{"id":3156,"date":"2010-03-04T13:52:57","date_gmt":"2010-03-04T19:52:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flovalleynews.com\/?p=3156"},"modified":"2010-03-04T13:52:57","modified_gmt":"2010-03-04T19:52:57","slug":"keith-took-old-town-donuts-owner-is-chamber-business-person-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=3156","title":{"rendered":"Keith Took, Old Town Donuts&#8217; Owner Is Chamber Business Person of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-3157\" title=\"Keith Took web\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flovalleynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/Keith-Took-web-225x300.jpg?resize=225%2C300\" alt=\"Keith Took web\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Keith Took<\/strong> at his Old Town Donuts shop.<\/p>\n<p><strong>By Mark Bretz<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Keith Took, who took over his family\u2019s donut business and turned it into a Florissant institution, has been named the 2010 Businessperson of the Year by the Greater North County Chamber of Commerce.\u00a0 Took officially will be honored for his efforts at the chamber\u2019s annual awards dinner on April 9, 2010.<\/p>\n<p>Old Town Donuts was started in 1968 by Took\u2019s sister Claudia and her husband, Steve Burns, at a location in Florissant on Lindbergh Blvd.\u00a0 Three years later the couple moved their store to Berkeley before relocating to its present location on New Florissant Road in 1980.\u00a0 When his brother-in-law desired to change careers in 1996, Took bought the business.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPrior to that I worked as a sales representative for SelectDrink, a Coca-Cola distributor in North County,\u201d says Took, whose staff now includes approximately 30 employees who range in age from 15 to 92.\u00a0 \u201cSteve wanted to go into teaching and became a Ph.D. in exercise physiology.\u00a0 He decided to retire from the family business and I said, \u2018That sounds like something I\u2019d be interested in.\u2019 I took over in July 1996.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even in a recession, people still enjoy donuts, according to Took.\u00a0 \u201cBusiness has been exactly the same through the years,\u201d he says.\u00a0 \u201cWe cater to schools, churches, seniors, kids.\u00a0 The donut business hasn\u2019t changed.\u201d\u00a0 Additionally, Old Town Donuts is a frequent and generous contributor of pastries to myriad charitable organizations and events.<\/p>\n<p>Took has maintained a faithful clientele despite the arrival of big-time competitors.\u00a0 \u201cWhen Krispy Kreme came to town, everybody tried them,\u201d he says.\u00a0 \u201cBut eventually our customers all came back.\u00a0 We\u2019re kind of like a landmark.\u00a0 People come from everywhere, they come back here from St. Charles, O\u2019Fallon and all around.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Last year, in fact, KSDK, Channel 5 asked viewers the place they would most like to visit one more time if they were moving from St. Louis, and then did a feature on the top-ranked places, including Old Town Donuts.\u00a0 Additionally, says Took, \u201cWe were voted #1 donut shop in metropolitan St. Louis in 2009 by WIL-FM on the \u2018Cornbread Show.\u2019\u00a0 We went up against 12 other shops and came in first with a panel of cab drivers and police officers.\u201d\u00a0 Adds Took with a laugh, \u201cNobody knows donuts better than them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Took, 55, is a graduate of McCluer High School.\u00a0 He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Greater North County Chamber of Commerce, belongs to the Rotary Club of Florissant and is a former treasurer of the Florissant Ambassadors.<\/p>\n<p>A member of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne Parish in Florissant, he is married to attorney JoAnn Donovan, the 2008 Florissant Valley Chamber of Commerce Businessperson of the Year.\u00a0 They have four children, three sons and one daughter (two each from their first marriages), all of whom have worked at Old Town Donuts.<\/p>\n<p><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Keith Took at his Old Town Donuts shop. By Mark Bretz Keith Took, who took over his family\u2019s donut business and turned it into a Florissant institution, has been named the 2010 Businessperson of the Year by the Greater North County Chamber of Commerce.\u00a0 Took officially will be honored for his efforts at the chamber\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-florissant","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Keith Took, Old Town Donuts&#039; Owner Is Chamber Business Person of the Year - flovalleynews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=3156\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Keith Took, Old Town Donuts&#039; Owner Is Chamber Business Person of the Year - flovalleynews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Keith Took at his Old Town Donuts shop. By Mark Bretz Keith Took, who took over his family\u2019s donut business and turned it into a Florissant institution, has been named the 2010 Businessperson of the Year by the Greater North County Chamber of Commerce.\u00a0 Took officially will be honored for his efforts at the chamber\u2019s [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=3156\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"flovalleynews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-03-04T19:52:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.flovalleynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/Keith-Took-web-225x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"independentnws\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"independentnws\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/?p=3156#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/?p=3156\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"independentnws\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7bede6d4517a6be3345b47415b09cebd\"},\"headline\":\"Keith Took, Old Town Donuts&#8217; Owner Is Chamber Business Person of the Year\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-03-04T19:52:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/?p=3156\"},\"wordCount\":487,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/?p=3156#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.flovalleynews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2010\\\/03\\\/Keith-Took-web-225x300.