Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-12-12, Page 29Page 12 -Crossroads -Dec. 12, 1984 viimanommummimw Turkey for all With your kind permission, I'll tell you a little Christmas story this week. We'll call it: "Turkey for Easter". I,n my own home town, when I was a boy, a Turkey Fair was held every winter, shortly before Christmas. There was a district north of the town that was poor farm- ing land. It was rough and rocky, like some parts of the Bruce Peninsula, and its in- habitants hada difficult time scraping a lirving out of the inhospitable land. So most of them grew turkeys. They'd let them run practically wild through the year, then bring them to town. for the Turkey Fair. The main street would be lined with sleighs, cutters and old cars, all piled high with turkey for sale. Buyers would come from the cities, and the townspeople would all be out to pick up their Christmas fowl. As a result, the town street would be crowded. Jingling, sleigh - bells, scurrying people, filled with the Christmas spirit, and crowds of turkey farm- ers and their families, with the sharp -faced buyers from Montreal and Ottawa scuttling to get the best birds for the least money, made it an exciting day for the town's youngsters, and quite a few of us didn't show up at school that day. I'll never forget one Turkey Fair, when I was about twelve years old. It was right in the middle of the depression. As usual, the street was lined with turkey farmers, selling their wares, by nine o'clock in the morn- ing. This was the big day of the year for them. The rest of the year, they barely man-, aged to make ends meet. But when they had sold .their turkeys, they were rich for a day. Some of them would have as much as thirty or forty dollars, a lot of money in those days. This was for them. It meant that children would have something for Christmas, that Mother might get a' new dress, or pair of shoes, that Father could have a few beers and maybe ' buy some shells for his gun, and that their,credit at the store could be sustain- ed. They were terribly poor. Well, this one year, some- thing happened. At the time, I had no idea what it was, but it was probably a glut of fowl ton the market, and too many people without. money to buy turkey for Christmas. At any rate the Turkey Fair was an utter failure. Oply a few buy- ers showed up, a lot of the townspeople simply did not have any money, and were living on credit, and the farmers could not get rid of their turkeys. At first they were selling a few for outrageously low prices, twelve, or thirteen cents a pound, instead of the usual eighteen to twenty- five. But by noon the turkey farmers were nearing panic. They were running around with a turkey in each hand, canvassing homes, t in sell them for seven and eigh cents a pound. By four o'clock in the afternoon, the full extent of the tragedy had beene- vealed. Women stood by their sleigh -loads of turkeys, with the tears streaming down their faces, and three or four of their children, cold r, �`.`'��°`moi'' • ,.0/1 • MI NH1i1 1 11191 1Iflunnh 11U a•-' and hungry wailing in sympathy. The men's faces showed anger, fright and be- wilderment. It was a bitter day for them. It meant that instead of a Christmas full of warmth and happiness they were faced with a Christmas bleak with despair, lacking everything that usually made it good, as well as a cheerless winter ahead, existing by the barest of margins. It was a ' shambles. Turkeys were hurled into the street and trampled on by bitter, frustrated men. Others spent their last fifty cents for a bottle of cheap wine and got drunk. The peo- ple of the town looked grave, sympathetic', worried. Even the heavens wept, and a downpour of freezing rain fouled the white snow and in- creased the general misery. I don't think I have ever felt more sad and depressed than I did that day, child though I was. When I got home, I wanted to spill all my feelings to my mother, but one look at her face told me she knew. She -went about her work with that intense fury that always possessed her when she was trying to hide her feelings, and I knew better than to start babbling. A while later my Dad . came in with a long face, and he and my mother held .one of those low -voiced