My Adventures in Starting my Small Pizza Stand..how it came about

Before I go much farther in this blog, I would like to explain how I got into pizzamaking and where I have my pizza stand. 

I have gone to Root’s Market since I was a child.  The market has grown over the years and is a very large market now.  It is only opened on Tuesday’s year round.  My late husbands parents started a Caramel Corn business at this market in 1928, in addition to operating other markets, being at fairs, and also operating at the late Rocky Springs Park, in Lancaster, Pa.  When my husbands parents couldn’t operate their market stand, due to bad health, my husband took over the stand at Root’s Market, located in Manheim, Pa.  He operated the Caramel Corn Stand in addition to working for various butchers in our area.  He wanted to get away from working for butchers because he needed to work in very cold places and also wanted to be fully in business for himself.  I had a full-time job at RCA and he wanted me to help him open other market stands, at other farmers markets.  I was reluctant to leave my secure job at RCA, because I had good benefits and retirement.  This was before my husband and I got married.  I went with my husband for 5 years before we married.  After I thought it over for awhile, I decided to join my husband in his quest to be in business for ourselves.  I worked for an addition 2 years at my job at RCA, and helped him at Root’s Market and also a stand we purchased at Green Dragon Farmers Market in Ephrata, Pa.  After I finally quit my job at RCA,(RCA then had changed to GE and finally Burle Industries,  we opened another market stand in Morganstown, Pa.  We also purchase a concession trailer to be able to go to fairs and festivals.  The market stand in Morgantown, Pa. was a flop. Later on in my blog, I will post pictures of our stands at Green Dragon and Morgantown, Pa.  Life was good at this point and we were really busy and growing in our businesses.  We found out how to make clear toy candy and brittles.  We sold these items in addition to fresh lemonade, fudge and other items.  When my husband took a very bad fall at our home, he couldn’t work any longer.  He had worked full-time up until the day he fell.  He just tripped over a brick and fell into a cast iron trough, that held flowers in front of our home.  From that fall he broke his neck and had to have feeding tubes a trach, developed MRSA and had so many other problems.  My husbands favorite food was pizza.  He like it in any way.  I didn’t know how to make a decent pizza then.  I don’t know how he did it, except that he was a strong person, but he couldn’t eat or drink for 2 ½ years.  He was in and out of the hospital so many different times and also in nursing homes because his care was too great.  We would have needed to have a full-time nurse at all times if he had been at home all the time.  He was home different times, but his MRSA kept coming back and he would wind-up back in Intensive Care for a long while.  I had to make a decision to sell our market stands, because I couldn’t run this business without my husbands help.  I really hated to sell those stands, but that is the way life is.  For awhile I tried to find another job, but since I was older, it was really hard finding a decent job.  Finally about 8 months later, I found a Funnel Cake stand, with other food items at Root’s Market.  I really liked running that stand, but could only have it open from March until November.  I finally sold that stand and opened a Fresh Salsa Stand.  I will put more pictures of that stand in this blog, in addition to my Funnel Cake stand.  When I learned the manager of Root’s Market was looking for someone to have a fresh pizza stand, I thought I have done many things in the past, but sure didn’t know anything about making pizza.  That is why I started the Pizza Stand.

More to follow...

Norma