Manitoba Chamber of Commerce
Issue link: http://publications.winnipegfreepress.com/i/70344
<< Continued from page 33 first commercial venture, K.R. Reimer's Store (1875), inside a renovated chicken coop outfitted with a weigh scale. The farmer turned entrepreneur was "regarded warily by church elders who believed men should be farmers, carpenters or blacksmiths, but certainly not store owners," Kroeker says. However, Reimer's store and family flourished. He had 25 children by three successive wives, and many of his offspring started their own businesses. "At a family reunion in the 1970s about 1,000 descendants of Klaas Reimer showed up," Kroeker says. Kroeker's maternal grandfather, one of Klaas Reimer's sons, set up the Henry Wiebe Reimer Store across the street from his father in 1886. It grew into a 17,000 sq. ft. department outlet that sold everything from hardware and toys to groceries and horse tack. Kroeker says the Reimer trucking dynasty was launched in 1952 by descendant Frank F. (Carload Frank) Reimer and his son David. Now one of the largest trucking companies in Canada, it was renamed Reimer Express in 1997 when it was purchased by an American firm. The Mennonite tradition of volunteerism is also on display at MHV. Linda Schroeder is the head of the MHV Auxiliary, a group of volunteers who either work at the museum or hold fundraising events to support it. Schroeder and fellow volunteer Eleanor Hamm recently launched a fundraiser to celebrate the publication of Mennonite Girls Can Cook, a collection of recipes collected by Mennonite women in B.C., Manitoba and the U.S. Since the cookbook is sold in the MHV gift shop, Schroeder and Hamm asked a group of auxiliary women to sew handmade aprons similar to those illustrated on its cover. The colourful aprons sell for $29.95, and the matching cookbook is $24.95. Profits from sales support the village. www.mennoniteheritagevillage.com 34 MBiz June 2012 Photo credit: David Square WHITEMOUTH RESIDENTS CAN'T CROSS THEIR BRIDGE WHEN THEY COME TO IT by David Square FUNDING GAP DIVIDES TOWN Whitemouth is a community divided. But a citizens' ad hoc committee is determined to rebuild a bridge spanning the Whitemouth River that conveniently connected the town. The provincial government has allotted $2 million to repair small bridges that are vital links between communities. However, committee member Cal Kirby says the fund can't cover the estimated $1.2 million cost of replacing the structure. "It's the total amount set aside to fix or replace all the rural bridges in Manitoba that require attention," Kirby says. To date, the committee has fundraised $250,000 from a population of 400 to reconstruct the bridge closed to vehicles in 2003. One young girl held a bake sale and raised $58 for the cause. Kirby has been trying to find provincial or federal government grant money to cover part of the cost. "Private-Public Partnerships Canada will grant $100 (million) to $300 million toward infrastructure projects," he says, smiling. "But I decided it was more than our venture required." Otherwise, there isn't much money available from any level of government to fund small rural infrastructure reconstruction. To make matters more difficult, the RM of Whitemouth, citing insurance and liability problems, was recently forced to close the bridge to pedestrian traffic. Members of the Whitemouth Bridge Committee (from left) Juanita Cousins, Jerry Cousins, Lissy Marohn, Manny Sikkenga, Amy Kirby, Glarm Sikkenga, Don McDonald and Cal Kirby. EASTERN