The Representative, Leduc, Alberta, May 3, 1978*<\/strong> Page 19<\/strong><\/p>\n [The year] 1929 saw the economic collapse of most of the world\u2019s countries.<\/p>\n Canada was no exception, although the prairie provinces in general took a much longer period Beaumont was fortunate in that the area did not experience the concurrent, tragic dustbowls As a consequence of good crops, it would appear that local farmers took matters in hand during Wheat in the early 30\u2019s sold for 19 cents a bushel, hogs for $1.90 per hundred weight, eggs for Lumber, cut locally for mine-shaft props, was exchanged for coal to fuel stoves and furnaces. Many homes had Delco power plants, small generators capable of producing 32 volts, in their Produce, such as potatoes, was stored in dugout cellars, usually under the farm house. A Hired hands, paid $5 a month by local farmers, were subsidized an additional $5 by the Horses rather than gasoline, powered equipment and were used for hauling, travel and farm On occasions when farm families could sell produce, for example eggs, at the local stores, they The stores in Beaumont stocked non-[perishables] in bulk. Molasses cans, brought by People of the time remember taking eggs into town to sell packed in grain. Once the eggs were In times such as these, ingenuity was necessary for survival. This ingenuity took many forms. Snow was often scarce on the high level bridge in Edmonton, so Mr. Roberge and companions Upon arrival at the threshold of the then one-lane bridge, they would wait patiently for the first Farmers established on their land before the depression managed fairly well.<\/p>\n Mr. Arthur LeBlanc, whose family has been in the Beaumont area since 1894, bought his 160 In 1928, he built a large, five-bedroom house on the farm for about $5,000, lumber being sold at Between 1930 and 1970, Beaumont had five priests serve the parish. Each brought his own Pg. 20<\/strong><\/p>\n have left their mark on Beaumont\u2019s history.<\/p>\n Father Gaborit served the parish for 16 years, from 1924 until his death in 1940. It was Father Father Chartrand took over the ministry of St Vital parish after Father Gaborit\u2019s death. In 1942, The celebration included a banquet in the church basement, a procession through the village, Father Chartrand was replaced by Father J.E. Lapointe in 1945. He devoted himself to the Father Lapointe organized and personally took part in the construction of the community hall, Oblats from College St. Jean in Edmonton conducted religious services in Beaumont until Father Robert immediately organized renovations to the church. The final work was so thorough That same year, 1958, a new rectory was also built. During its construction, Father Robert lived Father Robert, now [1978] in Edmonton, is remembered as a mild-mannered man whose Father Ren\u00e9 Jacob arrived in the village after Father Robert, in 1963, from a parish in Jasper For 40 years, from 1932 to 1972, Les Filles de J\u00e9sus (Daughters of Jesus) provided religious Ecole Bellevue was built in 1949 when the old school was dismantled and the wood used to The history of commerce and business in Beaumont is vital and dynamic. That local area people From time to time, until 1970, commerce within the village has included general stores, a bank, The northwest corner of 50th Street and 50th Avenue has been the [center] of continuing Another busy location has been the site of the old credit union on 50th Avenue. In the early In the early 1940\u2019s, Mr. Baril ran the store until Joe LeBlanc bought the building in about 1946 Another egg-grading station was opened during the depression on the south end of 51st street.<\/p>\n Alcide Magnan, in the 1930\u2019s, purchased a store from Mr. LeBlanc. The store was originally Every manner of goods were sold, including a supply of coffins stored upstairs over the main A gas pump near the store provided fuel for a fire which broke out from a burning coal oil lantern Mr. Magnan built a new store where the \u201cChateau on the Hill\u201d now* stands. He operated the As well as places for business, these general stores served as social gathering places. Men In 1927, the Vaugeois family took over a pool hall previously owned by Alex Gobeil. The Mr. Chatel owned a store near the Goudreau Dairy at the same time that Mr. Leblanc\u2019s store [Omer] Royer operate a store a block west of the church on 50th Avenue in the early 20\u2019s. He Several blacksmiths operated in the village from time to time \u2013 Long, Charbonneau and Gravel