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Florissant\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/?p=3156#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/?p=3156\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/?p=3156\",\"name\":\"Keith Took, Old Town Donuts' Owner Is Chamber Business Person of the Year - flovalleynews.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/?p=3156#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/?p=3156#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.flovalleynews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2010\\\/03\\\/Keith-Took-web-225x300.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-03-04T19:52:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7bede6d4517a6be3345b47415b09cebd\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/?p=3156#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/?p=3156\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/?p=3156#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.flovalleynews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2010\\\/03\\\/Keith-Took-web-225x300.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.flovalleynews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2010\\\/03\\\/Keith-Took-web-225x300.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/?p=3156#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Keith Took, Old Town Donuts&#8217; Owner Is Chamber Business Person of the Year\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"flovalleynews.com\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7bede6d4517a6be3345b47415b09cebd\",\"name\":\"independentnws\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f76505b4d7bc95b432faea9b79d00a6abc40ba8a96aef3a5fbd567ecb14b19a0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f76505b4d7bc95b432faea9b79d00a6abc40ba8a96aef3a5fbd567ecb14b19a0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f76505b4d7bc95b432faea9b79d00a6abc40ba8a96aef3a5fbd567ecb14b19a0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"independentnws\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/flovalleynews.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Keith Took, Old Town Donuts' Owner Is Chamber Business Person of the Year - flovalleynews.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=3156","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Keith Took, Old Town Donuts' Owner Is Chamber Business Person of the Year - flovalleynews.com","og_description":"Keith Took at his Old Town Donuts shop. By Mark Bretz Keith Took, who took over his family\u2019s donut business and turned it into a Florissant institution, has been named the 2010 Businessperson of the Year by the Greater North County Chamber of Commerce.\u00a0 Took officially will be honored for his efforts at the chamber\u2019s [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=3156","og_site_name":"flovalleynews.com","article_published_time":"2010-03-04T19:52:57+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.flovalleynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/Keith-Took-web-225x300.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"independentnws","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"independentnws","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=3156#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=3156"},"author":{"name":"independentnws","@id":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7bede6d4517a6be3345b47415b09cebd"},"headline":"Keith Took, Old Town Donuts&#8217; Owner Is Chamber Business Person of the Year","datePublished":"2010-03-04T19:52:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=3156"},"wordCount":487,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=3156#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.flovalleynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/Keith-Took-web-225x300.jpg","articleSection":["Florissant"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=3156#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=3156","url":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=3156","name":"Keith Took, Old Town Donuts' Owner Is Chamber Business Person of the Year - flovalleynews.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=3156#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=3156#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.flovalleynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/Keith-Took-web-225x300.jpg","datePublished":"2010-03-04T19:52:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7bede6d4517a6be3345b47415b09cebd"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=3156#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=3156"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=3156#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.flovalleynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/Keith-Took-web-225x300.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.flovalleynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/Keith-Took-web-225x300.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=3156#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Keith Took, Old Town Donuts&#8217; Owner Is Chamber Business Person of the Year"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/","name":"flovalleynews.com","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7bede6d4517a6be3345b47415b09cebd","name":"independentnws","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f76505b4d7bc95b432faea9b79d00a6abc40ba8a96aef3a5fbd567ecb14b19a0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f76505b4d7bc95b432faea9b79d00a6abc40ba8a96aef3a5fbd567ecb14b19a0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f76505b4d7bc95b432faea9b79d00a6abc40ba8a96aef3a5fbd567ecb14b19a0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"independentnws"},"url":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?author=1"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3156\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}