My Personal Connection with Helms Bakery

There are so many weird and wonderful coincidences in the world; I finally just stopped counting them.   A recent one for me is my personal connection to Helms Bakery, the soon-to-be new home for Rejuvenation in LA.   My grandpa, Edward Ulbrand, was a Helms Bakery driver back in the 1950s.  His regular customers were on a route through the streets of Artesia, California, but people could also flag him down and buy right off the truck. It was a smaller version of the bigger bakery truck, with drawers filled with different kinds of cookies, cakes, and pies.  I understand the chocolate chip cookies were quite popular.  He drove to LA/Culver City in the mornings, picked up the orders for the day, and off he went on his route.  He retired at age 50, went on to own a flower shop in Laguna Beach, and proceeded to spend his days after that at the racetrack, betting on the ponies.  He even owned a racehorse for a few years, although not the kind that won big races, which is I am guessing is why we had no inheritance from this grandpa!

My Grandpa and his Bread Truck