Manitoba Chamber of Commerce
Issue link: http://publications.winnipegfreepress.com/i/70344
the years. During the Depression, when money was scarce, he gave each of his nine children $1,000 when they married. His blacksmith business was passed on to sons John (Gordon's father) and Ronald. John died in 1961 and Ronald operated the business until 1971. A replica of the shop and the original tools are now displayed at the Mennonite Heritage Village (MHV). There's another story of the area's entrepreneurial spirit behind the replica of Steinbach's original 1877 windmill. Al Hamm recounts that his grandfather came from Prussia to Manitoba in 1911 to visit cousins in a small village near Altona. Young Bruno Hamm, who was a qualified miller, wanted to stay in Canada, but he needed full-time employment to do so. One of Bruno's cousins suggested that the lad move to Grunthal where a new windmill had just been built. "And so my grandfather took his cousin's advice and went to Grunthal where he not only got a job, but married the miller's daughter as well," Al says. The first replica windmill on the MHV grounds was completed in 1972. Arsonists burned it down in October of 2000, but a year later the present windmill was dedicated on the site. When he retired from the Steinbach Credit Union, Al Hamm Previous page left: Steel wheels: Gordon Kreutzer with the rim of wagon wheel. Previous page right: Head miller Al Hamm's grandfather operated a windmill much like the working mill at Steinbach's Mennonite Heritage Village. Linda Schroeder (left) and Eleanor Hamm model aprons inspired by the Mennonite Girls Can Cook cookbook. volunteered to operate the reconstructed windmill. Since his grandfather was a miller, he felt he'd be continuing a family tradition. He is now the senior operator and one of eight volunteers certified to run the mill. "We earn money for the MHV by grinding wheat seed into whole wheat flour that is sold in the gift store," he says. The mill also grinds wild rice into gluten-free flour for the Shoal Lake Wild Rice Company of Kenora. Another example of Mennonite business acumen is found in the genes of Steinbach's Reimer family. Art Kroeker says their story began in 1874 when his great grandfather, Klaas R. Reimer, emigrated from Ukraine to farm in southern Manitoba. Reimer had five children when he arrived and as there was no store in Steinbach, he had to travel to Winnipeg by ox cart to buy clothing, a trip that took an entire day. During one trip to Winnipeg, a dry goods store owner named Mr. Whitlaw suggested Klaas take a crate load of clothing back to Steinbach to sell on consignment. Thus began Steinbach's >> EASTERN BEAUSEJOUR & DISTRICT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BLUE WATER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE DE SAINT-PIERRE-JOLYS FALCON - WEST HAWK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE GRUNTHAL & DISTRICT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE LAC DU BONNET & DISTRICT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE LANDMARK & AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE NIVERVILLE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PINAWA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ST. MALO & DISTRICT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE STEINBACH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ELITE FITNESS & DANCE INC. 10 Cedar Drive, Box 8, Niverville, MB R0A 1E0 1-204-388-6300 info@elitefitnessanddance.com www.elitefitnessanddance.com MBiz June 2012 33 EASTERN