History remembered, memories made at Tusky Days
Margaret Kopp Fellers with a dough cutter, pie pan and bread tokens from the Kopp Brothers Bakery.
Margaret Kopp Fellers of Tuscarawas didn’t stop at one historic themed paddle; she purchased two paddles at this year’s Tusky Days Festival. An image of a horse-drawn delivery wagon and driver from her grandfather’s business, Kopp Bakery, was featured on the paddles auctioned to help support the annual festival.
Fellers is the granddaughter of Andreas Kopp, who came to America at the age of 14. He traveled here with an older brother, 26, from Monsheim, Germany in 1873. Kopp worked for a bakery in Cincinnati, and he met and married Anna Mary Spillman from Schlaitdorf, Germany in 1884. They came to Tuscarawas, where he opened Kopp’s Bakery.
The couple had one daughter, Anna Marie Shoemaker, and seven sons: Andrew, George, Jacob, Lewis, John, William and Frederick.
After Andreas Kopp’s death in 1917, his sons Andrew and George continued operations as the Kopp Brothers Bakery. Operations of the bakery continued until the 1950s. Several other family members worked in the bakery over the years, and Fellers’ father also was a baker.
The daughter of Frederick Kopp, the youngest of the eight children, Fellers is the last of that generation, and she was born in the family home in Tuscarawas. She did not know her grandparents, but they are buried in the St. James Lutheran Church cemetery in Tuscarawas, as are five of their children. There are still some third and fourth generations of the Kopp family in the United States and Germany, where some are in the bakery field.
Fellers was thrilled the business was remembered and offered some additional history.
On Aug. 11, 1932, a tragedy occurred at the bakery. Lyle A. “Getty” Kopp, 25, the son of Andrew, was killed at 2:30 a.m. when he was dragged headfirst into a large electrically driven dough mixing machine. He is buried at the St. James Lutheran Church cemetery in the Kopp family plot.
Fellers remembers the bakery well.
“The sales room had a hardwood floor, and they had a big bread wrapping machine. They wrapped bread out there. I can remember how noisy that thing was,” Fellers said. “They had glass counter tops and display cabinets, and they had little pies and big pies and cookies.”
The loaves of bread were large and wrapped in a waxy, purple and gray wrapper. At Christmastime they offered Springerle cookies, which were very popular.
The business even helped out the local Moravian churches for their Love Feast. They wanted a special type of cinnamon bun but didn’t have anyone to make them.
“All the Moravian churches came, and they made the buns at the bakery,” Fellers said. “They also sold some at the bakery because they were so good people just had to have them.”
At the auction the first paddle went to Brotherhood Heating and Cooling, $900; second to Steve and Michelle Carlisle, $400; third to Kinsey Excavating and Trucking, $900; fourth to Dana Moore, $500; fifth to Margaret Kopp Fellers, $200; sixth to DJ Meek, $100; seventh to Terry and Joy Westbrook, $50; 10th to Margaret Kopp Fellers, $125; 11th to DJ Meek, $100; and 12th to Mike and Jan McConnell, $100.
Some older paddles were donated back to the committee and resold. A 2017 paddle went to Dorsey Davidson for $25, 2018 to Shane Casmir for $100, 2019 to Mike and Jan McConnell for $100, and 2020 (the festival was not held) and a small 2021 paddle set went for $60 to Richelle Gibson.
For the talent show, first place went to Aria and Isla Dotts of Stonecreek, who performed “Wildflowers and Wild Horses” by Lainey Wilson. Isla played guitar, and Aria played violin. They received $100 for their performance.
Second place was awarded to Lydia Gustkey of Dover, who sang “Symphony” by Zara Larsson. Gustkey has been singing since age 4 and will perform with her church choir at Carnegie Hall in New York City in 2026. She received $75.
Third place went to Erin Davis and her daughter Norah of Tuscarawas. Erin Davis sang “Let It Go” from “Frozen” while Norah performed a choreographed ballet routine. Erin Davis has long sung in church, and Norah has studied ballet for three years. Together, they earned $50.
Other contestants included Paige Martin of Tuscarawas, who sang; a dance troupe from Legacy Dance Studio made up of Alex and Mia Brinkley, Owen and Livy Hartzler, Carter and Madi Renner, and Mario Passio; ballet dancer Ariella Passio of Wilkshire Hills; and Lyla, Peyton, Silas and Renita Ecenbarger of Dennison, who also sang.
All contestants received a door prize of their choice for participating.