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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1994-11-09, Page 3Business Beat WHERE ONCE STOOD BAGS OF GRAIN - The new look of the old feed mill in Brucefield, now a tea room and soon also to be an artist's gallery. This interior photo was taken with a special fisheye lens. Feed mill .transformed into tea room BY GREGOR CAMPBELL Expositor Staff Tea has turned into quite a chore for two at the old Brucefield feed mill. But business is booming and both Bryan and Gaye Hoy are having the time of their lives, and it has left some passersby and local oldtimers just shaking their heads in disbelief at the transformation of the property, on the corner of.Highway '4 and the Bayfield Road. It is now called Millington's Tea Room. The I-Ioys bought the old chopping mill two years ago March and spent a good year just shovelling the old grain and whatnot out and getting rid of "100 - year -old dust, among other things, says Bryan. For instance he shovelled ten 100 Ib. bags full of the stuff just to clear a six-foot path to the other side of the main room. He is a former car salesman who grew up in Goderich. She is doing double duty and still a nurse at the Bluewater Rest Home in Zurich. Both are 47. His parents, both retired, Alf and Sylvia Hoy of Goderich, helped with the transformation. One of the Hoy's daughters, Brenda, lives in Scaforth; Mrs. Paul Menary. "This is something I always wanted, a lot of women dream about setting up a gift shop and tea room," says Mrs. Hoy. He has been putting in 14 to 16 - hour days, seven days a week. The car business was easier and better for sleeping, he admits. The location is at a prime crossroads for attracting the summer tourist trade. If you're heading to Lake Huron in this area and coming from London or Kitchener or points east, odds are you'll pass it. Originally Bryan figured if he could serve one table an hour in the off season the business could cover costs and he could continue renovating the second and third floors. Guess again. Fifteen of 22 seats were filled for a period Friday afternoon, reservations are coming fast and furious and they are averaging 40 to 50 customers per day, despite only being open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Saturday. Bryan figures they've lucked onto something here. When you look at the map the Brucefield corner is about equidistant and short hop and' jump from Clinton, Exeter, Seaforth, Clinton and Bayfield, so your potential market is bigger than it at first might seem. And a lot of potential customers in this market seem to like the idea of a short day trip to this tea stop, just oozing with new-found ambiance. The tea room features light lunches, very reasonably priced with lots of "good old home cooking", sandwiches off the roast, home baked bread, and this sort of thing. Portions are large enough that Bryan was foolish enough to suggest this reporter might have difficulty finishing off a plate. Local artists and artisans are featured on the walls of the tea room and in the craft and gift shop as you enter, and the Hoys plan to finish the second floor as an gallery for local artists then build a loft apartment on the third. Finding time may become a problem. They are not fussy on the notion of expanding hours or the number of tables because that would just increase costs, although the demand seems to be there. People keep phoning all the time wondering if they are open for dinner. Oh yes - the tea! Lots of selection, speed isn't the essence and the Hoys do it the proper, English way, warmed pot and a rolling boil. As the ghosts of the old feed mill roll over in their raves. THE OLD DAYS - The old chopping mill at Brucefield in younger days. What had become an eyesore at a crossroads to wherever has become a thriving destination for those in search of a spot of tea made the proper way, with warmed pot and a rolling boil, from the area and elsew ere. .I LABOUR OF LOVE - Bryan and Gaye Hoy of Bayfield aren't getting a lot of sleep these days. Their new tea room in Brucefield is a going and growing concem. !". DEVIL 0/401111 HOCK!', CLUB Port Stanley at Cantenalras FRIDAY, MOV. 11 8:30 P.M. Exeter Hawks at CantQnalrQs SUNDAY, MOV. 13 8:00 P.M. DOUBLE HEADER "WO Mvdfry OSSOdaaal A NEW LOOK - Brucefield folk hardly recognize the village's old feed mill which has been transformed into a tea room. FOR A CANDIDATE WITH: - Urban involvement with Rural connections - Environmental sensitivity - Business Savvy - Municipal Experience - Integrity Elect TOM SCHOONDERWOERD COUNCILLOR TOWN OF SEAFORTH TME HURON EXPOSITOR. Nt v mbar 9, 1994-3 OPEN HOTTSE SUN. 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