Pepperidge Farm helps fix grist mill

NORWALK, Conn. (AP) – Pepperidge Farm Inc. is helping to repair a rare grist mill that inspired the company’s logo.

The upscale baked goods company in Norwalk is donating $15,000 to the 70-year-old Wayside Inn Grist Mill in Sudbury, Mass., to help with renovations that include installing a roof and painting the water wheel.

The mill was used to produce Pepperidge Farm’s flour from 1952 to 1967 and its image has been the company’s logo for 44 years.

The Wayside Inn Grist Mill opened in 1929, drawing attention to the inn, which dates to 1716.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s visit to the inn in 1862 is credited with inspiring the poet to write ‘Paul Revere’s Ride,’ and one-time owner Henry Ford incorporated the inn as a nonprofit entity in 1944.

The grist mill is now a museum that provides the Wayside Inn with flour for its baked goods and for sale at its gift shop. It also serves as an educational resource for school children and other visitors.

Pepperidge Farm is owned by Campbell Soup Co.

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