The Huron Expositor, 1994-09-07, Page 61-7141 HURON EXPOSITOR, $optomber 7, 1994
Feature
Meals for a dozen hungry workers
Continued from page 5.
who hadn't had a thing to eat since
about 7 a,m. As the trio recalls,
they never thought then of packing
a lunch or even a snack to take
with them in the field or barn. And
not one of them ever •carried a
thermos or canteen for when their
throats were parched by dust and
heat.
"But the meals were just out of
this world," said Kale. Usually one
of the women neighbours would
stop by to help with the preparation
of these gigantic meals. Sometimes
in one house a mother and grand-
mother would prepare the food.
"They would set the table in the
dining room with the whitest table
cloth they had," remembers
Rowlands. "And you'd set your
dirty elbows on it," he said, laugh-
ing. "The threshing table cloth -
they'd pass it around a bit, among
two or three neighbours sometimes.
And it was laundered between
every time it moved," said Bruxer.
"A pure white table cloth for
God's sake and we came in all
covered with grease and chaff and
dirt."
The best of meat, potatoes, veg-
etables and all the trimmings would
always be served for the first
course, recalled the trio. Then there
was always a choice of pie, differ-
ent desserts and fruit, tea and cof-
fee. Lemon, raisin and apple pie
were usually the three standards,
said Bruxer. Applesauce was also a
common dessert. "Everybody made
it different and it was always good.
If you could get applesauce and
biscuits, oh God you were in
heaven," said Bruxer. "Those
women, they had it rough. And they
never complained. I can't ever
recall getting a blast from any of
them," said Lou Rowland.
Most homes wouldn't have that
amount of food on hand to feed a
hungry crew so the women would
have to run around and shop or
borrow food from neighbours. Dur-
ing fall threshing a lot of food
would come out of the garden -
potatoes, beans, carrots. As far as
meat, since there was no refriger-
RED CLOVER THRESHING CREW - This 1949 photo taken by
Frank Bruxer shows a smaller threshing crew, probably working
on red clover in December. From left to right: Tom Kale, Dennis
Nolan, William Ryan, Louis Nolan, Frank Bowman.
ators or freezers to keep it fresh,
women would have to rush to the
butcher's shop to buy supplies for
the meal.
In the fall, Kale's crew would
leave about 6 a.m., arrive at about
6:15 at a farm, have breakfast and
be ready to start at 7 o'clock. "I
think the breakfast was a throwback
to when they used to thresh with
steam because the thresherman had
to keep around to keep the steam
up. They had to stay all night," said
Bruxer.
How did these men keep up this
work day after day, sometimes
going till 9:30 at night and starting
right back at 7 the next morning?
"As far an us fellows go we prob-
ably didn't work as hard manually
as the rest of the crew. Each differ-
ent area we went to had a different
crew," said Kale.
Their job was to make sure the
machine was set, running, repaired,
greased and moved as necessary.
It's back to
school time in Seaforth!
DAVID SCOTT PHOTO
MOM, DO I HAVE TO GO TO SCHOOL? - Mother Heather Robinet, left, and grandmother Jean
Mcllwraith of Kitchener, accompany Rebecca Robinet on her first day of Junior Kindergarten Tuesday
morning at Seaforth Public School. Local students were back to the books the day after Labour Day.
Dublin
by Dorothy Dillon
345-2883
Dublin resident
turns 90
Congratulations to Mary Etuc of
Dublin (formerly of Seaforth), who
is 90 years 'young' on September
8! Good health and happiness
ahead, Mary, from your many
friends!
Mervyn and Enid Leonhardt,
Brodhagen, celebrate 50 happy
years together. All your friends say
'Congratulations and good years
ahead!'
Congratulations to Gordon and
Doris Maloney, Stratford, who
celebrate their 25th welding anni-
versary. Gordon and Doris, your
many many friends wish you happy
years ahead!
Congratulations to Norman and
Laura Eggert, I:gmondvillc, who
celebrate their 45th welding anni-
versary! Your many friends wish
you t e -F st in ibo years ahead!
THOUGHT FOR TODAY
'Stay' is a charming word in a
friend's vocabulary.
