And then they were gone
Remembering the old convenience stores of New Waterford
Not long ago, family-owned convenience stores were a staple in every neighbourhood. I can think of almost a dozen such stores around New Waterford when I was growing up.
I’m not very old but I’m at an age where I can sadly say that I’m old enough to remember buying a bag of chips, a candy bar and a juice bag for just over a dollar. I think I even had a bit of change leftover for some mixed candy, the ones that cost a penny and were scooped into little brown paper bags by shop owners who threw in a few extra if you were exceptionally polite.
I recall the excitement in Lingan when the Kwik Way first opened. I no longer had to go into town with my parents to get treats. I could walk or bike there with my friends. When we got older, we went on big adventures all the way from Lingan to the big town of New Waterford.
Every time the gang rolled into town on our bikes, we were faced with a decision — which store to go to. Would we go to Cleaners on Plummer Avenue for those delicious pork pies from the bakery? Would we go to Muise’s Dairy for ice cream or House of Plenty for the variety of mixed candy?
There was one little store that had an ice cream bar that I liked, so naturally, I always wanted to go there. Usually, we went to every store along the way, so everyone could get what they wanted.
Entering a convenience store was much like walking into your neighbour’s kitchen and many stores were an extension of the owner’s home. There was always a radio or TV on, the smell of something cooking in another part of the building and of course, a friendly greeting.
Sometimes the shop owner pretended to be annoyed with the stream of kids spilling into the store requesting a dollar’s worth of one cent candies. That’s 100 candies each and sometimes there were five or six of us. I guess we could be a handful at times.
Unfortunately, I’ve forgotten the names of some of those stores. Do you remember the names of some of the stores that used to be around town? Did you have a favourite store that sold a special treat you couldn’t get anywhere else?
I love to take little trips down memory lane as I’m sure you do to, so I’d love to hear your stories about the little store that was the centrepiece of your neighbourhood when you were growing up.
I don’t specifically remember any of those stores closing. When I moved away in 2000, some of them were still open. However, every time I came home for a visit, there would be another vacant lot and then they were all gone. ****
Last month I wrote about the litter in the area and a reader brought another environmental issue to my attention — battery disposal.
I know I have tons of old batteries in a box waiting to be disposed of and although I intend to do that, it just doesn’t happen. What many people don’t know is that improperly storing and disposing of batteries can be dangerous.
I did a bit of research and there are two options available for battery disposal. You can drop them off at the Cape Breton Regional Municipality Household Special Waste Depot in Edwardsville or you can use the Call 2 Recycle program and take them to Canadian Tire in North Sydney or Home Depot or Staples in Sydney.
However, for us folks in the New Waterford area, these locations are still inconvenient, particularly for those who don’t have a vehicle.
I’ve heard that some shops and department stores in bigger city centres have chutes outside their stores so shoppers can drop off old batteries. I wonder if this is something we could have around here?
In other area news, I recently took a drive around Lingan and was pleased to see that the little Lingan Community Park has been fixed up. I’m not sure who to thank, but it looks much better. In fact, there were some people enjoying it the day I was there as I intend to enjoy it and many of the other parks around the area especially now that the warmer weather has finally arrived.
Andrea MacEachern was born and raised on the beautiful bay of Lingan. After a decade-long hiatus from the island, she returned to her roots and settled in downtown New Waterford where she enjoys blogging, writing, taking pictures, travelling, walking The Loop and spending much of her time outdoors exploring Cape Breton. She can be reached at maceachernandrea@gmail.com.