R.I.P. St. Louis Hostess Plant; Most Delicious Field Trip EVER!

Interesting blog post on closing of St. Louis Hostess Plant

It was with a heavy heart (and a sweet tooth of nostalgia) that I read news yesterday of Hostess Brands closing its St. Louis bakery. Apparently the maker of Wonder bread and Twinkies is in bankruptcy (How is that possible? Are we not still a nation of fat asses?!) and has promised to close any bakery where workers honor a labor strike.

That threat proved real on Monday after St. Louis employees refused to cross the picket line. Some 365 local employees of the factory will lose their jobs. And while that is extremely unfortunate for the workers and their families, the fourth-grader in me cannot help but think of the thousands of St. Louis kids with no connection to the bakery other than this: For generations the Hostess plant was the most kick-ass school field trip ever.

I still vividly recall my trip to the plant on North Broadway. I'd spent my entire elementary school career waiting for that moment. Older kids at the bus stop had gloated about it since I was in kindergarten. And now I had arrived. My classmates and I were finally old enough to -- as a friend put it at the time -- "go to the place where Ding Dongs are made."

more at link.

http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/gutcheck/2012/11/st_louis_hostess_plant_closes.php