“I lived here [New Richland] back when my kids were little,” said Penny. “They loved visiting the bakery.”

Klecker reported to the group that so far business has been good.

“I have many regular customers,” said Klecker. “We now have our products in stores in Waterville, Janesville and Hope, as well as Wagner’s Foods here in New Richland.”

The next stop on the tour was the New Richland Care Center. NRCC Administrator Mikenzi Hebel greeted and welcomed the group as they toured a wing of the facility and gathered in a lounge. The center was forced to close in September 2010 when floodwaters inundated the area. The residents had to be evacuated, many by ambulance.

“I remember how the staff all pulled together that day,” said Hebel. “They sang songs to the residents who were waiting to be evacuated. It was something else. We were able to re-open three months later. It was tough on everyone. Many of the staff members were out of work. To help them out, we paid their health insurance for three months. The good thing was that most of the residents came back to the center.”

The center was able to receive a $20,000 grant from the SMIF through the Waseca Area Foundation. The money was used to help with flood recovery efforts.

“We assisted 86 businesses in 12 different communities who were hit by the disaster,” said Penny.

“The community support was wonderful,” said Hebel. “There were 350 volunteers who helped fill sandbags. Right now we are full with 50 residents and four to five more on the waiting list.”

The tour continued on and made several stops in the Waseca area before returning to Owatonna.