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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1985-12-23, Page 10• Page 10—The Wingham Advance -Times, Dec. 23, 1985 GORRIE'S MAIN STREET—A mixture of old and new architecture can be seen on the main street of the Village of Gorrie today. A well-known shop throughout the area is the barber shop located in the centre of building block on the left. Barber Ben Johnston has worked out of the shop for many years. (Staff Photo) Memories of Gorrie Continued from Page 9 ing station from Birks Dy- son. The added facilities of the cold storage resulted in expanded services which worked well in conjunction with the store. Bob owned and operated the cold storage as a separate entity after his father's death in 1957, until he moved to the farm on Highway 87. In 1968, he' sold the building to 'Harold Keil, who converted it to the Keil Insurance Agency offices. SELF -SERVE When Gordon Coulter bought the store, he renovat- ed the upstairs to an attrac- tive apartment, and changed the interior of the store to self -serve. While Bev Currah owned the business, the warehouse was torn down and an extra room added to the apart- ment. The Sears order office was opened; the exterior of the store was covered with sidling and the old heating system was removed and a new furnace installed. Larry Bakelar has also made alterations and im- pr'ovements to the interior of the store. , TRUSTED EMPLOYEE As I mentioned at the be- ginning of this article, I found myself thinking about the people who had helped the *store to serve the com- munity through the years. Miss Beatrice Potter would be at the top of the list. She was a faithful and trust- ed employee and friend for over 30 years. Har, ld King was part of the staff for seven years. Blythe (Underwood) Clarke, worked in the store and in the egg grading room; before she' was 'married and then again in later .years in the cold storage grading eggs. Greta (Hyndman) Bennett was on the staff for two years before her marriage to Bill Bennett. Helen (Irwin) Far - risk, worked in the store and also in .the cold storage. Bob Stephens grew up in and around the store,and came into the business at the death of his grandfather,, R. H. Stephens in 1942. Eleanore worked' in the store until her marriage to Alvin Grainger and Edith Timm was working at the store when she and Bob were married. Bill Kreller Jr., Bob Cathers, Robin Bolander,- Mrs. Earl Underwood, Mrs. Russel Nickel and Mrs. Gor- don Nickel worked at the cold storage with Bob. Jeanette (Pyke) Hall worked in the store with me, and Mrs. Andy Edgar was working with me when the store was sold to Gordon Coulter and she continued to work for him. A history of the store would be incomplete without paying tribute to the loyal people who helped maintain the tradition of "honest value for every dollar with, satisfaction gua anteed or money cheerfull\refunded" — a policy whit has been adhered to throughout the years. LANDMARKS The burning of the store was one more landmark gone from '. Gorrie's Main Street over the years. The lumber mill at the north end of town, the CPR station and the trains are gone, but Control -tel has come to that area. Jim Shera's blacksmith has gone, Cooke's five cents to '$1.00store is now an apartment building. What used to be Hertzog's Bakery and Jack King's butcher shop is now the Farmatic office building. White's Motel, which later became Cameron Edgar's store, then Thompson's store was demolished and now is a parking lot for Farmatic: The little bake shop where Michels, and then • Claus O'Hrafka made such good bread and pastries, has also become just a memory. The building that • once housed the telephone office and :the drug store, and Adam Sipple's store, was converted to a furniture store, a new front was added by Gordon Moir, and then Davidson's ,changed it to a grocery store, where Larry Bakelar is presently situat- ed. When Stei'nmiller's Motel burned down, the lot remain- ed vacant for years until M. D. Irvin built the funeral home, now owned by Max Watt. • The building next to the restaurant, which was Mui - grove's bakery, andlater in • - Mayyour• season he adorned with Iaughter. '' and love, goodwill • attcl the joy of giving. Linda, Almer, Family & Staff FROSTY QUEEN the early office of George Neil's Farmatic and later still the Public Library was. demolished, as was the Or- ange Hall. The town shed became ob- solete and was torn down, to be replaced by a new muni- cipal building, which is an attractive asset to the Main street. Across from White's Hotel was Russ Grainger's store, later owned by Lloyd Hock- eridge. This store burned down and was replaced by the Toronto Dominion Bank. Home Hardvt(are has moved to new buildings and. expanded services on the highway just east of the vil- lage, but the barber shop is still in the , same location. Ben Johnston is still the bar- ber, Darrell Cober is the hair stylist, and Eileen has an antique shop where the pool room used to be. Robert Elschner is still operating his gas barand convenience store one block north of the bridge. So you see there have been many changes over the years, and many of us I'm sure would agree with that old song, "How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood, when fond recol- lection presents them to view." I would like to share with you some personal stories of the store that meant so much to me. • THE WAREHOUSE This building was used for many purposes, Grandpa Stephens built a boat he used for fishing above the dam there, and as his young help- er, .Bob learned many valu- able lessons in carpentry and in patience and persever- ance from his grandfather. Here was stored the bulk- ier stock, 100 pounds of flour, and 24 pounds of pastry, and bread flour from Howson's. Remember Pat -A -Pan flour? There .were cases of MYT NICE Wheat Berries from Hemphill's mill in Wroxeter, and cases of Robin Hood oats, and flour; certified seed potatoes in the spring, and boxed plants we carried out in the morning and back in at night. When Norm Carson first started his business in Gor- rie he used part of the ware- housre until his building was completed. George Keil used'a part of the warehouse when he first ,began building his farm feeding systems. Both these men started in a modest way right here in Gorrie; and I often think • with pride, "I knew them then." MEETING PLACES Years ago in the winter, the skating rink was the meeting place for the young and not so young. South of the village, Rob- ert Cathers had a family of six girls and one son. Alec} Edgar had a family of four boys and six girls. Just in those three families there were 27 young people. Saturday night was the night to go to town — to Gorrie. The -horses were put in the town shed and after skating at the rink people gathered in Stephen's store, where they tell me a counter on the dry good side stretched from the front of the store to the back, with stools fastened to it at intervals. Here they ate peanuts dropping the shells on the. floor, and just generally en- joyed the sociability. There wouldbe young people from the village and from the other directions. I have it on THE CORNER STORE•A-This was the Corner Store in the Village of Gorrie when It was owned by R. H. Stephens & Son. First open for business around 1885, good authority that many ro- mances bloomed in the cor- ner store. In later years students waited in the store for Harry Hastie's bus and gathered around the front radiator to warm their hands and their mitts. We never put any dis- plays on the front radiator, it was reserved for school books and lunch boxes of the after school crowd. Just as in years gone by you could see Cupid at work. Some personalities stand out in my memory, and I think of them fondly. Ben Maguire dropped into the store every morning on his way to the mill. He invar- iably had a story to tell Which usually began like this, "Say you know it was kind of funny and .I had to laugh too." On the way home at supper time he might stop in and tell you the same story, but the stories always improved with each telling. The children loved Ben. The little guys visited, him. every day and got a copper to spend. On their birthday Ben always gave them some money, and I have a suspic- ion that some had ' several birthdays each year. MARY AND KATE Ben's sister Mary kept house for him and she came,. in quite often. Mary had been a cook for a wealthy family in Toronto and had many interesting stories to tell. Kate Earngey and Mary Maguire sometimes were shopping at the same time. Mary really did not care much for Kate, and Kate would tease Mary unmerci- fully. Mary would ignore her" for some timeut finally Kate would go too far and the fur would fly. Mary's face would be flushed and her. Scottish dignity injured, and Kate's Irish wit would be honed to a fine edge. Kate was really something else. She dressed in a semi- victorian style with a black velvet ribbon choker around her neck and a cameo brooch. She loved Fall Fair day. That was one busy day in the store and it would be crowded when the people started to go home. Then you could ,be sure Kate would come sailing in, in fine fettle. She might doa bit of an Irish jig flourishing her parasol, and singing, "With a folderal a doodle all the day". It was her day, and she enjoyed it to the•full. Norah Taylor was another "unclaimed treasure," as maiden ladies used to be called. Norah must have been very attractive as a young womah, for she still carried herself with a dis- tinctive style and dignity. Norah liked cats, and she couldn't bear to turn a cat away. Many a stray found a good home with her. They were sleek and healthy as well they may be, for she bought the best sockeye salmon' to feed them. Of course alt didn't ost $2.90 for a seven -ounce. tin then. You could buy a one - pound tin of the best Maple Leaf Sockeye for less than that at that time. • THAT'S FINE, JIMMY Duncan McKercher was a bachelor, he lived on' the farm on'the fourth conces- sion, where Eleanore and Al- vin Grainger live now. He was well educated and had a university degree in engineering, but he was so shy..' Please turn to Page 11 • V. • •• !.•.•:. *••• ••• •• • .. .4 4 • *..*•,,_• I • •t •'.. • • • • • • ,� :t+ THE DAM—The darn on the Maitland River in Gorrie Is stilla favorite spot. In years past ice was cut from the river above the dam and hauled by horse and sleigh for storage in an ice house located next to the bank. (Staff Photo) ay you be Blessed with the true Spirit of Christmas. Thanks for your faith} ASKES B9OS, CONST. LTD. Bert, Jenny, Marie & Kathryn the store burned on April 4, 1985. It has not rebuilt. (Photo courtesy of Helen A. Stephens) !IL; IIIIIII� llll� iillll IIII been May the special nicities of an old-fashioned Christmas surround you and yours. N. D. CAMERON LIMITED i Iingham, Ontario Phone 357-3072. ip • het as Adore Him Weherald 'the Child born in the manger and ask IIis blessing for you and your loved ones. In the profound spirit of the, Yuletide we extend sincere thanks to our friends. • . Watts Funeral Homes Brussels Chapel - Gorrie Chapel 887.6336 . 335-3571 Max & Barbara Watts Funeral Directors In the true spirit of Yuletide,' we -w si-fo u all goo-ciw i l l/ and abiding friendship. We are so proud to o % y /' have served you. J John Pennington's Oil Burner Service Phone 887-9233 Brussels