Those uncomfortable conversations are long gone now because Vera is as well known in Middletown as the pastries and cakes she sells.
When customers step into Central Pastry, they’re overcome with the sweet smell of sugar and the contagious smile of the owner. At Central Pastry, you order a pastry with a hole in it and you leave with a heart full of happiness.
One of Vera’s three daughters, Elizabeth Slamka, who works at Central Pastry, called her mother the “hardest working human” she has met.
“People are touched by her and that’s something I aspire to,” she said. “She has the energy of a room full of 5-year-olds. She’s amazing and she gives it all to God.”
She also has a unique way of calculating her birthday. She is 79, but says she’s 80 because she spent nine months in her mother’s womb. So when she turns 80 in February, she will tell everyone she’s 81.
Despite her age — either 79 or 80 — Slamka shows no signs of slowing down. She works a split shift that consists of a least 10 hours a day. She works in the morning, goes home, returns, prepares for the next day’s orders and closes the bakery.
When she’s not at Central Pastry, she’s at home caring for John, her husband of 51 years. He suffered a heart attack on the night Elizabeth was sworn in as Middletown’s mayor.
“It’s a challenge,” Vera said while sitting in the back room of the bakery. “But I have accepted it because God doesn’t give you anything you can’t handle.”
Elizabeth says the lessons she has learned from her mother are countless.
“How to love, how to give, how to be selfless,” Elizabeth said.
As she spoke, tears welled in her eyes.
“She is my role model,” Elizabeth said. “She’s my inspiration.”
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Like other downtown Middletown businesses, Central Pastry has faced many challenges the last 20 years, from the year-long lockout at AK Steel (now Cleveland-Cliffs), the 2008 recession, COVID-19 and the road improvements that closed parts of Central Avenue for extended periods of time.
When sales slowed, Vera and John just worked more hours. Closing never was an option, she said.
“We are survivors,” she said. “I have seen the changes, but as an owner, you have to maintain. You have to make it happen.”
It’s been happening for the Slamkas since they purchased Central Pastry. She and her husband, a former Armco International employee, bought the business in the heart of downtown on Aug. 15, 1984.
The business has been located on Central Avenue for 76 years, and the Slamkas celebrated their 40th year in business last year. The bakery was on the 1400 block of Central Avenue in 1949 before it moved to its location at 1518 Central Ave., according to Slamka.
Vera is proud that Central Pastry has survived, especially with the larger retail stores offering bakery goods. Their prices may be lower, but their quality can’t compete with Central Pastry, she said.
Central Pastry also offers better customer service, she said. When customers call, a person, not a recording, answers the phone.
“We have stability and respect from our customers,” she said. “The love that I have for this town keeps me locked in.”
She hasn’t raised prices in several years, she said.
“I’m not here to be a millionaire,” she said.
She gives much credit to her loyal and talented staff. For the past 12 years, her son-in-law, Devoll, has been by her side as a chief baker.
“Without them I would not have been able to do any of this,” she said of the six full- and six part-time employees.
LEADING LADIES OF BUTLER COUNTY
This is part of a series of stories featuring women in Butler County who shape their communities. These stories will feature women who are leading small and large businesses, institutions, and organizations.
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