Berry’s Allied Hardware - The Clock Ticks On

Today's blog post is lifted right from the pages of the 1965 Reston Recorder. A post here from almost 2 years ago tells the story of that corner in Reston where Reston Drugs now sits. Edward Hanlon Berry, his father Anson and brothers Fred, Harcourt, Lewis D. and Lawrence made huge contributions to early businesses and life in Reston and Cromer. The next generation, John Berry was in charge of the store in 1965 when renovations took place. Berry Hardware was a dependable advertiser in the Reston Recorder and a few from 1965 are copied and pasted below. This article - The Clock Ticks On -  is so was well written, I can just picture the scene!  See if you can too.

It’s a completely renovated interior that visitors to the Berry Hardware here will view on the official opening next Thursday, Friday and Saturday, except for one item – the large pendulum wall clock which has been ticking off the seconds, minutes and hours for over 50 years.
Customers will tread on the new newly laid tile floor, view the wares displayed on new gondolas on the floor and on new shelving on the walls, all ultra modern under the new lighting system while the old clock keeps ticking off the time.
The clock on the north wall towards the front of the store has a massive pendulum suspended from several rods of different kinds of metal, designed so the temperature changes do not affect its accuracy. The design works, for it has been keeping time for all these years.
It was purchased many years ago by the late E. H. Berry, founder of the firm, when he was in the jewelry business here and was the official watchmaker for this C.P.R. He use the clock to test the accuracy of the railroad watches he repaired.
It is fitting that this one link with the past should be retained and it looks right at home in the ultra modern store, hanging in the place it has occupied for so many years.

The clock ticked on in this building that was constructed in 1922 until the mid seventies when the remaining goods were sold by auction and the building was torn down in 1975. I do wonder if that magnificent clock ticks on somewhere?  Perhaps one of my readers will have the rest of the story.  

Square Deal Co-op

Reston Recorder November 1965

The business known as the Square Deal Co-Op began at Ewart, MB in 1929 with farmers pooling their money in a co-operative to start a fuel supply business. E.J. "Eddie" Guthrie was at the original meeting where the goal was to get 57 farmers to sign up at $25 each a share to finance the venture. The first board was chaired by James Stuart Donald with Joe Wood as vice president. David J. Brownlee was the secretary, Ed Walker, Tom McKay and W.J. Hitchcock were on the board with Eddie Guthrie. Joe Wood was hired as the Co-op Manager that summer so Archie Campbell took his spot on the board. A plant was established with storage tanks and pumping facilities and the next year an office was built. Business continued through the hard years of the depression when sometimes members needed to personally guarantee the fuel supplier would be paid to receive delivery.   Much discussion happened in 1944, when it was proposed to move the facilities to Reston. The motion to move carried 26 votes to 15.

A building on the west side of Main Street (which was later Bernice's Fabric Gallery) was the start of the Square Deal Co-Op in Reston.  Expansion came with community support and a fertilizer shed was built in 1963. Lots were purchased from Hugh Buscarlet and Harry Forrest for a new farm supplies store.  The warehouse was built on the north side of the lots where the  Fumerton/Baldwin block had been and the farm supplies service center on the Cates block space.  The lumber warehouse was (and still is) to the southeast of these buildings where Reuben Johnson had previously run a draying business.  Doug Donald was president when the new locations were opened. 

The grand opening of these buildings was just about exactly 57 years ago from writing this post! 

Bulk fuel deliveries were the mainstay of the Square Deal Co-Op and operated for many decades. Lloyd Johnson was in charge of fuel and deliveries from 1959 to 1980 from tanks on Railroad Avenue. Edwin's account above for $6.65 was entered by Fred Paul, a longtime employee as was Bob Clark and Clifford Smith. Hardware and farm supplies were also important goods as is shown in the receipts below from 1962 and 1967. 

The hardware and lumber divisions had separate managers and many names are associated with the Square Deal.  Gordon Bieber moved to Reston in 1970 to be lumber manager.  He boarded with Mary and John MacDonald until he bought his own home just to the east of it.  He and his family lived here until 1976 when he transferred to Melville Co-op.  Please let me know in the comments below or to ssimms@escape.ca if you know of other former managers or employees. The stories of the people of Reston's past are so important to preserve!