con: claves that drive curious children crazy. Then.he went back outside. My mother looked_ a little less harassed. Then the rest of the family began coming in, my young brother started horsing around, and with the tough indifference of a youngster, I almost forget about the turkey farmers . and their despair, in the babble of the family. When mydad got home, we all sat down to supper. In those days, you ate supper at suppertime, in our circle. Mother and Dad still looked pretty grave, but not so bad as before, and we kids were all talking at once, as usual. We had hamburg for supper. I was feeling a bit ,disgrunt- led with my parents for being so serious and uncom- municative, so, probably to attract attention, I said: "Hamburg, hamburg, ham- burg. We're ,always eating hamburg. .Aren't we ever going to eatanything else around here?" You know how a kid will say things like that. We did have a lot of hamburg, but I liked it. My mother gave me one look, got up, took me by the ear, marched me to the woodshed door, off the' kit- chen, opened it,' and said: "Yes,you're going to get something besides hamburg. You're going to eat turkey from now until Easter." There, hanging from the rafters in the woodshed,' were about twelve or thir- teen big turkeys. Next day I found out that other families in town, among those who were able,.. had done the same thing, out of sympathy for the turkey farmers. By the time they had given turkeys to all their friends, neighbors and rela- tives in an attempt to get rid of them, there were few peo- ple who went without turkey that Christmas, in the town. We'll do our best to help with.. your Holiday Entertaining Monarch 10 kg. bag All Purpose Flour • Using a flame to loon for leaks in any propane system is a scheme that could blow up in your face. Kraft 750 gr. jar Smooth or Crunchy Peanut Butter . Robin Hood 250 gr. pkg. Cake & Pudding Mixes Quaker 425 gr. pkg. Life Cereal Quaker 1 kg. pkg. Oats.......... Ingersoll 500 gr. jar Z.99 211.00 1.69 .99 2.69 1.99 Cheese Spread Pkg. of 2 Zest STOCK UP THE FREEZER! Fresh Grade A Whole Chicken kg. 1.96 lb. U By offering extra special savings snacks, baking ®n entertaining items! goods and many other Del Monte Canned Food Sale Del Monte 48 oz. tin Pure Pineapple Juice Del Monte 48 oz. tin Pineapple & Orange Del Monte Crushed, Sliced, Tid Bits 14 oz. tin, in Juice Pineapple Del Monte 4x5 oz. pkg. Pudding Cups 1.19 Drink .99 .79 1.39 12 litre box Powdered Detergent Tide 8.88 Fresh. Chicken Sale Fresh Part Back Attached Chicken Legs kg. 2.18 lb.99 Frozen Utility - up to 14 1b. (while supply lasts) Turkeys kg 2.40 lb. 1 FROZEN FOOD Frozen 10 lb. box Seales Corn Frozen, -10 lb. box Seales Peas . 9.89 9.89 Niagara Frozen 12 oz. tin .99 Owe Juice ... . BAKERY Freiburger's 675 gr. loaf White Bread... Fresh Whole Cut Up Chicken kg. 2.40 lb. 1.09 Fresh Part Back Attached Chicken Breasts kg. 3.73 1b. 1.69 Fresh Chicken Wings kg. 2.18 lb. ■99 Pride of Canada Round Dinner Ham Pride of Canada Halves or kg. 6.57 1b. 2 ■ 9 8 Whole Vintage Hams kg. 8.77 1b. 3.98 Maple Leaf 175 gr. pkg Popular Cooked Meats Swift's Bologna . .88 whole kg. 2.16 lb. •98 piece kg: 2.82 lb. 1.28 General Mills 170 gr. Bugles, Whistles, Hotchos, Cheese Wilikers, etc. Snacks 1.Z9 Canada Dry 750 ml. btl. plus dep. All Products Soft Drinks 3,;99 CHRISTMAS CITRUS SALE Buy by the dozen or by the case Prod. of USA Sweet Tangelos doz. 1.99 case 20.50 211.00 Prod. of USA Can. No. 1 Prod. of USA Sunkist Navel Oranges doz. .99 case 13.40 Red Emperor 99 Grapes kg. 2.18 lb. • case - 2275 Can. No. 1 � oO Sweet Yams kg.1.10 2 lbs. Schneider's 500 gr. Side Bacon Ends 1.98 DAIRY Beatrice 250 gr. pkg. �.�� Cream Cheese Beatrice 500 ml. Half & Half .99 Schneider's 4 lb. pail �.�� Lard ...... Bulk Cut Freiburger Colby, 1 lb. pkg. kg. 5.93 1b. 2.69 Cheese 51b. pkg. kg. 5.71 lb. a+■ 59 Schneider's 1 lb. tub Soft .68 Margarine FOO Elmira 6 Arthur Street North Open 6 Days a Week 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p,tn. Wed. Thurs. Fri. till 9:00 p.m. MARKET Mount Forest open 6 Days a Week 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Thurs. Fri. till 9:00 p.m. 121 Main Street FREE PARKING AT REAR OF STORES. We reserve the right to limit quantities.