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w f Forty years in the m e a t marketing business is s?owly winding to a close for Joe White, of White's Meat Market on McAnnany Street. . . Mr. White sold his store this week to a former employee, Leonard Shanque, but he'll be around for a while yet. Jllhealth following a heart .ittack this winter has forced Mr. White to curtail his activities, but he'll work parttime for the new owner during the busy weekend hours. The White family's involvement in the meat business in Belleville began in 1932, when Mr. White's father came from Toronto to buy the \Villard Reid business, located where The Intelligencer parking lot now stands. Mr. White and his brother Stanley, who died lour years ago, worked with their father in the business. In 1945 they took over, Mr. White has seen t h e - - l lie meat business change over the last 40 years from a strictly local operation to one involving large national packing companies. Until the late 1950s, the Whites owned their own slaughter house in Rossmore. They bought animals from local farmers, killed and dressed them themselves. "In those days, the farmer had only the butcher standing between him and the consumer," says Mr. White. It involved, he admits, more time and more work. Departments of health a n d the government placed more and more restrictions on small slaughter houses and t h e y were gradually abandoned, White's among them. "Now everything c o m e s from the packers," savs Mr. White. Over the years Mr. White has seen two standard items dropped from his stock -- fresh killed lamb and veal. -- «^V2>lrvv-'-*"^ Up Cleaver ' "*£'· ~^6^^ c ^)J v/ /°c "We used to sell lots of it; now its untouchable," he says. Because of its high price, Mr. White hasn't handled fresh veal for two years, and he now carries only frozen New Zealand lamb. Although the business has changed hands, Jie same familiar faces will greet customers at White's. The new owner is retaining the old name and the same staff. Mr. Shanque was educated in Belleville at St. Michael's Academy and BCL F r o m school he went to work for White's in 1955, and left in 1968 to work for the Ontario department of correction services. The son of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Shanque of Belleville, he is married and has two sons and a .daughter. Long-time employees Peter Holley and Art Stewart will remain with the store. "Service will continue as in the past," says Mr. White.