‘About the community, for the community’ Village Green Bakery keeps focus on classic quality, kindness, fun in Victoria Beach Made in Manitoba
By: Aaron Epp Posted: 6:00 AM CDT Monday, Aug. 31, 2026

VICTORIA BEACH — They’re not carved into stone tablets — they’re reminders and not commandments, after all — but behind one of the display cases at Village Green Bakery is a laminated sheet of letter-size paper with a list of statements outlining how owner Jen Leslie wants staffers to approach their work.

Fittingly, there’s a baker’s dozen of them.

One is aimed specifically at a stoic teen who’s worked at the bakery since it opened in summer 2022 — “Smile, Brody,” it says — while the other 12 are meant for all 17 employees at the seasonal business, which is open annually from May long weekend until Thanksgiving.

“Smile and enjoy the ride,” is the first reminder, followed by, “The summer is short, so make it a good one,” “always take the high road” and “you are awesome.”

“I have so much fun with this team,” Leslie says, flitting about the kitchen on a sunny Tuesday afternoon in August. “The team makes it worth it.”

She loathes the when-you-do-what-you-love-it-doesn’t-feel-like-work cliché, but still, it rings true for her efforts at the bakery.

“It doesn’t feel like work — it really doesn’t,” the 49-year-old says.

The Winnipeg resident grew up spending every summer at her parents’ cottage at Victoria Beach, located about 110 kilometres north of Manitoba’s capital on the southeastern shores of Lake Winnipeg.

A bakery has stood on the edge of the village square for around 100 years, built by the land developers who started the community. The Thom family were the first to lease the bakery.

Lillian and Gus Cox took it over in 1936. Their daughter, Jean, married Simon Einfeld and the couple became the bakers in 1951. Their son took over in 1971 and his son took over some 20 years later. Somewhere along the way, the bakery became known as Einfeld’s.

Leslie grew up going to Einfeld’s as part of her summers at Victoria Beach, but she never aspired to run the bakery — or any bakery, for that matter.

After high school, Leslie earned a commerce degree at the University of Manitoba and became a self-described “corporate junkie.” She spent 15 years in various management roles at MTS before starting Blank Slate Coaching, a business consultancy specializing in marketing, operations, leadership, team development and strategic planning.

Baking was something she did purely for fun until 2022. That March, a friend contacted her and told her the lease for the bakery in Victoria Beach was available. With Leslie’s background in business, her passion for baking and her love of the area, the friend figured she would be the perfect person to take over.

Leslie declined at first, but couldn’t get the idea out of her head. A few days later, she applied for the lease at 112 Birch Ave.

“I wanted a bakery that was about the community, for the community, engaged in the community,” she says. “And I kept thinking, ‘What if someone else does it? I’m going to be jealous.’”

Leslie got the keys at the end of April 2022. After securing contractors and community support, she began renovating the building the following month with the goal of opening on Canada Day.

Over the next month-and-a-half, Leslie and her team transformed the space, replacing beams, drywall and flooring. They painted, updated the bathroom, added a staff lounge and installed new lighting. They set up new counters and hung new signs.

The paint on the wall and epoxy coating on the floor had barely dried when Leslie and her helpers brought in the new equipment she’d purchased.

It was a community effort, Leslie says.

More than 100 people volunteered their time to help with clean-up and renovations, and community members raised $100,000 in 10 days to help her purchase equipment. When combined with the money Leslie herself invested in the venture, it meant she was able to accomplish in six weeks what she’d hoped to get done in five years.

Along the way, Leslie applied what she’d learned in the corporate world to engage community members and put them at ease about the changes happening at their beloved bakery.

“I really led with transparency, honesty, respect and communication — those four things, which I always tell people, work in (everyday) life and in business.”

Being kind was important to Leslie, too, and still is today.

Back to the list of reminders: “Kindness wins over grumpy people.”

“Take a deep breath — it is just sugar, butter and flour.

“This should be fun.”

“Drink your water!”

“A whole loaf of bread for lunch is OK — we think.”

“Competition is OK — but we don’t have to like it.”

Four years later, Village Green Bakery offers more than 70 items, including a variety of cakes, cookies, turnovers and scones, plus cinnamon buns, pizza buns and dinner rolls. Leslie finds the recipes online and tweaks them to meet the bakery’s needs.

The emphasis is on providing classic, quality fare that customers enjoy, rather than trying to create the dessert of the future.

“I am not a French pastry chef — I am just Jen from the beach,” Leslie says. “We’re a country bakery, run 80 per cent by kids under the age of 20 and me and my family. (The baking is) fun and it tastes good.”

The bakery sells 5,000 cookies a week during peak season (mid-July to early August). She harbours no illusions the bakery would do similar numbers if it was located in Winnipeg. In fact, she has no interest in running a bakery in the capital city.

At Victoria Beach, she has a captive audience, which means two things: sales are consistent and people in the community feel like it’s their bakery.

Anyone is welcome to stop by for a tour. Leslie has given dozens of them, always telling people about her staff, how much fun they have, the stories behind the equipment and furniture and how community support made Village Green Bakery what it is today.

Victoria Beach residents and visitors are referenced on the catalogue of reminders. Before ending with “you are appreciated,” the list says: “It is about our community and our happiness, too.”

“I’m having fun and I’ll keep renewing my lease as long as I’m having fun,” Leslie says. “If there was too much drama, if the community wasn’t as amazing as it is, I wouldn’t do it.”

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca