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Homecoming '87, 1987-07-01, Page 4PAGE A-4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 1987. _Homecoming ’87_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Secret of the sausage still keeps people coming BY TOBY RAINEY Anyone returning to Brussels who has ever been a native of the village at any time over the past 80 years has one thought uppermost in his mind: head for Frank Thompson’s butcher shop and see if there is any bologna left. There’ll be a lot of them this weekend, but Frank is ready for them. Over the past week he has had a batch of his own special bologna coming out of the smoke­ house every day, instead of the usual once a week ... but even so, if you want to be one of the fortunate ones, you’d better get down there right away, or it may be too late after all. On a “normal” week, Frank sells around 125 rings of the gourmet food between the time it is ready on a Thursday until the time the store closes on Saturday night, but on this Homecoming weekend, he won’t even venture a guess as to how much of the succulent sausage Frank Thompson has been stock­ piling the famous “Baeker’s Bol­ ogna” for theexpected demand over Homecoming weekend, and hopes he has made enough for everyone. There’s a boom in Brussels There was a time a few short years ago when predictions about the future of Brussels were seldom optimistic. Industry had dwindled to virtually nothing. There were many empty stores along the main street and several buildings that looked like they might fall down. 1987, however, sees a huge change in both the outlook of people in the village and the actual appearance of the town. Brussels continues in a two-year building boom. In 1986the villageissued building permits for more than three quarters of a million dollars. By June of this year building permits of more than a half million dollars had already been issued. Mostevident are the changes thathave been brought on main street in the last year and a half. The old Queen’s Hotel is no more, replaced by a large modern E.M.A. supermarket operated by Allan and Marjorie Teeft. Just across the street is another new addition from last year, Radford Auto, Farm and Industrial Parts Ltd. The company also renovated the upper levels of the building for apartments. From not having any outlet devoted solely to women ’ s clothing Brussels suddenly acquired two last fall when SomeThing Special and Young’s Clothing and Foot­ wear opened. The other big addition to the village in June 1986 was the will pass over his counter; he just hopes he won’t have to disappoint even one “old boy.’’ Known to old-timers and young­ sters alike, “Baeker’s Ring Bolog­ na” has been a mainstay of the Brussels diet since the turn of the century, when Bill and Cleve Baeker first developed the secret blend of ingredients that has gone into the all-beef delicacy ever since. Handed down from partner to partner throughout the shop’s 80-odd year history, there has been scarcely a Brussels-ite who has not succumbed to the sausage’s seduc­ tive charm, whose secret is known only to Frank at this date in time, although Frank’s son, Paul, will hopefully one day be privy to the knowledge. The Baeker Brothers originally had a shop where McCutcheon’s Grocery is today, later moving to the location of the present Village Market over the partnership’s 40-year history. Cleve minded the store, while Bill did all the actual butchering, at the same location on County Road 16 where Thomp­ son’s Abbatoir now stands. Bill then went out around the sideroads and concessions of Grey and Morris Townships selling his famous fresh and smoked meats around the countryside; first with a horse and two-wheeled cart, then from the ancient truck that many oldtimers still remember. In his free time, Bill would deliver around town, but he had to be careful to finish his route before noon, because the minute the town bell would peal to signal the lunch-hour, theoldhorsewould take off for the home stable, whether Bill came along for the ride or not. When Bill Baeker’s son, George, came back from France in 1945, Cleve sold his share in the shop to his nephew, and father and son continued the partnership until Bill died in 1965, an occasion mourned by half of two townships. It was early in the father-son partnership that the young Frank Thompson joined the staff, coming into the shop after school as a wee lad of only 10 years old, and Brussels, MorrisandGreycom­ munity pool which was used to capacity last year and with the early hot weather this year seems likely to remain a popular spot. Brussels council, along with the councils of Morris and Grey, has been concentrating on getting more industry for the area and expansion of one local business and opening of a new industry have helped boost that portion of the economy in 1987. Huron Feeding Systems has opened a new build­ ing in the northern part of the village. Grey Owl Enterprises has opened a factory in the former Triangle Tire building at Market and Turnberry streets. The com­ pany makes decorative wooden packing boxes and other wooden products. Main street has seen one addition so far this spring with the opening of The Cornerstone Flea Market in the old Brussels Post building. Meanwhile new houses have been going up at a rapid rate in nearly all corners of the village. Development of subdivisions in the southeast part of the village particularly seem to be speeding up and with expansion of the sewer system to serve the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre, developmetn in that area may incrase even more.. Ithas made 1986 and 1987 the most optimistic times in the village in decades. working for 25 cents a day. Before Frank was 12, his parents moved to Listowel, but by then he had proved his worth, and either Bill or George would drive up to Listowel to meet him after school every Friday, bring him back to work for the busy trade on Saturday, then drive him home again on Sunday night. “I guess they thought I was worth coming for,’’ Frank remem­ bers, “because they never missed a Friday!” Frank quit school when he was 16, and went into the butcher shop go— BRUSSELS full time, buying into the partner­ ship when Bill Baeker died. Just a year before he died in 1971, George Baeker sold his half of the business to Fred Stephenson of Brussels, but when Fred wanted out in 1981, Frank bought the business out­ right becoming sole owner for the first time since he had started working more than 30 years earlier. At the same time, Frank bought an old, run-down and abandoned pool hall where Thompson’s Meat Market now stands, and with only two or three days shut-down time, From All Of Us At Oldfield’s: We extend our sincere congratulations to the Village of Brussels Oldfield E2 Pro Hardware & Radio Shack Brussels 887-6851 Serving Brussels and Area for 41 years! and with the help of his wife, Lois, and his kids and friends, converted itintothegleamingand modern premises he occupies today, grac­ ed as they are with some items, such as his locker doors, which date back to the Baeker partnership. Frank Thompson is remember­ ed and much loved by all who know him, for such things as handing out a free wiener to any kid who comes into the shop. But it is for the famous “Baeker Ring Bologna” that he will go down in history ... ah, ‘tis food fit for the gods!