BRADENTON BEACH, Fla. — The annual Candy Cane Show has returned to the Fudge Factory on Bradenton Beach.
Peter Vrinios is carrying on his family tradition as customers watch from inside and outside the store.
He can make about 125 candy canes in one hour.
"We are now on our 127th year making them exactly like they were made in 1898, totally handed down from my grandfather to my father and then to me," Vrinios said.
Vrinios' grandfather started Vriner’s Confectionary on Main Street in Champaign, Illinois.
"After my grandfather started it, my father ran it, then five of us ran it together, including my father," Vrinios said. "Then my father passed away and the four children ran the confectionery. In 2004, I decided to move to Florida. At the time, we had a 100-year streak of making homemade candy canes."
Vrinios moved a huge marble table from the confectionery to Florida.
"I brought the marble table with me, believe it or not, in my moving van," he said. "I didn’t really know where I was going to put it or where I was going to make candy."
Vrinios met Benjamin Kaminecki with the Fudge Factory on Bradenton Beach. The two have come together every holiday season for the past 20 years.
"We made an arrangement where he can use my marble table all year round and I would come in December and do the candy canes," Vrinios said. "We’ve been doing that here in the Sarasota and Bradenton area for the last 20 years."
The Fudge Factory recently opened after suffering damage from back-to-back hurricanes this year.
Hurricane Helene flooded the Fudge Factory in late September. The store had been closed for two months and reopened on Thanksgiving.
Kaminecki said he worked 17-hour days, seven days a week, to open in time for the candy cane-making tradition.
"Little kids come here to make candy canes and they walk out with a smile," Kaminecki said. "They come in and smell the aroma of the peppermint. It’s something if you never experienced, you must come and experience it."
The Fudge Factory is known for its homemade fudge and candy.
"Everything you see in our store is all made here in our shop," Kaminecki said. "It's all made in small quantities so we can bake homemade cookies and donuts."
Customers may catch one more Candy Cane Show for the season on Saturday, Dec. 21, at 6 p.m.
The Fudge Factory of Anna Maria Island is located at 117 Bridge Street on Bradenton Beach.
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