In this era of living in the moment, if not in the second, anything that sticks around tends to stand out.

Consider Bellevue's Lincoln Bakery, named after the street on which it has sat for at least 65 years, maybe more than 75.

Owned by Joe Porco of Ross and founded by the family of his wife, Sandy Slezak Porco, Lincoln Bakery has defied the odds stacked against home-grown bakeshops time and again. In fact, it recently renewed itself.

On Saturday, the venerable bakery will mark its 65th year in the Slezak/Porco/Bellevue area fold, giving away slices of one of its signature tiered cakes, hot dogs and Lincoln Bakery T-shirts.

It should be a cake day for Joe Porco, who intended to be a barber -- even got his license. But while dating his wife in the mid-'70s, he worked in her parents' bakery and one thing led to another. "I had talked to [my father-in-law] and told him I was interested [in the bakery], and when he retired, I would buy it," Mr. Porco said. "He agreed."

The father-in-law was the late Andrew Slezak, who worked at Dormont's Potomac Bakery (still in business, too) after he found he needed to support himself, his mother and his sister after his father's death. In another round of at-the-right-place-at-the-right-time, Mr. Slezak ran into "an older gentleman who owned this place and said he was only going to be in business for 10 years and he said, in 10 years, you come and see him."

The story has it, says Joe Porco, that a couple of bakery suppliers helped back his father-in-law in 1945. Mr. Porco has a picture of his late mother-in-law behind the tidy counter of her bakery from that era, wearing a dress with big shoulder pads, with nicely coiffed hair. The photo will be included in a collage to be displayed Saturday.

Then, the bakery storefront was half of its present 750 square feet, and featured a silhouette of Abraham Lincoln (who else?) as its logo. Mr. Porco, who officially bought the biz in 1990, purchased the building next door in '97 to double the size.

For a time, the addition featured coffee, tables to sit at and nosh, and candy. But last year, after overcoming construction issues, Lincoln Bakery had a new look: All bakery, all the time.

Now, shiny cases feature a motherlode of sweets, beautifully decorated two-serving bar cakes and charlottes, loaves of bread, cookies, pies and a persistent aroma that fits Lincoln's slogan: "Heavenly cakes and pastries."

"Everything, we make here on the premises," Mr. Porco says.

The specialty is cakes, and on a recent visit, luscious-looking birthday cakes swathed in buttercream (a blend of butter, sugar, custard and shortening) and decorated with flowers and swirls, ruled the top tier of one case.

Says Mr. Porco: "We have six full-time bakers, three full-time bakers' helpers, five people in my cake room -- two icers and three full-time decorators." In busy times, bakery retirees jump back in, too: "They're 75 years old and still like to putz around.

"I'm here every day," he says. "I usually work the oven every day. I come in at 6:30 in the morning, I get right on the oven." Sandy Porco, a nurse, helps out, and sons Andrew and Joe work there from time to time, too.

Joe Porco learned his baking and decorating craft from his father-in-law, books, a French pastry course in Montreal and a decorating course in Milwaukee.

Asked how the bakery has survived when many a similar shop has not, he discusses the era of the supermarket bakery. "When the supermarkets really started pushing those bakeries, I saw a change a little bit.

"But I think it's actually come back to the retailers, first for taste, the variety, and I just think the supermarkets are typically using bag mixes and frozen mixes.

"For us, things -- knock on wood -- have actually held up and actually started getting better. That's why I decided to remodel and expand.

"I track sales and I track customer count. When the economy got bad, my customer count was still pretty steady. They might not spend as much day-to-day but they were still coming in."

Mr. Porco and family hope to pay back that patronage by inviting the public to raise a piece of Lincoln's cake in salute.

On Saturday, you'll get a slice of tradition.

Remember: Tonight's the night: Savor Pittsburgh: A Celebration of Cuisine, benefiting the American Respiratory Alliance of Western Pennsylvania. Eat, drink and be merry. Begins at 6:30 p.m. Call 724-772-1750 or visit savorpgh.com. I'm among the judges; see you there! More on the Respiratory Alliance, visit healthylungs.org.

Join in South Side's Car Free September with events including a walking tour Saturday, and a Car-Free Commuters Breakfast, 7:30-10:30 a.m., meet at REI, 412 S. 27th St. You must ride your bike to get bagels from Bruegger's and coffee from Big Dog Coffee. From 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. take in the Pittsburgh Dragon Boat Festival, celebrating Asian culture (including food). At South Side Riverfront Park, off South 18th Street. For more, contact the South Side Local Development Co., 412-481-0651.

Girl's Hope of Western Pennsylvania will hold its 16th Day of Hope Women's Tournament beginning at 8 a.m. Sept. 13 at the Pittsburgh Field Club, Fox Chapel. Play all day, from golf to bridge, and have hors d'oeuvres at an evening reception. This year's events include a cooking demonstration by master chefs Lia Davidson-Welling and Candace Allen-Uricchio. Contact Beth Exton at 724-869-6578 or bexton@bhgh.org; registration form at girlshope.org. Girl's Hope is a residential program for academically capable girls at risk due to poverty, neglect or neighborhood.

Got an e-mail from Jill Boarts at Downtown's A to Z Communications about last week's Sauce, which featured a picture of Al the Can: "Just wondered if you were aware that 'Al the Can' (Al is short for aluminum) was one of several characters designed and produced quite a few years ago by A to Z Communications for the Can Manufacturers Institute." The CMI still uses "Al" on their Twitter and Facebook profiles to promote recycling. The ad agency was founded by her husband, Alan Boarts, says Jill.

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