Quote:
Originally Posted by bassballer
Get the Gringo - you forget Gibson is Bat #^&#^&#^&#^&
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Maybe his ancestors came from here: http://bat#^&#^&#^&#^&.com/ourtown/
Our Town
Our founder
by Leland P. Wilcox, Sr., Official Historian of the Town of Bat#^&#^&#^&#^&
Omar L. Bat#^&#^&#^&#^&, undated photograph
Our beloved founder, Omar L. Bat#^&#^&#^&#^&, was born in a village in Persia, probably in 1847. There he learned the bakery trade under his father’s tuition before leaving the old country in 1866, missing the brutal murder of his entire family by just hours.
Omar worked on a ship to earn his passage to the New World. Arriving in New York with nothing but the shirt on his back and his daddy’s baklava recipe in his pocket, our hero dutifully gave his details as Omar al-Baht-Shi’it, single, age 19, occupation baker. The immigration officer, however, either out of laziness or malevolence, transcribed his name as Omar L. Bat#^&#^&#^&#^&.
Omar took all kinds of odd jobs in New York until one lucky day he met Percy M. Bonchamp, a wealthy patron of the arts. Bonchamp took Omar in until his sudden and untimely death in 1869. The following day, Omar was on a train to Chicago.
While in the Second City, Omar worked at a bakery, where he added baklava and Turkish delight to the locals’ diets. Mr. Bat#^&#^&#^&#^& left Chicago on October 8, 1871, missing by minutes the Great Fire that destroyed much of the city, killing hundreds.
Sweet success
Bat#^&#^&#^&#^& showed up in Mount Vernon, in southern Illinois, a month later with $850 in his pocket, a lot of money back then. Omar never really explained how he’d gotten his hands on $850, but he used the money to start his own bakery.
The good people of Mount Vernon loved his wares, and one day a customer said to him, “Omar, you could get rich with your baklava. You should sell it all over America.” Omar thought that was a great idea, so he went to the bank next door with a box of baklava, leaving an hour later with a loan large enough to buy some land and build a small factory – far from any town, but near the railroad.
Alas, America wasn’t ready for something called “Bat#^&#^&#^&#^& Baklava.” Omar was nearly bankrupt by the time the bank manager convinced him to change the name to Omar’s Baklava, after which things immediately started to turn around. But it was his Turkish delight, sold under the name Omar’s Delight, that took the country by storm, adding inches to the American waistline and millions to Mr. Bat#^&#^&#^&#^&’s coffers. The factory grew, more and more people relocated, and the town of Bat#^&#^&#^&#^& was born.
Omar’s luck runs out
Omar died in a bizarre accident at his bakery on July 20, 1928, though it took several days to find and recover the body from the 3,000 gallon vat of honey where he had fallen. Since he had been a confirmed bachelor all his life, he had no heirs. (Based on the number of people who claim to be descended from him, however, he must have been quite a “man about town,” as they said in those days.) Mr. Bat#^&#^&#^&#^& left everything to the town, which gratefully took his name along with millions in cash.
The bakery itself went bankrupt in 1930, the early days of the Great Depression. Omar’s story is the quintessential tale of how one lowly immigrant can come to our country and live the American Dream. July 20, the anniversary of Omar’s death, is known as Founder’s Day and kicks off a week-long festival known as “Bat#^&#^&#^&#^& Days.” Book early if you want to join in the fun!
To learn more about Omar and the history of the Town of Bat#^&#^&#^&#^&, we encourage visitors to spend time at the Bat#^&#^&#^&#^& Museum, located in the Persian-Style building that once housed Bat#^&#^&#^&#^& Baked Goods.
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