Six months ago, baker Iene Leistra (61) was diagnosed with ALS and had to close the doors of his bakery in Ezinge. To raise money for the ALS foundation, he is once again selling Christmas loaves.
Despite the drizzly weather on Tuesday afternoon, it seems as if everyone from Ezinge and the surrounding area is out and about. They all walk towards the Leistra bakery. It closed its doors last summer because baker Iene Leistra (61) suffers from ALS, a fatal muscular disease.
The store is open for one day today to raise money for the charity through the sale of cookies and Christmas breads Serious Request- action by radio station 3FM. This year the proceeds will go to the ALS Netherlands foundation.
‘Stop working and enjoy some time’
At the beginning of this year, Leistra was diagnosed with ALS. “After years of searching for what I had, it was actually a relief. But then it turned out there was no treatment. The hospital’s advice was: stop working and enjoy the time for a while,” says Leistra emotionally. “As an entrepreneur, this is not easy, you have costs and permanent staff. Ultimately, I decided together with the staff to stop on July 1.”
A loss for the village, as is evident from the reactions of many visitors. For example, a 65-year-old man, who has lived in Ezinge all his life, watches with dismay as activity disappears from his village. “The grocer opposite the bakery cannot find a successor. How long will he stay in the village? Only the supermarket, pub and hairdresser remain,” he says.
Meanwhile, the line at the bakery remains as long as ever. An hour and a half after the first customer walked in, the bread baskets are almost empty. Leistra quickly calls bakeries from Loppersum and Kollum for an extra load of Christmas breads. He doesn’t bake himself: the former preparation room today serves as a kind of café where old customers enjoy hot chocolate.
‘A ten-hour working day was short’
More than thirty years ago, Leistra first entered the preparation space. Together with his wife. “We lived in Ezinge for two years when the bakery came up for sale. My wife thought it would be fantastic to run it with just the two of us. I was working at another bakery at the time, she was a saleswoman.”
So it happened. The couple bought the store and renamed it Leistra Bakery
The baker’s job meant long days, says Leistra. “Go to bed at half past ten and then get up at two o’clock. A ten-hour workday was short.” The last few years have been difficult: Leistra’s wife died of cancer in 2017, then the corona and gas crisis made the baker’s life quite difficult. At the same time, Leistra himself was also struggling with his health.
Counter at 13,400 euros
But Leistra misses his work. “They say I should find a hobby. But it was there,” he says, pointing to the bakery.
It’s still busy. The aim of the campaign is to raise 5,000 euros. At the end of the afternoon the counter stood at 13,400 euros. The store will remain open for another two hours.
Dressage afternoon in Winschoten
The equestrian world in the Northern Netherlands is also committed to ALS collection via 3FM Serious Request. In Winschoten there is a dressage afternoon at Stal Lamoyeur, where Christa Lamoyeur and Marten Luiten provide lessons. In the evening, several riders will organize a show evening at the Equestrian Center in Exloo, with a large raffle. Willem Luiten, Marten’s father, died last year from ALS. He was a valued jury member and held numerous administrative positions in the equestrian world. The counter of the equestrian campaign now stands at almost 9,000 euros.