By AMIE STEFFEN, Courier Staff Writer

WATERLOO — The phrase "I Love Lucy" conjures up memories of Lucille Ball’s zany antics on the popular 1950s sitcom, such as the "Job Switching" episode where Lucy and Ethel get a job on a candy conveyor belt and Lucy resorts to shoving candy in her mouth to keep up.

So when "I Love Lucy" is written on someone’s business card, someone who makes decorative cakes, it’s hard to not picture that person going after their job with the same comedic recklessness.

But that’s probably not the case with Lucy O’Connor. At 16, O’Connor is a straight-A student at Columbus High School in Waterloo, involved in several extracurricular activities, has a lifeguarding job at Gates Pool and operates her own business, "I Love Lucy’s Cakes!"

And from the look of her finished products — the intricately designed cakes — she’s got it all under control. This Lucy doesn’t have any "‘splaining to do."

"I love seeing people’s smiles when they get the cakes," Lucy said, while taking a quick break at Gates Pool Wednesday. "It’s rewarding."

With a bubbly personality and a ready smile, Lucy could probably sell plain old sheet cakes with ease. But the cakes are unique, crafted for each occasion and personal style, and word has been spreading around the community about the cake wunderkind.

"The neat thing about her cakes — they look really neat, but they taste awesome, too," said her father, Jim.

Every young prodigy needs a teacher, however. For Lucy, that’s veteran cake decorator Lois Rider of Waterloo.

"A lot of years I’ve seen people start cake decorating and fail," Rider said. "Lucy has that deep-down love for cakes."

Since before she can remember, Lucy has had creations from Lois’s Cake Shop made for her own special occasions. She’s always loved to bake with her mother, Penny, and soon wanted to begin learning about cake decorating — beyond her mom’s range of abilities.

"(Lois) kind of trained her and taught her all her secrets. (Lucy) loves to go," said Penny. "Lois thinks she has the skill to really make a living of it."

It’s a possibility Lucy has considered.

"I really enjoy it. I could see myself doing it as a career," she said. "I kind of want my own cake shop, my own cake decorating business."

She basically already has it. As Rider’s apprentice, and with Rider "semi-retired," Lucy takes one to two orders per week from Rider’s regular customers and others. In the three years she’s been making cakes, Lucy estimates she’s done close to 100 cakes.

Her favorite kinds of cakes are those for children’s birthdays ("you get to do fun colors") or for their first communion. She also does graduation cakes and cakes for any occasion.

Almost the only type she doesn’t do yet is wedding cakes — where the money is made in the cake business. Rider says Lucy is almost there.

"It’s more time, more detail, more things to get in place on paper so that the day of the wedding you know exactly what the bride wants and you’re going to do what she wants," Rider said. "Once Lucy does, I figure, another year, she’ll be doing weddings just super. I can’t wait to see her first wedding cake."

Lucy isn’t sure if she’ll be sticking around the area, ready to take over Rider’s business once she officially retires. But she’s grateful for Rider’s help no matter what happens.

"Lois, she started this for me," Lucy said. "I would never have gotten interested without her."

The same goes for her family, who Lucy says puts up with her baking in the kitchen and dining room "all the time."

"We had been looking for a bigger house, and we looked for a kitchen in the basement for her because it’s a mess," said Penny. "It’s like a cake explosion."

Contact Amie Steffen at (319) 291-1464 or amie.steffen@wcfcourier.com.

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