News
St. Patrick's Day
I want to tell you about a most amazing partnership I have with Mary Pat Sullivan Pace. She has been my business partner for 43 years this April. It all began with a single common thread we were both hanging on to. And the thread hasn’t broken yet. In 1983 my older brother Chuck introduced me to his office mate at the welfare department, a woman who was thinking about leaving her job and in passing he said,” She had an enthusiastic passion for food” like I did and wondered if I’d like to meet her. It ended up that our threads were many. We both wanted to make a change from our present jobs, we both loved making and eating interesting food, we both wanted to have more control over our lives as we were hopefully starting families and we both wanted to use our creative souls. We clicked and the fates have kept us “married “ to each longer than we were married to our husbands. Sometimes I would refer to her as my other husband as our money, our families and our futures were tied together as tight as a spouse’s.
I am not good at remembering dates, except of course if I am delivering a wedding cake, haha, otherwise the days, months and years pass by me as if I am floating on a raft in a river. One reason I know we have been in business together for 43 years is that is how old Mary Pat's oldest son is and every April, as his birthday arrives, I ask her how old Brad is and she reminds me. My brother Peter is a math guy. When I told him this would be our 43rd year in business, he quickly let me know that 43 is a prime number, unique in that it can only be divided by one and itself. For some reason that struck a chord in me. My relationship to Mary Pat is certainly unique, we only have a single store, Bonbonerie is still in business after 43 years is unusual and amazing, and that Mary Pat will be turning 75 years on this Saint Patricks Day feels like the luck of the Irish has fallen down upon us.
There are hundreds of stories to tell about our partnership. I admit that sometimes the very thing I would become exasperated with Mary Pat about while traversing our conjoined business path ended up being the very thing that saved us. I am certain that her sense of humor and optimism in the throes of disaster pulled me through many dark days. I didn’t realize that her love of basketball was a reflection of her fierce competitive spirit that manifested itself in her determination that we would be the number one bakery in the city. Pride in purpose and execution. Even though we both began decorating and baking side by side, we eventually divided up duties where she handled more of the business side while I waded through menu and marketing aspects. But there was never a doubt that her palate was developed and her sense of design exquisite when I needed a trusted point of view.
Our motto has always been Live and Learn and to this day we still say that to each other through the multiple challenges that sometimes follow us like lost dogs around the bakery. There is so much more to say about Mary Pat, but in the end the thing about her that I so appreciate is that deep down in her Irish heart she is as generous as the the day is long and truly cares about the people in her life. I thank her for her friendship, her ornery spirit and I am pretty sure I would not have made it to our PRIME without her by my side. Happy Birthday Mary Patricia Sullivan Pace and many many more.
If you happen to have a story to share about Mary Pat please do. For 43 years she has reminded all of us that it wasn’t just her birthday to be celebrated on March 17th but claimed the entire month to celebrate her birth. So, you too have the entire month of March to share your good wishes. Thanks for sharing.
Sharon Butler
Co-Founder with Mary Pat of BonBonerie