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They also changed the blower and
grain pipes.The trio recalled some
farmers who helped thresh until 9
or 9:30 p.m. and still had their
cows to milk after. Everybody
knew their job. No one had to tell
another person what to do. "No one
had to say, 'you go over on the
other side of the mow and throw
the sheaves over this way,'" said
Bruxer. "It was just something they
knew."
The average length of time spent
at each farm threshing was about a
day and a half to two days doing
three or four loads an hour on a 40-
50 acre farm. If everyone knew
their job, they could pack up and
move their machinery to a neigh-
bours farm in about 20 minutes. If
it was a bad year with a lot of rain
and you were trying to get some
threshing done, some of those guys
would get stuck for a lot of meals
and they never got much threshing
done, said Bruxer. "I can think of
one instance one poor woman put
up seven meals and I don't think
we threshed for two hours."
It didn't matter whether the crew
was through at five o'clock or 11,
you stayed for a meal, said
Rowland. They'd send one of the
children out to the barn to ask how
much longer you'd be.
You can't compare custom thresh-
ing with anything today - including
custom combining, said the trio.
"You don't have the manpower
around to start with today and it's
just different. There was a great
atmosphere of comradeship and it
was always fun," said Bruxer.
"With custom combining one man
can go and do the work of a dozen.
Only a very odd time does he get a
meal where he works. He usually
just packs a lunch and takes it with
him," said Kale. "The part I used to
enjoy most was from this time of
year on. You'd thresh to about six
o'clock and go in and have supper.
The people around the table would
start reminiscing, the older ones.
There was time for that then," said
Rowland.
For the people who owned the
farm, there was a great sense of
satisfaction when the threshing was
complete. "It was the culmination
of the year's work - the crop was
off, everything you worked for all
year was threshed. It was in the
granary, in storage. There was no
rush. Winter was coming on. There
were things to do but not the same
pressure."
Next week in the second part of
our feature we' 11 look at safety in
threshing, working with neighbours
and Robert Bell Industries.
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•
GENERAL MEETING NOTICE
The Huron Provincial Progressive Conservative Association is
holding a General Meeting on
Wednesday, September 21, 1994
at 8:00 p.m.,
in the Auditorium of the Clinton Town Hall.
This meeting has been called to elect delegates to attend the
Ontario Progressive Conservative Annual Meeting in London, heing
held November 18 to 20, 1994.
Those interested in heing a delegate to this meeting should attend.
For further information please call 23.5-1443, 524-9546, 357-3518 or
1-800-465-5143.
PERTH
COUNTY
30ARD OF
EDUCATION
.£UCA2mh 10* ALL
NIGHT SCHOOL
CLASSES
MITCHELL DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOL
INTEREST COURSES
CREDIT COURSES
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INTEREST COURSES
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Woodworking (Co-ed)
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Starting Time Fee
Date
Sept. 21/94 7 - 10 Free
Sept. 21/94 7 - 10 Free
Sept. 19/94 7 - 10 Free
:DUNV
30ARD OF
F. DUCAT:ON
aruuaott rot Au.
No. of
Sessions
30
30
30
Sept. 19 & 22 7 - 8 $46 20
Sept. 19/94 8 - 9:30 36 10
Sept. 19/94 7 - 9 65 10
Sept. 20/94 7 - 9 46 10
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Sept. 21/94 7- 9 46 10
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Sept. 22/94 7 - 9 46+ 10
Sept. 22/94 8 - 10 37 8
REGISTRATION
1, By mall •MDHS, • renes St. Mitchell. NOK 1 NO
(Cheques made out to
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2. By phone • 348-8495.
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3. In person - MDHS Mon. • Fri. 9:00 a.m. 10 4:00 p.m.
LAST REGISTRATION DATE: WED. SEPT. 14, 1994
-
at
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P. Stulp
Chair
HOME STUDY COURSES
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Adults wishing to earn a Secondary School
Graduation Diploma may be granted credits for
work ex • :nonce, maturity, equivalent education
�esliiip. Contact Bon J00011 at MOUS
for further information.
A.P.R. Sherratt
Director
a