For 29 years, Les Davis has been the Cookie Man.

The Wellsville resident makes all kinds of cookies from sugar cookies to snickerdoodles at his home. He gets up at 3 a.m. to make them.

“That’s when I enjoy working with it, especially sugar cookies because I have to make them ahead of time for the icing to set up,” Davis said. “They have cream cheese icing.”

Davis started his business in 1996. The idea of having a cookie business came years before that, when he was serving in the Vietnam War. He was saving a little blond girl, who was part-Vietnamese and part-American.

“She grabbed my hand and would not let go,” Davis said. “That’s how it started. I had no idea what her name was. She was 5, maybe 6 years old. I got to thinking, ‘That little girl can use a cookie.’ I got out of the service and I came home. I’ve been a farmer and did a little bit of everything. My oldest sister made cakes, pies and stuff. I said, ‘If she can do it, I can too.’”

Davis lived in the Wellsville area for most of his life. He graduated from Wellsville-Middletown High School in 1961. He was gone for nine years when he was serving in Vietnam. He has been living at his current residence on Fifth Street since 2005.

Davis worked in the shipping and receiving department at the Continental Bag Company in Mexico for 24 years before starting his cookie business.

Davis makes his own recipes for his cookies. He has advice for making cookies.

“Do not overcook them,” Davis said. “If you follow the recipe in the cookbook, you’re going to overcook those cookies.”

Davis only takes orders by phone call. Call him at 573-721-0994 to place an order.