New owner's a Hank's Bakery, Banks will help maintain the Common
Published on March 8th, 2000
STONEHAM, MA - Hank's Bakery at 403 Main St. has been sold by longtime proprietors Joe and Beverly Beane of Tewksbury to Gavin and Denise Symes of Stoneham.
Denise says the answer to the most commonly asked question of "Are you going to change anything?" is "No."
The Beanes are passing all their recipes to the Symes. These recipes have delighted the people of Stoneham for generations. The Beane family has owned Hank's since 1942. Joe's father was the owner before him and an aunt worked in the bakery even before the family took over. Hank's itself has been around since 1913, according to Joe.
Now Joe is training Gavin. Gavin is the son of builder Al Symes. Al owns and is renovating the old Stoneham Theater building next to the bakery. And, according to Denise, Al owns the building occupied by the bakery in a partnership with Gavin and Denise.
The Beanes are staying on for several months to help in the transition from old to new owners. Joe is showing Gavin how to be a baker, and Denise is working up front with Beverly.
The Symes have no previous experience in the business, but they are learning from old pros and plan to retain the other bakers on the Beanes' staff.
Thus, one of the oldest businesses in town lives on.
Town Common Maintenance
Town Administrator Jeff Nutting said an agreement worked out between StonehamBank, the Stoneham Savings Bank and the town specifies that each bank will donate $5,000 a year for five years toward maintenance of the Town Common.
The Common will be a reality within a year, so bank officials are digging up the old agreement.
"Five years sounds right," said StonehamBank President Janice Houghton. She succeeded Bank President Richard Coughlin who was party to the 1996 agreement. Houghton is looking for the paperwork to confirm the details.
Savings Bank President Joseph Cioni also confirmed the intent of his bank to fund maintenance for a period of years but wanted to find the original letter to verify the details.
The written agreement is not in abundant supply, but all parties are in agreement that the banks will be footing the initial bill for Common maintenance, and no one has challenged Nutting's figures.
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