The family owned bakery is run by third-generation family man Michael Neldam, who is supported his son Sean Neldam, a fourth-generation family member.

"We are thanking the community, not the Neldam family," explained Michael.

A community member being honored by the Neldams is area beat police officer George Bonilla. A donation will be made in his name to the Oakland Police Emergency Net fund at noon. Parents can have a record of their children's fingerprints made from 12-4 p.m.

Mayor Jerry Brown and maybe even Gov. Arnold Swartzenegger are expected to get in on the fun, says Michael -- who's family is firmly rooted in Denmark (not Austria).

Sandra Griffith Roberts has been coming to Neldam's Bakery since she was 2. "It's a landmark," she said. "If you got a cake from Neldam's, you knew you were having a treat."

This is only Cathy Neelan's second visit to the bakery. "Seventy-five years of service has an impact. The people are friendly and the place is neat. It says a lot."

Axel George Neldam -- Michael's grandfather -- wasn't the only one in his family who wanted to be a baker. But, sadly, there was a tradition in Denmark at that time that no two siblings could have the same profession. Since Axel's older brother was a baker, he could not become one, too.

But the Neldam story really starts in 1922 -- in Rokskilde, Denmark. Laden with expensive camera equipment he planned to sell in the new world, Axel boarded a ship to America to seek his fortune.

The ship sank. Axel, luckily, not to be among the 100 passengers who drowned. Still, he arrived in New York penniless -- and not speaking a word of English.

The industrious young man baked his way across the United States on a journey to Utah, where there was a large Danish community. Looking for love -- as well as fortune -- someone suggested that he come to Oakland, where Axel soon met his bride, Rosalia Marie.

Neldam and his new wife opened the doors of their bakery in 1929 on the 3400 block of Telegraph Avenue, in the heart of the Danish community. And the business has generally done well ever since.

After Axel, the bakery passed into the hands of the his four children. Son Jack (Michael's father) bought out the other Neldam's interests in 1989. Today, at age 71, Jack has retired to Palm Springs.

What inspired Michael to take over the shop? When he returned to Oakland from Lake Tahoe, where he'd had a career as a ski instructor, "I missed the smell of the ovens that I grew up with," he said.

Today, Neldam's is a 24-hour-a-day operation. Michael arrives no later than 4 a.m. every morning to ensure that the day's production is up to Neldam standards.

"If I don't put out as good stuff as my grandfather, they will let me know," Michael said, pointing to his customers on the other side of the counter.

Neldam's makes all its baked goods from scratch. The secret to the family's success, says Michael, is to stick to basic Danish tradition of using only real butter and cream.

The bakery consumes 550 pounds of butter a week, 400 pounds of cream and 80 crates of strawberries for the shop's famous strawberry shortcake. Also, seven types of chocolate, eight types of flour and nine kinds of flour are used regularly.

Neldam's makes some 700 wedding cakes a year -- in addition to the 500 different types of baked goods produced at the store.

In the '60s, Michael added Southern-inspired goodies, like sweet potato pie and maple syrup pie to the bakery's repertoire. And in the '80s, Latin American delicacies -- such as hot lips, jalapeno infused chocolate on shortbread -- was introduced.

But to celebrate the family's Danish heritage, the family has at least one 100 percent Danish dinner each year.