I have been thinking back over this past weekend about the many retail changes in Fort Frances and across the district. LaVallee, Devlin, Barwick Stratton, Pinewood, Bergland all had small general stores that carried everything from nuts to groceries servicing the immediate community. When I began composing ads back in 1966 using lead, there were many independent grocers in Fort Frances. There were two large grocery stores… Safeway and Shop-Easy. But there were many more family run neighbourhood stores across Fort Frances.
They were not large stores, but had essential items for everyone. Milk, bread delivered by either the Fort Frances Bakery or Roste’s that was baked fresh daily. Usually the father in the family was behind the meat counter, cutting up quarters or sides of beef or half hogs and then putting the cuts onto meat trays in the meat display case. Fresh ground beef was fresh because you watched the butcher grind it. Whatever cut of meat you wanted could always be found.
But much before then, the butchers would head out to the country to visit their favourite farmer and choose a steer to be butchered. It would be done at the farm and then brought back into the store and hung until it was needed. Fresh eggs came from farmers across the district as well. They were organic free-range eggs and the chickens were free range as well.
Most of those small independent stores have now disappeared across the district.
Growing up, milk was delivered early in the morning from Flinders Dairy by milk men. In the winter, you had to make sure to get it indoors before the cream burst the cap. Butter was produced at the Fort Frances creamery. In many ways, we as a district were self sufficient.
When I began selling advertising back in 1972, meat was ordered from Burn’s or Maple Leaf.
This pandemic has shown us once again the importance of locally produced meat. There was worry that pork, beef and poultry would be in short supply. Then the District discovered farm gate meat raised in the Rainy River District. There was no shortage of meat.
The farmer’s markets in Fort Frances and Rainy River have been delivering fresh vegetables and more families than in decades have started gardens. Annie Van Rozen and the Gerbers have delivered large quantities of fresh vegetables to our tables. Root crops grown locally now are available almost year round.
We now have several honey producers harvesting gallons of honey from hives across the District.
I wonder if the hog fuel generator on the mill property could be repurposed to deliver steam to a huge green house operation and the electrical power be sold into the hydro grid. If that were possible, then many of the vegetables only grown in the summer months would be available year round to District residents.
Looking at our history, our area had to be self sufficient. The pandemic has shown us once again that we should be self sufficient again.
Jim Cumming
Former Publisher
Fort Frances Times
