How to celebrate Cinnamon Bun Day in Scandia

Is “Cinnamon Bun Day” one of the biggest holidays of the year? Is it like Christmas, the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving rolled into one?

“It’s a pretty big deal here in Scandia,” said Patti Ray, one of the main organizers behind the city’s observance of the Oct. 4 holiday. “We take our cinnamon buns seriously.”

Volunteers Patti Ray, Lynne Moratzka, and Rebecca Skupien pose with a tray of cinnamon buns on Oct. 4, 2022, in downtown Scandia. The women helped hand out 500 buns to celebrate “Cinnamon Bun Day.” (Courtesy of Patti Ray)

Officials in Scandia, the north Washington County city founded by Swedish immigrants, will mark the special day by passing out 500 free cinnamon buns from 6 to 8 a.m. Wednesday at the intersection of Olinda Trail and Oakhill Road in downtown Scandia. “We’re on all four corners,” Ray said. “You can’t miss us.”

This is the seventh year that volunteers in Scandia have marked the occasion with a public celebration and bun giveaway. The event was the brainchild of Lynne Moratzka, director of the Gammelgården Museum; Mayor Christine Maefsky and Lynnette Welsch, a member of the Scandia-Marine Lions Club.

People traveled “from as far away as Roseville” last year to mark the occasion and get a sweet treat, Ray said. “They thought it was such a sweet idea that they drove up to Scandia that morning,” she said. “We gave them extra buns … so they could take them into work to give to their co-workers.”

Among the volunteers who helped bake cinnamon buns for “Cinnamon Bun Day” in Scandia on Oct. 4, 2022, were: from left: Dora Lofstrom, Cindy Higgins, Paul Draheim, Heather Benson and Paulette Juen. (Courtesy of Patti Ray)

Volunteers spent Tuesday making, baking, frosting and individually packaging the 500 cinnamon buns in Elim Lutheran Church’s kitchen. “We appreciate the warmer weather,” Ray said. “Hopefully, we will have a nice morning to pass them out. Sometimes it’s been really cold.”

The event is sponsored by Gammelgården Museum, the Scandia-Marine Lions Club and the city of Scandia; Ray is president of the Scandia-Marine Lions Club.

The Scandia City Council recently proclaimed Wednesday as “Cinnamon Bun Day.” According to the official proclamation, the honor is to recognize the city’s “historic and present cultural ties” to Sweden and to celebrate “Sweden’s rich tradition of buns” and “Scandia’s own love of cinnamon buns.”

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