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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1973-11-22, Page 23SRT f! >ar 83 to bakery on West Street 96 years after It first opened, is presently owned by Mel Culbert and his wife Lynn. They pur-i 4 tf �n chased the business from Art Curry in 1943. (staff photo) The. htistmas spirit yeat-proun iw W .s. • Y 4 �fje u: uaericb SIGNAL -STA 1 2 6 YEAR - 47' SIGNAL —STAR Photo Feature For almost a hundred years, the West Street Bakery has been serving the citizens of - Goderich with their bread and pastries. .. Although fhe bakery is kept busy, throughout the year, the Christmas season remains the most hectic time in the kitchen. With the nearing of Christ- mas, comes the preparations for the many season specials such as Christmas cakes, fruit cakes, candies„ cookies and almond icing, used on most Christmas cakes. . AS early as the Labor Day weekend, preparations for the Christmas cakes has begun and around November 1, the pud- ding and candy making is star- ted. Over the past few decades, the hakery business has not changed much, said Art Curry, former- owner of the West Street Bakery. Mr. Curry operated the business from 1928 to 1943. He took over the business from his father, D.J. Curry. '=During the Christmas season, we were always quite busy. We were ' always busy with the fruit cakes," said Mr. Curry. . And the bakery displayed the Christmas spirit year round. "During the' days of the depression, there was only about two to three months out of every year that we could make money," stated Mr. Curry. Mr. and Mrs. Curry both recalled times between - 1930 and 1937 when things were so had that the working staff would volunteer to lend them the price of a bag of flour "so we could continue to hand.otit credit to the less fortunate" Over the depression years, the Currys spent a lot of their time helping the needy. "Many times, people would come to us and say, "We have bought bread here when we have had money. Now we are broke. Can you help us?" "During our years with the bakery, there were many such incidents. These memo s are what made the whole ° ture 'worthwhile. We loved what we were doing and it was ` a challenge to us. We met our challenge with r a smile and learned to enjoy it," said Mrs. Curry. Besides the many times the Currys helped others, they were also helped. "During one' of our troubled times, Mr. Whateley, who was then the manager at the Bank of Montreal, approached us and said that he realized what we were going through and deposited $200. into our bank account," stated Mr. Curry. According to Mr. Curry, he 'and a l7 -year-old lad learned the trade from his father. After learning the trade, the youth left Goderich and went to Sarnia where he'remained for a short while before returning to Goderich. Upon his return, he dropped by, the bakery and noticed that Mr. Curry was' experiencing some problems. He decided to stay and work with the Currys at the bakery: 1 A few years later, this same young lad, named Mel Culber,t, purchased the, bakery from Mr. Curry. Today, thirty some years. since Mr. Culbert acquired the bakery, it . is still one of the most prosperous businesses in Goderich. ,,The bakery's staff consists of 18 full-time and part-time workers. Mr. Culbert also has two sons working with him ,in the kitchen, Barry, who. has been with the business for 20- years and Mark, who has been with the firm for the past four years. "Among some c►f the products that, are brought out especially during the Christmas season are light and dark Christmas cakes, Christmas puddings, small fancy cookies.. decorated for Christmas, almond,icing for the Christmas cakes, and Yule logs, a type of European Christ- mas item that is round,- chocolate ound;chocolate like cake, similar to a marshmallow roll that is decorated for the season," said Mr. Culbert. It is amazing if one stops to think of the many ingredients in the Canadian Fruit Cake - raisins from Australia, cherries from Italy, pineapples from Hawaii, almonds from Spain, cinnamon from Saigon and nut- meg from East India. The bakery -on West Street also makes its own .candy. Culbert's bakery is one of the few that still make the original horehlk nd .candy. •-"OveF' the Chri:Stmas season, we will be making several hun- dred pounds -of candy," stated" Mr. _Culbert. In 1977,- just four years from now, the West Street Bakery will have seen its first 100 years. There :seems to he little doubt this store will continue to flourish long after the cen- tury has 'passed. 'That's partly hei'ause the .store has a Christ- mas -like atmosphere• year- round - as well as the hest baked goods anywhere. