A year and a half ago, Pamela Parker, now known as the “Bagel Lady,” taught herself how to make an authentic New York-style bagel that was soft and fresh on the inside and chewy on the outside. She was so successful at it that she started to share them with friends and they became so popular she started selling and delivering her bagels from her kitchen at home.

The demand grew and in a few months she and her husband Matt partnered up with Brooke and John Campbell and opened Everything Bagels in Soldotna at the Blazy Mall. The success was so dramatic six months later they opened their second location in Kenai.

Today Everything Bagels has a new location in Soldotna next door to The Fitness Place.

“A lot has happened over the last year and a half since we started making bagels as a business. We were so excited that we may have put the cart before the horse as some people say, so we decided to consolidate back to one location and reduce stress a bit of having two locations. So we have a brand newly remodeled spot now right next to The Fitness Place on the Spur Highway in Soldotna,” said the Bagel Lady in an interview with the Dispatch.

“We’re really happy to be in this new spot, we feel it’s fantastic for the community and accessible to the heart of the business community, close to Beemun’s, the schools and the hospital. We’ve only been here a couple of weeks but feel we can knock it out of the park from this new location,” said Parker.

“We continue to produce and serve fresh baked bagels, homemade spreads, breakfast and lunch sandwiches, and espresso drinks. We have proven that there are no shortcuts to creating a fantastic product, we never deviate from our artisan recipe for making bagels, and only use the freshest, highest quality ingredients. This commitment to delicious products is reflected throughout our entire bagel making process, as each bagel is hand rolled, boiled, and baked fresh daily. We actually have an elementary school class coming in on a field trip because they are learning about baking in their class and will see how the whole process of hand rolling a bagel is done. We may even let them create some of their own schmears for their bagels,” she said.

The Bagel Lady has also become known for her bagel jokes and concluded her interview with her latest.

“Why did the candidate lose the election?” Give up already? “Because they ran a schmear campaign!”

For those who don’t get it, according to Wikipedia, “the use and spelling schmear or shmear in American English is a direct loanword from Yiddish, where its original usage referred to cheese. In modern usage it has extended to anything that can be spread, such as cream cheese spread upon a bagel.”

Anyone wanting entertainment with their coffee and bagel will love visiting the new Everything Bagels in Soldotna, just ring the bell for your favorite bagel or a joke from the Bagel Lady.