Opening Specials 1965 - Clipped from Reston Recorder online

On December 1980, the Square Deal Co-Op  hardware and lumber division was closed and it became T&C Hardware.  Later, it became Stewart Lumber operated and party owned by Brian Zarn. It became part of the Pro Hardware franchise eight years down the road in 1989. Many local homes and businesses were constructed over these 26 years with materials supplied by Stewart Lumber. North American Lumber took over for a time and the store ceased operation in June of 2007. Hometown Lumber & Supply opened in this space in the fall of 2016 and are going strong. Square Deals continue in Reston!

November, 2022 - 57 years after the Grand Opening

Remembering King Edward VII in 1910

Today's post originates from a church service folder that has survived since May of 1910 to help tell the story of a small town on the Manitoba prairies remembering King Edward VII of England.  Edward VII was the son of Queen Victoria and came to the throne upon her death in 1901. After one day's illness, he died on May 6, 1910.  Word quickly spread around the world and as one of the British colonies, Canada was in mourning. It was the end of the Edwardian Era. 

An announcement in the May 19, 1910 issue of the Reston Recorder told citizens that a memorial service for the late monarch was set for Friday May 20th at 2:30 pm.  Businesses were to be closed from 1:00 on and the school children would march as a body from the school. The Citizens Band and a Union Choir would provide musical accompaniment. It was reported afterward that the church was filled with citizens showing their loyalty and respect.  

Picture postcard from Peel's here  - Built in 1902

The Memorial Service folder titled "The King Is Dead" below was printed for each person in attendance including the school children.  Thanks to the Olenicks for saving this one in their collection of Reston pictures and memorabilia. What an interesting quest to track down the names mentioned taking part in this service over 112 years ago!

I assume that Rev. A. J. Tufts was the man in charge of the Reston Presbyterian Church where the service was held.  The Methodists had their own building that still stands as a cozy home on the corner of Second Street and Third Avenue until they combined with the Presbyterians and worshipped in the current Reston United Church.  

The reader of the scripture was E. B. Groulx who was the minister of the St. John's Anglican Church, also known as the English Church.   

The address was read by A.E. Smith, a man prominent in local municipal affairs along with being a businessman.

Reston Citizen's Band 1910 - Picture from Reston District Museum

George Sumner who gave a solo appears in the above picture of the band in the back row behind the drum with the moustache.  He  was a tinsmith in Reston for a short time, working for the Manitoba Hardware Company. 

Rev W. Reid was pastor of the Reston Baptist church.

The service ended with The Dead March in Saul, written by Handel in 1738.  You may recognize the tune here played on an organ the way it would have been in 1910. Miss May Jackson was the 20 something daughter of Thomas Wesley Jackson who was a prominent businessman in Reston's early days. 

George V King 1910-1936

Son of Edward VII, George V was now the new King and the following quote was found in the Recorder. 

Rev. Tufts spoke briefly on the new King and the bright prospect of his being a worthy successor to Edward VII

He would lead the Commonwealth through World War 1 and he along with his wife Queen Mary witnessed the rapid changing of times for almost 3 decades.  On the death of George V in 1936, his son Edward VIII was King for less than a year until he abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson. His brother Bertie, known as George VI took the throne in December of 1936.  His daughter Elizabeth became Queen in 1952 for the next 70 + years.  Quite the change from 112 years ago - her passing wasn't marked with a local memorial but we could all tune into as much coverage as we wanted through the media.  King Charles III is now the monarch and the anthem played at Remembrance Day services was once again - God Save the King. 

Reston and Area Residents at War

Remembrance week gives us an opportunity to think back about the veterans that chose to leave the streets and farms of our community to fight overseas.  In the past, emphasis has been placed on those who did not return but with the passage of time and programs like No Stone Left Alone  the soldiers who survived and came home are remembered. 

The pride of Reston! Picture below is of eleven young men standing in front of the train station on their way to World War Two.  Identified men are in the front row starting on the left are John Milliken, Wilf Ellis, ?, Jim Milliken.  Other names associated with the picture are Bill Bulloch, Lew Watt, Don Bulloch, Neuf Olenick, Dave Zarn, Reg Low, George Cheyne and Tom Low but I don’t know which is which.  Please send me a message at ssimms@escape.ca if you can help with this. I see a few grins and a few grimaces and notice the variety of cap badges which denote the branch the men were returning to join. 

