The family that owns and operates two Fancy Bagels locations in Connecticut is a divided one.
At the franchise’s Southington location, illustrations adorn the walls depicting anthropomorphized versions of what their bagels might look like in real life. Despite the fact that one of the store’s owners, Dominick Gualtieri, is a die-hard Yankees fan, the only sports figure on the wall is David Ortiz — if he were a poppy seed bagel, of course.
The rest of the family, including his mother, Jackie, who works at the store, are a part of Red Sox Nation, and admit that, being in Connecticut, a good-natured rivalry within the family and among customers is part of their business.
“I’ve always been a Red Sox fan,” says Jackie, who admits her father was born in New York. “We have a sign that says ‘Yankees fans in the back.'”
To create the people-bagels, including Big Poppy, Fancy Bagels turned to Tom Horanzy, a longtime customer and local art teacher at Southington High School. He, too, is a big Sox fan.
“I’ve been a Red Sox fan since I was six years old,” says Horanzy. “Big fan of Trot Nixon when he was there. The first game I ever went to, [Carl Yastrzemski] parked one out.”
Fancy Bagels has Connecticut locations in Southington and Farmington, and their website can be found here. Check out a picture of David “Big Poppy” Ortiz below.
Photo via Twitter/@LiveLaughLeigh
