What is 50 years? In Latin the word is
jubilar, which literally means to make sounds of joy. That
is the purpose of a Jubilee, joy to all concerned, a time
for celebrating, an occasion to look back with satisfaction
and pride. It is a time to reflect on the hard times and
the grand times. It is the opportunity to remind ourselves
of all the people along the journey who helped us, the sacrifices
our family, our partners and team members made to survive
in this fanatically competitive world.
The summer of 1955 in Hinton was interesting,
there was a whole lot of activity on the mill site. The
contractor was leveling the site for the mill. The Hinton
Hotel, Skogg's Store, Fuller's Garage and Fred Hanson's
bulk fuel were the established businesses. The upstarts
Clarke's Menswear, Jack and Mary Swityk's Hinton Dry Goods,
Merv's Shoe Repair, Alex Maystrom's Campsite Grocery, Bud
and Nel Ford's Bakery, Clarence Rempel's Hardware Store,
Nellie's handicraft shop and her husband John the barber
recent immigrants, trying to get a start in life.
In this milieu Freson Market set up its
shop between Maystrom and Swityk on skids and we were all
joined by Montemurro's Theater and a pool hall that doubled
as a flop house after midnight. If perchance you didn't
have a place to sleep after midnight and you had two bucks,
you could sleep on the pool tables, at times sharing it
with three or four guys. They always said it was better
than sleeping outside on a bench. All but Clarke's were
marshaled by Eric Potter a provincial employee, to a make-shift
campsite. There was no electricity, no gas, no water except
for a well about a hundred meters from our campsite. It
was like the pictures you see of present day Africa where
women and kids line up for water with pails and jugs. Pat
O'Hara of O'Hara Electric chose to squat on land near highway
16.
Things were going great until freeze up, then all the workers
went home, except us business people who were committed
to business survival, we had no place to go. In late December
there was a great celebration, Calgary Power hooked Hinton
up to their transmission lines and we had secure no fuss
no muss electric power. Being the only full time employee
of Fresons, I was especially pleased that I no longer had
to service and gas up the generator at the back of the store.
Business was very slow for the winter months and in the
early spring when the sunlight started melting the snow
around the school, my only employee Jack Kilba played marbles
with his pals. Jack was not a great marble player and he
kept losing all his marbles. One day while he was complaining
to me, I said to Jack, we have sawdust on the butcher shop
floor, invite your fiends to the shop and we will play marbles
with them. Having had many a lessons given to me on the
Coal Branch, I was a better player than Jack's friends.
I would win 25 to 30 marbles from the kids in the evening,
then I would give them to Jack which he proceeded to lose
the next day. That evening I would re-win the marbles for
him. This continued for almost a month until it warmed up
and we began playing scrub. With the warm weather the construction
workers, our customers started coming back to Hinton.
Business got better by the month, in November
our sales were $3,200, December $3,258, January $3,260,
February $3,453, March $3,246, April $6,517, May $7,305.
I thought the world was my oyster when in July we recorded
over $10,000 in sales. Our first year sales totaled
$95,249. What really impresses me now were the yearly expenses.
Advertising was $201, U.I.C. was $7.12 my wages were $2,775
other wages were $1,718, and these were all yearly figures.
To put these figures into perspective, today we spend $2.5
million in advertising and over $15 million on wages per
year.
In the winter of 1956 we ventured in to
the grocery business. 1958 after a fire to our neighbor
we doubled our store size. Again, in 1960 we expanded so
we had 6,000 sq. ft. and a volume of a half million yearly.
The store had grown in five years from 900 sq. ft by 6.7
times its size.
1962 saw us opening a store in Peace River,
in 1964 brother Dan opened Fairview IGA, in 1966 Frank Darr
one of our bright part time school kids became a partner
and began managing High Prairie IGA. I would be remiss if
I didn't mention Jack Wilton who came with the High Prairie
store in 1966 and is the father of Shane, who manages the
produce department and is presently assisting Shane in the
department. We continue to grow with 14 stores occupying
402,966 sq. ft. and 900 of us employed. We don't play marbles
in the sawdust anymore, since sawdust is no longer allowed
in any food store. When we talk about losing marbles now
days, its probably the speed of the synapses in the old
noodle and I can vouch for some significant slow ones.
Time of course stops for no one and I
recognize that people retire and pass on. On occasions like
this, I remember with great respect and admiration my parents,
my first partners Frank and Leo Resek who are all now deceased.
I remember the challenges and good times we had, with all
our managing partners Frank Darr, Bernie Auger, Joe Dobrich,
Lloyd Stevens, Pete Chalick and Paula Slobodian who have
all retired. Although my brother Dan and I still watch with
a critical eye, the torch has been passed to Mike, George,
Gary, Doug, Vince, Pete Jr., Lorin, Dennis, Mike M., Ken,
Doug, Ken H., Aaron, Tom and Dirk. If I were Bob Hope, I
would sing thanks for the memories but I prefer Ralph Hodgson's
poem, Time You Old Gipsy Man.
Time, you old gipsy man,
Will you not stay,
Put up your caravan
Just for one day?
All things I'll give you
Will you be my guest,
Bells for your jennet
Of silver the best,
Goldsmiths shall beat you
A great golden ring,
Peacocks shall bow to you,
Little boys sing.
Oh, and sweet girls will
Festoon you with may,
Time, you old gipsy,
Why hasten away?
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