Picture courtesy of Wendy (Milliken) Bulloch

Past blog posts list the information behind the names on the Reston Cenotaph from the First World War here and Second World War here . Two of those men from WW2 who made the ultimate sacrifice are in the hometown picture below.  Andrew Glenn Caldwell and Kenneth Cameron McMurchy .  So sad to think this was likely their last visit home and how the others carried the memories with them of those days.

Thanks to Kay and Bonnie Guthrie for sharing this photo. 

James Burton (Burt) Pierce is identified on the photo below as the man on the far right. I wonder if the other soldiers are buddies from Reston or those he met on duty.  Burt was well known in the Reston area for having the G.S. Munro Company Ltd Store on Main street for many years after he returned from the war until selling it in 1977.  He and his wife Alice are also remembered for their philanthropy, leaving generous bequests to several local places. 

From John and Vera Olenick photo collection

Access to the back issues of the Reston Recorder here allows for some great insight of Reston and area  during both wars by just choosing a date and reading.  The district correspondents from Hillview, Belses, Kelvindale, Braeside, Huston and so many more kept readers up to date on the young people overseas.  Letters home from the boys (and girls) were printed along with reports of wounded missing and killed.  Recorder editor and publisher Russell Manning was serving in the Air Force and he was a strong booster for memorial projects in the area such as the Reston Memorial Theatre after the war as well.   

 

A stanza from the poem For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon                                                                                                                                 They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.


Source: The London Times (1914)

 

People of Our Past - Reston Girls Club

Is it by Google searching the name of your mother, grandmother or great grandmother that landed you on this blog post today?  Maybe it was another female ancestor and maybe this is the first time you've seen their face?  Mission accomplished!  I receive emails occasionally from someone who stumbled across one of my family history posts who is connected and the internet hits I've found myself over the years make me think this my be an important post today. No one will find connections to the pictures that I have on the hard drive of my computer, I need to post them!

Picture supplied to the Reston Recorder by Alex Milliken of Penticton, B.C. sometime in the 1980's (?)

 Top row - left to right Jessiemen Prentice (Mrs. Gordon Mathews), Nellie Brown, Mabel Hales, Unknown, Polly McDougall (Mrs. J. Cadham), Mary Milliken (Mrs. J. Jardine), Marion Robertson (Mrs. Art Manning), Elsie Prentice, Jewel Brown (Mrs. Peach), Grace Shippam, Mae Jackson

Bottom row - left to right Lizzie Bulloch (Mrs. Jos. Robertson), Edith Bulloch (Mrs. Lloyd Fumerton), Ida Rankin (Mrs. Merv Evans), Annie MacLachlan (Mrs. Clyde Bulloch), Ethel Hales (Mrs. Ralph Shippam), Edith Munro (Mrs. Herb McIntosh), Zel Collins, Ida Rankin (Mrs. Godin), Marie Burge (Mrs. McLean)

Text of clipping - Does anyone know when the above picture was taken?  It came courtesy of Alex Milliken of Penticton, B.C. And it came via the Berry collection from Burton Berry, who rescued the picture from an old granary on his farm.  

The girls are from left to right Vera Cavanaugh, Christine Guthrie, Grace Shippam, Jessie Prentice, Myrtle Evans, Elsie Prentice, Polly McDougall, Helen Brady, Dee Bulloch, Vicki Brown, Ethel Bingley, May Tanner, Janet McDonald, Ruth Morris

It is beloved that Christine Guthrie (Mrs. Christine Brinkworth of the Good Samaritan Nursing Home Southgate 4222-107th Street, Edmonton) is the only living member of the group. 

There are a few clues to date the photo.  The modest high neck style and hair-dos remind me of the Edwardian era - the early 1900's.  A check of Find a Grave for some of these ladies show they were born 1884-1887 era.  So I’m guessing the pictures were taken before 1910.  Leslie Eaton was one of the photographers of the Winnipeg Photo Company during this time.    

I am not able to supply much more information about todays post but it is really just a chance to share these photos. My hope is someone searching for one of these ladies will find the picture of her and that it might be the only one in existence. I did make links for the women to Find a Grave if I found them.  As always, I'd love to hear any more information about the ladies who called Reston "home" over a century ago.