CUMBERLAND — For the past couple of months, something sweet has been missing on Baltimore Street.
Even with rain in the forecast, the community came out in droves Saturday to celebrate the memories of the beloved M&M Bake Shop, which closed in March.
Roger Lantz, a longtime member of the Cumberland community and owner of the shop, closed it to focus on his health and retirement.
Now known as M&M Bake Shop Roger Lantz Day, a celebration was held right outside the store Saturday afternoon, with hundreds of residents stopping by to pay tribute to Lantz and the baked delicacies that they enjoyed for decades.
The public was invited to sign an oversized thank-you card and share a slice of cake with Lantz.
Almost 400 residents came to see Lantz and wish him well.
“Everything went so well,” Lantz said at the celebration Saturday.
Just after Lantz announced the shop’s closure, thousands of dollars were donated to a retirement fund set up by the public to allow him to turn to the next chapter of his life.
“If you grew up and moved away, one of the first places you would come back to is M&M,” said Becky McClarran, who has lived in Cumberland for more than 40 years.
McClarran, owner at McClarran and Williams Inc., is the marketing chair of the Downtown Cumberland Business Association, and sits on various boards of other community organizations such as the Allegany County Animal Shelter.
“Whenever I would need something, I would go to Roger and he was the first person to say ‘absolutely,’” McClarran said.
To McClarran, Lantz was someone who was “low key” about helping everyone in the community, and not just with his delicious baked goods, either.
“Having a bakery like that, it’s really special for a small town,” she said.
Ed Mullaney, who grew up in Cumberland and has seen the area change for decades, has always known Lantz and the bake shop as the place to go.
“He impacted me because I thought that he had the best cream fills in the state of Maryland,” Mullaney said. “He just personalized everything.”
Mullaney said that he would decorate cookies elaborately, something that remained unchanged and distinct for decades.
“He just does things and you don’t even realize, you know,” Mullaney said.
“We just wanted to honor (Lantz) a little bit and let him know how beloved he really is,” McClarran concluded.