Deerfields Bakery Receives Golden Bison Award

was honored Monday as a recipient of the village’s Golden Bison award. The award is presented to businesses that go above and beyond their daily operations.

Deerfields, which opened in Buffalo Grove 18 years ago, was recognized for its generosity and civic involvement. The bakery has donated goods for events at schools, the and the , has supported relief efforts following natural disasters and served the hungry through a recent partnership with Share Our Strength by donating a portion of “lemonaid” product sales to the No Kid Hungry program.

Locally, the bakery donates unsold goods to food pantries and institutions such as rehabilitation centers.

Owner Tim Schmitt, who is the fifth generation of his family to run the bakery, accepted the award.

“It’s truly an honor to be a business in this great village,” he told village officials. “As a small family owned and managed business, our relationship with the local community is so very important.”

“We’re really looking for ways we can give back to the community,” he said later.

Schmitt also found a way to give back to village officials, to whom he provided boxes of butter cookies from the bakery as token of his appreciation.

“There's no sweeter business more deserving of the village's Golden Bison award than Deerfields Bakery," Trustee Les Ottenheimer said in press release issued by the village Monday night.

The community is invited to experience Deerfields’ sweetness Oct. 15, when the bakery will celebrate its 125th anniversary from 4-8 p.m. at the Buffalo Grove store. The event will include music and desserts.