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1973 ` THIRD SECTION ..,,.,Mark (left) and Barry Culbert, sons of Mei Culbert, owners of Culbert's Bakery, mix yet another batch of tasty baked goods for area dinner tables. At this time of year, Christmas baking is a specialty with Culbert* where fruit cakes, shortbread* and candy are among the favorites. (staff photo) Will usk p gov't for m is the West Street Bakery as it looked in 1906. The bakery was then owned and operated by the late D. J. Curry, father of Arthur Curry of 105 Quebec Street in Goderich. Pic tured above is Arthur Curry as a youth, standing In front of the horse-drawn delivery wagon. Art's father is standing on the front steps of the bakery. (photo donated by Art Curry) Here's the bakery in 1933 during the Christmas season. In the , . test to guess Its correct weight. As can be seen the West display window on the right la d large peppermlnt candy Street Bakery was decorated for the festive season. (photo stick. At this time, the bakery was owned by Arthur Curry, of donated by Art Curry) 105 Quebec St. The large candy stick was the object of a con - Plans for a proposed Lake Huron Parkway to extend from the city of Sarnia to Amberley in northern Huron county are going ahead at full speed. At a meeting in Grand Bend last week, committee members agreed to approach -the provin- cial government as quickly as possible to ask for a feasibility study. Warden Jim Moran of Lamb - ton in- making- the motion to proceed suggested attempts be made to meet with'Minister cif Natural Resources Hon. Leo Bernier before the Christmas break of provincial parliament. Based on costs used for 'the St. Clair Parkway it is expected a feasibility study will cost bet- ween $50,000 and $75,000. The counties of Huron and Lambton and the City of Sar- nia have agreed on an apzor- tionment of costs for the study. They are asking the province to pay 75 per c€nt of the study while the three municipalities share the balance. Lambton and Huron have each agreed to pay 371/2 per cent of the local share while Sarnia will pick up the remaining 25 per cent! When several members of the committee suggested more local support shop Id be gathered before making a presentation, Moran replied, "we don't have to sell the Parkway concept, but we must show the financial support we have." All municipalities in Lamb - ton and Huron have shown their support through, unanimous approval by the county councils. Moral support for the Park- way is being sought from the cities of London, Stratford and Kitchener. All committee members agreed the percentage figures used for funding by three municipalities for the feasibility study would not necessarily be used for operation and maintenance purposes when the Parkway becomes a reality. The brief to be presented to Mr. fernier and his det)art- ment will be prepared by Mrs. Marie Coulter, a Sarnia alder- man and secretary of the fact finding' committee, Huron's development officer Spence Cummings and Ray Beggs of the Sarnia and district Cham- ber of Commerce. The chairman of the present committee is Anson McKinley, reeve of Stanley township and the vice-chairman is alderman Andy Brandt of Sarnia. Attending Tuesday's meeting from the County of Huron were warden Roy Pattison, Goderich reeve Deb 'Shewfelt; Gtrvin Reed of Ashfield township along with Cummings and McKinley. Representing Lambton county were warden Jim Moran and Bruce Scott the reeve of Bosanquet township. Coun- cillor Tom Webster of Grand Bend was in attendance replacing reeve Bob Sharen who was in Toronto on municipal business. A,rr.xt.ngements for the proposed meeting with Mr. 'Bernier are being arranged by Lambton MPP Lorne Hender- son with the co-operation of other area MPP's. They include Jack Riddell of Huron, Murray Gaunt of Huron Bruce and James Bolbrook of Sarnia. Snowmobile drags Audrey Collins of Varna and Wayne Thomas of Cardiff arose as victors tied for the coveted Redex Cup at the Final Snowmobile Drag Race of the season held at Hully Gully track near Varna on Sunday Nov. 4. Thomas on a Polaris carried a commanding lead into Sun- days action but failed to show on the final day and Audrey Collins on Rollo -Flex and Chaparral gained two firsts and a third to tie Wayne with 405 points. The top two were followed closely by Keith Vessair of Honey Harbour on an Alouette 440 with 394; Darryl Gueguen of St. Agatha ona 292 Roll -o -Flex with 356 and Stan Shead of Streetsville on a Alouette 440 with 352. The race was the final in the five event Championships series and brought to a close the grass drag racing season for '73. The first Snowmobile oval race begins at Hully Gully on Dec. 26.