Batesville's Cherry Thing-a-Lings Return Feb. 15th through 19th

More than 19K dozen sold last year

(BATESVILLE, Ind.) -- Schmidt's Bakery is responsible for a major tourism boom in Batesville during the dead of winter every year.

People travel from across Southeast Indiana and from several states away to get their hands on the Cherry Thing-a-Lings. 

Despite bitter temperatures and sometimes even snow, fans of the cherry fritters will line the sidewalks and wait hours to enter the small bakery.

Last year, the bakery sold 19,365 dozen which means more than 232,300 individual Cherry Thing-a-Lings were purchased.

Owner Bertie Schmidt said the fritter frenzy really got a boost when the Cincinnati TV stations began covering the annual event.

"The reporters would be on live television and say 'Oh, you got to come out to Batesville for this,'" she recalled.

TV stations continue to come each year and so do people from across the Tri-State.

The bakery also ships the cherry fritters all over the nation, which is a welcome delivery for Batesville natives now living elsewhere.

The Cherry Thing-a-Lings will be available in-store beginning Thursday, February 15 through Monday, February 19 from 4 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day.