By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
There are no dues, no application form and no membership roster for this club just a desire to shoot the breeze.
And that’s what makes the Breakfast Club which meets most mornings at the Maidenhead Bagel Co. such a special club, its members agree.
”Our philosophy is, ‘This ain’t high school.’ We love variety. Everyone is welcome at the table,” said Susan Boughn, who initiated the informal gathering some members call it a salon nearly 30 years ago with her husband, Steve Boughn.
The Breakfast Club is in sharp contrast to the cliques that may congregate at the lunchroom table in the school cafeteria. And that’s the point anyone can join at any time, just by showing up at the bagel store on Main Street in the village of Lawrenceville.
That’s kind of how Steve Carey joined the club.
”I would come in for the good bagels, and the next thing I knew, I was in with the group. People sit down and talk about current events. There are a lot of interesting, friendly people,” Mr. Carey said, in between bites of his bagel at the store Saturday morning.
While Mr. Carey is involved in computer security, the Breakfast Club’s members include a farmer, college professors, a retired bricklayer, physicians, small business owners, lawyers and an emergency medical technician. Politics range from socialist to conservative, but everyone is welcome, Ms. Boughn said.
”(The Breakfast Club) is kind of like a kaleidoscope,” said farmer Howard Myers. “It’s never the same crew. You turn the kaleidoscope and you get a different view. You just wander in, you see people you know and you sit down and talk. That’s as informal as it gets.”
Jean Aldrich, who has been a member practically since the club’s beginnings in 1985, agreed that “it is an interesting group.”
Mr. and Mrs. Boughn, who instigated the Breakfast Club, modeled it after a similar gathering in their hometown of Wheatland, Wyo. population 2,300 (not including the cattle).
”They have a little thing like this in Wheatland. They called it the Breakfast Inn. We thought we could so something like that and bring people together. People just want to be part of something. It’s a basic human yearning,” Ms. Boughn said.
”People come with needs. Sometimes, they are just sad or something is bothering them or they want to celebrate something. It depends on how large the group is, but they will reveal everything. People need to feel safe. If they are lonely or upset or disappointed (the club fills the need for contact),” she said.
The couple, who moved to Lawrence Township 33 years ago, said they would go to the former Buxton’s Dairy Restaurant on the Lawrenceville-Pennington Road, and often saw the “regulars” the same people at the restaurant. They began to talk, and the Breakfast Club “just kind of grew,” Ms. Boughn said.
When Buxton’s closed down, the group moved up the street to the former Manors Deli at the Manors Corner Shopping Center. When owner Marie Cascone sold the business, the Breakfast Club relocated to the Maidenhead Bagel store, where it has become a permanent fixture.
”We get there early (to find a table),” Ms. Boughn said. Saturday morning, the couple claimed a table in a prime spot next to the door, with a view of Main Street from the storefront window. As more folks wandered through, they pushed up another table and grabbed a few more chairs.
”It’s the fluidity (of the membership) that we like,” she said.
Warren Warren, a former Breakfast Club member, was passing through Lawrence and stopped at the Maidenhead Bagel Co. Saturday morning. He lived in Lawrence for many years until he left his post at Princeton University for a new job at Duke University in 2005.
”I’m going to a conference in Philadelphia and I arranged to come through Lawrence and visit old friends. I visit about once a year. Nothing much has changed with the club. Maidenhead Bagels hasn’t changed,” Mr. Warren said.
”The bagels are infinitely better than the ones in the South,” he said with a laugh.

