features imaginable. The ground floor is occupied by a reception area with a bright and well lighted office for the clerical staff. "Adjoining this office are Mr. Jack- son's private office and the office of his capable assistant, Mrs. Joy Thomp- son. The main part of the bottom floor is naturally occupied by the bakery itself. Above the offices is a comfortable Lunch Room where employees if they 80 desire can purchase light lunches, sandwiches, soups, beverages, etc. at a nominal cost. In charge oi this de- partment is Mrs. J. Ballingal. The -total space area on the floors is 7,500 -- sq. ft.« ' Wiring of the plant was also done - by a local contractor, Ken P. Murray, ception. been with the company since its in- Mr. and Mrs. Ken Jackson following the sale of their Flamingo Restaurant in March 1966, started the baking of The equipment in the bakery is the 'most modern and efficient. available. The oven is 82' x 10' and the pastry shells enter the oven at one end in a continuous flow, are baked when they come out the other end, and continue on a 585 ft. conveyer system running from the oven all around insidé the building, to properly cool the tarts before they arrive at the packaging station. The dough mixer holds enough pastry to make 500 dozen tarts .. and the filling mixer enough filling to make 300 dozen. The public will be able to see all this when Mr. Jack- son opens the plant for anyone inter- ested on Sunday, Nov. 8rd from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. and from 1 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday, November 4 and b. With the production starting in the new plant, the staff was increased to 60. However, since that time and up to the time of the official opening on Thursday, October 81, the staff has increased to 80, making Flamingo Pastries Limited the largest employer in Port Perry, At present,, the company has five trucks and three cars in operation. Deliveries from the plant are made 'as far as Prescott to the east, Oshawa to the south, Kitchener to the west and North Bay to the north. Mr. Jack- son originally started out with one station wagon. Request for Flamingo butter tarts from areas not previously being able to buy them are coming in all the time. A representative has been chosen, anda dealership for Northern Ontario will be inaugurated begin- ning in November. Tarts will be shipped to North Bay from the plant & > tarts in a converted garage. Today, the company employs 80 persons, and _the payroll is $6,000 every week. here; where the dealer takes over and will distribute to points such as Sud- bury, Kirkland Lake, Timmins and other northern places. At the time of the official opening of the new plant, Flamingo Pastries Limited is baking 85,000 dozen tarts every week. To the layman, it is next to impossible to comprehend the amount of ingrediences going into the production of all these tarts. Every week 70,000 eggs are used, 7% tons of flour, 10 tons of sugar, 1% tons of margarine, 5 tons of lard, 1% tons of raisins and 20 gallons of vanilla. . For the Christmas season last year, Flamingo also baked thousands of mince meat tarts, and used 16 tons of mince meat. This was 80 success- ful last year, that an increased pro- duction will take place this year, and an expected 50 tons of mince meat will fill the tarts. Flamingo Pastries Limited today is an important: factor in this com- munity. The total payroll per week is an impressive $6,000. Quite a few families and single persons derive their income from Flamingo, and the Village of Port Perry benefit con. siderably in taxes from the company and employees alike. After only two years in operation, and the very fact that the product has not diminished in quality due to mass production, guarantees con- tinued success for Mr. Jackson and his employees in the future. This is rightly deserved and the Port Perry Star wish to join all others in extend- ing good wishes for a progressive and profitable future, for the com- pany as well as the emnlovees.