"You remember when Mom's had her grocery store on King St. don't you?" asked Eileen Lee a longtime friend and acquaintance.
Well, to be honest I had to reply in the negative.
I was only four years old when her mom went into the grocery business; but as time rolled on and I became about six or seven years old I did recall the store and events she was referring to.
Eva Lee, who was the wife of Charlie Lee, owner of Lee's Dairy, became the proprietor of a grocery store known as "Maple Leaf Store" located at 100 1/2 King St. E.
"Mom was a lady who was always full of ambition and when my sister, Geraldine and I grew older she felt she wanted to do something besides keep house and help Dad with his dairy business.
Eve Lee decided to open a grocery store across the street from where they lived and at was in 1932 that she realized her dream.
Little was she aware that at the same time a chap by the name of Stan Henderson had a similar plan. His location was to be at the corner of King and St. David streets. At any rate the two went ahead with their dream not knowing who their competitor would be. In the final analysis Henderson was to close his store.
"Had I known it was you, Eva, I would have chosen elsewhere to open," he told her shortly before he closed.
"After school and on Saturdays my sister Geraldine and I would help Mom out but only when we could assure her that our school homework had been completed:" relates Eileen.
I was surprised when Eileen brought out a huge cardboard window display depicting the Union Jack with imprints of King George the VI and Princess Elizabeth who were about to be crowned as the British Empire rulers.
The moment I saw them I well recalled in my mind having seen copies of them in various store windows in our town and in school.
Eileen, a teacher in the Lindsay school system, saved those cardboard fixtures from "The Maple Leaf " grocery store and, when the time arose that our current Queen, and Philip Mountbatten, were to be crowned Queen and Prince Consort she struck on a great idea!
Wanting to teach her students about the Royal Family, Eileen used these same uprights from her mother's store in her classroom. The only difference was that she pasted pictures of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip over the faces of the former rulers.
Eileen still has the uprights and, I am certain, would never part with them.
John Hooper is available on the Internet at hoop@igs.net and appreciates those who have responded to his column.
