April 15
1955: McDonald’s first franchised restaurant was opened by Ray Kroc in Des Plaines, Ill.
1965: The first Ford Mustang rolled off the showroom floor, two days before it was set to go on sale nationwide.
April 16
1941: Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians threw the only opening day no-hitter in Major League Baseball history, beating the Chicago White Sox 1-0.
2009: The Commission of Fine Arts met and recommended a new U.S. penny design on the back that showed 13 wheat sheaves bound together with a ring symbolizing American unity as one nation. (The design was later withdrawn because it was similar to coins issued in Germany in the 1920s.)
April 17
1964: The Ford Mustang was introduced to the North American market, dealing a mortal blow to the Ford Falcon line, which was finally discontinued in 1970.
1969: Sirhan Bishara Sirhan (born 1994) was convicted of assassinating Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968).
1973: George Lucas (born 1944) began writing The Star Wars.
2014: NASA’s Kepler space observatory confirms the discovery of the first Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of another star.
April 18
1923: Yankee Stadium, “The House that Ruth Built,” opened.
1988: The United States launched Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval forces in the largest naval battle since World War II.
April 19
1971: Charles Milles Manson (born 1934) was sentenced to death for conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders.
2005: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church following the death of Pope John Paul II. The new Pope took the regnal name Benedict XVI.
April 20
1657: Freedom of religion was granted to the Jews of New Amsterdam (later New York City).
1836: Congress passed a law creating the Wisconsin territory.
1972: Apollo 16, commanded by John Young, landed on the moon.
April 21
1910: American author Samuel “Mark Twain” Clemens died in Redding, Conn., at age 74.
1926: Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II was born in London.
1934: The “Surgeon’s Photograph,” the most famous photo allegedly showing the Loch Ness Monster, was published in the Daily Mail. (It is revealed to be a hoax in 1999.)
1952: Secretary’s Day (now called Administrative Professionals’ Day) was first celebrated.
1962: The Seattle World’s Fair (Century 21 Exposition) opened. It was the first World’s Fair in the United States since World War II.
Mustang Bakery serves up homemade goods
By Mati Bishop
The first thing that hits you when you visit Mustang Bakery is the smell of fresh baked goods, followed quickly by the visual appeal of a wide selection of traditional and not so traditional bakery offerings.
“People are really surprised by the variety,” said Mustang Bakery co-owner Megan Bortz. “They are really pleased to see an old fashion and full-service bakery here in Libby.”
The offering available is slightly different day to day, but at any given time you can find loaves of bread, muffins, a wide variety of French style pastries and even pizza for lunch. Currently they are limited to service through their drive-up window at the corner of Hwy. 2 and Main, but they are still offering a full array of fresh baked goods.
“Our best seller is the caramel roll, we can’t make enough of them,” said Bortz. “It’s the nostalgia I think. Everyone has a grandma or someone who used to make caramel rolls for them.”
Bortz is usually filling orders on Wednesday through Saturday when the bakery is open. Her husband, Ben Kaufman, works more behind the scenes. He is a fourth-generation baker who got his start at the tender age of 12 baking at his grandfather’s bakery in Pinehurst, Idaho.
Kaufman moved to Seattle and worked at the famed Alki Bakery early in his career. In the 1990s, he returned to Montana to open the bakery at the Polebridge Mercantile with his father. They ran the bakery there until 2009.
After leaving Polebridge, Kaufman and Bortz wandered a bit. They opened a bakery in Orcas Island, Wash. They found themselves missing Montana, so they moved to Red Lodge and started the first Mustang Bakery. They had a good run there, but needed something different.
“We missed Northwest Montana, and Libby has five-star recreation all around it that we want to experience, so we moved here,” explained Bortz.
“I’m the new person here,” she said. “But I’m starting to get a feel for the place as I listen to people tell their stories. That is how you really learn about a place and build a connection to it.”
If the growing collection of rave reviews on their Facebook page is any indication, the people of Libby are falling in love with the Mustang Bakery too. They have worked hard to adjust their pricing and menu to fit the Libby market and added goodies like daily pizza specials to their menu to grow a lunch crowd.
“We offer two pizza choices daily. One features meat the other only veggies,” said Bortz.
Cookies, brownies and other sweet offerings combine with espresso and coffee to create anytime treats that people can pick up on their way through town.
The drive-up window is open Wednesday through Saturday from 8 a.m. until they sell out.
Bortz is all smiles when she describes their experience in Libby so far. So are the customers coming through their shop and their drive through window and discovering the treats that they have available each day. For all practical purposes, business at the Mustang Bakery looks like a win-win for the bakery and the community.
“We’re really happy to be here and we’re looking forward to getting to know the community and the area better,” Bortz concluded.
Megan Bortz co-owner of the Mustang Bakery in Libby, Mont. Photo by Mati Bishop, The Montanian.