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My Story

August 23, 2015

I am PenelopeI grew up in Kettleby Village; the word village evokes a time and place suggestive of simplicity. It was.

I spent my first eight years in the Tdot, but my parents decided that the big city was not the place to raise children, so we made the transition to country living in time for me to start grade four.

Kettleby Village was an idyllic place to grow up, smack dab in the middle of King Township, south of highway 9, north of the Aurora Llyodtown Road, just moments east of the 400 highway.

The village was so far off the beaten trail, my brothers could ride their big wheel trikes down the middle of the main/only street, without fear of a head on collision with a vehicle, although they usually had a spotter on the curve, just to be safe.

The concept of supporting local is completely logical for me, ingrained, as that was how I was raised. Local shopping in the village meant walking across the street, literally.

The Kettleby General Store stocked all the necessities, and candy.

I was a hit with the sugar junkies in grade school, the kid with the dubble bubble supply; just give me your change in exchange for a small brown paper bag of the good stuff.

My teachers were not amused.

The general store wasn’t where one did the family shopping for the week, but when you ran out of milk, or needed fresh bread, they had it. Fresh chickens or ducks were at the farm on the nearby side road; free range wasn’t in our vocabulary, poultry roamed about the farm as one expected poultry to do.

Going “into town” for a big shopping trip was still local, just a ten minute drive to neighbouring Aurora or Newmarket. Geez it takes me longer than that to get to the south end of Barrie!

King City had a bakery when I was a child; there was a butcher in Schomberg.   The gas station was up the hill or a concession over if you needed to get a car wash too.

Local meant community, it still does. Not only did the general store have everything you might need in a pinch, they were the hub for community conversation.

When we shopped at the general store, we supported the family that owned it. They in turn supported the community by being the gathering place, the employer of many young teens, and the watchful, caring eye for elders or invalids.

It was and still is a symbiotic relationship. Benefits abound.

When you put your money where your fork goes, the money stays in your community. The passing of the years hasn’t changed that. I know there will always be folks who for many reasons, put cost first with their purchases, but the bigger picture is that dollars spent locally improve our local economy and bring more opportunities with it.

Without our local shops, cafes, restaurants and their owners, we miss the benefits that exist separate from economy; we miss out on the relationships.

I write about the relationships that feed me, emotionally and physically, please join me.

kettleby old postcard

Curtis House Drawing Kettleby

Curtis House, Kettleby Village, Original Drawing

 

Kettleby 1842 sign

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1 Comment

  • Reply Eleanor Cambourne Sibbert September 30, 2015 at 2:45 pm

    As a child of Kettleby as well, your description of your early life mimics my own. I especially like the original drawing of your family home. I am quite pleased that we have reconnected after so many years.

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