They were surprised at how quickly and impressively the idea caught on, but they soon realized that 25 pounds was too big, so they decided to try something smaller. "We came up with a pancake mix. Because of minimum requirements, we had to do 5,000 of them. I thought, 'What will we ever do with all these?' But we introduced them the first of November and by Thanksgiving they were all gone."

Today, the mill offers a variety of mixes, not only for pancakes but also for muffins, bread, cookies, brownies and more. That retail business has been one of the things that has helped the mill survive, says Robinson.

The majority of the mill's flour, however, goes to larger corporate and bakery clients.

"In 1952, my father sold Pete Harmon his first bag of flour for his Kentucky Fried Chicken. KFC still buys flour from us." They also sell flour to Sarah Lee, Interstate Brands, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and a lot of local bakeries. "A lot of people eat a lot of our product and are not aware of it," Robinson says. About 50 percent to 60 percent of the flour goes out of state.

Each day about 100,000 pounds of flour are produced in the mill. That seems like a lot, until you realize that "the typical mill in this country puts out about a million pounds a day. That's the difference in scale."

He is also quick to point out that while the mill may be 100 years old on the outside, the inside has been changed and upgraded several times over the years to where they have state-of-the-art equipment. While the basic process remains the same, "we have better quality control. It's safer. We can grind more in the same space. The technology hasn't changed; it's just more sophisticated."

At one time rollers were the newest thing, as opposed to stone-grinding. So that's where the name came from. "We've thought about changing the name to Lehi Flour Mills, but it seems too obvious," jokes Robinson.

Some things change; some things don't. Over any hundred-year period, that's always the case. As the Lehi Roller Mills reaches this milestone, Robinson is looking both back and forward. He and his wife have five daughters and a son, and they are all involved in the mill. So, he says, there's a good chance the next generation will take over and move on.

"We're trying to find solid ways to take us another hundred years. We'd like to be around."

Why the Turkey?

A frequent question at the Lehi Roller Mills is: What do turkeys have to do with wheat?

People see the big Turkey Red Wheat sign, and "they ask if we're feeding turkeys," says Sherman Robinson, owner and operator of the mill.