A village store was more than a supply depot; it was a gathering place for villagers and farmers and a good place to keep abreast
of all the area happenings.
THE "OTHER GENERAL STORE"
Ed Bond and Howard Heath operated the competition and sold many of the same lines as Steer's General Store. During the decades between the two wars this merchandising outlet was operated by several entrepreneurs: Jack Howlett, Bob Love, William Talbot were all village merchants and carried on business in the Masonic building store.
BELLAMY'S HARDWARE
Bob Bellamy was the hardware merchant and tinsmith. This business was completely destroyed by fire in the late twenties and rebuilt as a grocery-hardware store and Bob continued as the local tinsmith. Before the fire Mrs. Bellamy sold toys from a small shop connected to the store. The front window was a gathering place for the village children to admire a new toy truck or china faced doll.
Bellamy's Store was sold during the early depression years and eventually became the gathering place for the village youth who could listen to the current music hits on the Juke Box.
THE BUTCHER SHOP
This enterprise had many owners and changed locations on several occasions. George Webb, The Lamont Family and Marsh Allen sold meat from the small shop in front of the residence. Henry Allen moved across the street and was followed by Miller and Evoy in this location. Joe Hayes moved to another Main Street location and Harry Glover opened his meat outlet south of the tracks.
THE VILLAGE BAKERY
Every village needed a bake shop. Mr. and Mrs. Brown operated a small shop and specialized in glazed, raisin buns. The bakery shop became commercial with home delivery under the ownership of several bakers. Bakery entrepreneurs named Groom, Dingman, Webb, Haggerty and Robinson supplied, at different periods, bread and pastries to the villagers.
FEED AND SEED SUPPLY
The Farmers Co-operative operated a grist mill and sold flour, cement, grain and twine. They also dealt in livestock and shipped each Saturday to Toronto. Quaker Oats made the mill its local outlet for livestock and poultry feed and farmers brought their seed grain to the mill for cleaning.
Hugh McPhail managed his enterprise with the help of Ernest McCracken and he was succeeded by several other farmers. Members of the Co-op. took turns during busy periods.
Charles Steer maintained a feed and seed business in the Orange Lodge building. Purina Mills, an American manufacturer of livestock, poultry and pet food appointed this outlet as their local dealer and painted the front of the store with their Red and White checker board corporate colors. This business was also the farm equipment outlet for International Harvester machinery. The warehouse was the domain of Charlie's brother. Bob and his light horse could frequently been seen with a wagonload of cement, feed or bran, being transported from the railway to the store.
THE LUMBER MILL
Longfield Bros. lumber mill was the main industry of the village. This enterprise employed several men in various capacities. The three brothers each had individual areas of expertise. Bill, the president of the company divided his time between accounting, purchasing, timber cruising, saw-mill operation and general overseeing of the business. Gordon was the inside man in charge of the machinery , design of special millwork, general supervisor of the mill operations. Edward, the outside man, divided his time between operations in the coal yard, the lumber storage building and yard, logs for the sawmill and a Barton & Rumble truck. In private, there may have been differences; in public, they were a well organized team of brothers with the best interests of the company coming first.
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