By Austin Johnson
Joyce Spalding Leverett of Spalding’s Bakery turned 90 years 
old on April 11, 2018. Joyce was born in 1928. People from all around Lexington stopped by to wish her a happy birthday and to buy some of her family’s delicious baked goods.
Spalding’s Bakery is a family-owned business that has been hand-forming doughnuts since 1929. The “original” is a glazed, yeast doughnut that melts in your mouth fresh from the glazer. Spalding’s Bakery also offers filled doughnuts, cake doughnuts, cinnamon rolls, brownies, cakes, cupcakes, and more.
In 1929, Bowman J. Spalding and his wife Zelma started selling doughnuts out of their home on Rand Avenue in 
Lexington, only one year after Joyce was born. Laughing, she told customers, “I’m older than the bakery,” as they wished her a happy 90th birthday. Five years later, the Spalding family moved a little closer to downtown, moving the bakery with them, to the corner of Sixth and Limestone where it would remain for 70 years. The new bakery opened in March 2006 in its current location.
Joyce worked for over 37 years at Bryan Station Junior High, Tates Creek High School and Home Hospital Program before retiring. Joyce still works at her family bakery on Winchester Road. She is truly a remarkable woman.
Read more about Spalding’s Bakery, Kentucky Doughnut Trail in New York Times: Burke’s and Spaldings make the list &Spalding’s Donuts on Serious Eats
Subscribe to the Ace e-dition for Lexington news, arts, culture, food, and entertainment news delivered to your inbox every Thursday morning.
