TOM Laing has been in the baking game for more than half a century across the Border, starting out in his home town of Albury.
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This year marks his 56th as a baker, and 34 years in his family run bakery in Yackandandah.
“I left school in 1959 and I wanted an apprenticeship,” he said.
“I went to Winns bakery in Albury and they gave me a job and I stuck with him until he sold to Sunny Crust.”
Mr Laing said some of his fondest memories during his career had been some of the late night and early morning visitors looking for a pie.
“The best part was watching the young people growing up. They would always come in and catch up,” he said.
“Some of the young ones used to come in and stir me up a bit in the early hours of the morning looking for something to eat.”
The Yackandandah Bakery is well known for its pies and pastries, an element of baking Mr Laing is particularly proud of.
“I specialised in pies and pastries during my apprenticeship. They are probably my favorite to make,” he said.
Mr Laing and his wife Ann purchased the Yackandandah Bakery which included a traditional wood fire scotch oven in 1981.
“A lot has changed over the years,” Mr Laing said.
"The old scotch oven collapsed a while back and we replaced it with electricity which is much safer.”
Mr Lang said the way bread was made in the morning had changed as well.
“When I started there were four-hour days,” he said.
“We’d mix the dough and wait and now we do it all within an hour-and-a-half with stuff called time dough.”
A typical work day for Mr Laing starts at 2am and finishes around 9am.
He said one of his least favorite parts of the job had been the hours.
“Getting up so early and never having a night life has to be a down side of it,” he said.
“I can’t really do anything after 6pm.
“I usually take a bit of time to wind down before I head to bed at 7.30pm.”
Mr Laing shares the baking duties with his son Bradley who completed his apprenticeship with him in the Yackandandah store.
His wife Ann looks after the paperwork side of the business with book keeping and general management.
“I really enjoy every part of what I do,” he said.
“They say if you love what you do it’s not a job. I look back and think about what a great time I’ve had. It’s wonderful to have people appreciate what you do.”
With the recent retirement of Yackandandah butcher John Dale, Mr Laing is now one of the oldest shop owners on High Street.