A small restaurant was opened by Maurice Leblanc in the village. Mr. Henri Gobeil bought the In 1927, Mrs. Charbonneau became village postmistress and remained so, with the post office World War II is remembered as a sad and prayerful time by those left in Beaumont. Reports of Farmers still remained self-sufficient. When the economy began to pick up again, they began to Pg. 23<\/strong><\/p>\n Economic prosperity for the farmers was slow in coming. Local residents remember a farmer\u2019s Concerts, plays, banquets and basket socials were all activities enjoyed by the community in the That same hill while providing such fun and enjoyment to young people, was a nemesis for Modernization of the village, in terms of utilities, was slow in coming. The one exception was the In 1947, Calgary Power signed a franchise agreement with the County of Leduc to supply Water was still being drawn from wells or cisterns until 1961, when a water pipe line from As the 1970\u2019s approached, change and growth loomed on Beaumont\u2019s horizon.<\/p>\n The hamlet becoming a village, with its own municipal government, signaled a landmark in (To be continued)<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" PART 3 The Representative, Leduc, Alberta, May 3, 1978* Beaumont Fortunate in Dustbowl Depression By Barbara and Bob Willis Page 19 [The year] 1929 saw the economic collapse of most… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-151","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.beaumontheritage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.beaumontheritage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.beaumontheritage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.beaumontheritage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.beaumontheritage.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=151"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.beaumontheritage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2926,"href":"http:\/\/www.beaumontheritage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/151\/revisions\/2926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.beaumontheritage.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nBeaumont Fortunate in Dustbowl Depression<\/strong>
\nBy Barbara and Bob Willis<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nof time to recuperate from the effects of the depression than did the rest of the country.<\/p>\n
\nthat destroyed the livelihood of thousands of prairie farm families.<\/p>\n
\nthe depression and produced goods for their own use. Butter was homemade and wheat ground
\ninto flour at mills in Leduc or Edmonton. Due to depressed commodity prices, farmers found it
\nworth more to keep their own produce than to try to sell it.<\/p>\n
\nsix cents a dozen and beef cattle for so little it wasn\u2019t worth trucking them to the city.<\/p>\n
\nThe coal was hauled from three miles west of Ellerslie.<\/p>\n
\nbasements.<\/p>\n
\nburning lantern would be left to give off enough heat to prevent freezing in the winter and the
\nunderground coolness preserved food stuffs in the summer heat.<\/p>\n
\ngovernment to keep the men off welfare and out of the city soup lines.<\/p>\n
\nwork. Tractors were left in sheds or barns for use in the future when fuel could be afforded. A
\nfew farmers such as Pierre B\u00e9rub\u00e9 and Paul Magnan operated vehicles to pick up milk, cream,
\ngrain, and eggs for those who had no transportation.<\/p>\n
\nweren\u2019t paid cash. Rather, goods were taken in exchange or credit extended for future
\npurchases.<\/p>\n
\ncustomers from home, were filled for 25 cents from the store\u2019s large barrel. Vinegar and coal oil
\nfor lamps were sold the same way. There was no such thing as the brown paper bag \u2013
\ncontainers were taken to the store empty and returned home filled. Cigarettes on Sunday at six
\nfor five, were a luxury.<\/p>\n
\nsold, the horses would be fed the grain before returning home.<\/p>\n
\nThe story is told by Mr. Leo Roberge of hauling hay into north Edmonton during the winter
\nmonths:<\/p>\n
\nwould head their team and sleigh to the low level bridge.<\/p>\n
\nclang of the street car bell. Immediately, the team would be positioned right in the middle of the
\ntrack crossing the bridge. Inevitably, the quickly moving street car, coming downhill, would ram
\nthe \u201cstalled\u201d sleigh. After harsh words, the conductor would calm down and ask that the hay
\ncovering his lights be removed. Pleading that the horses were exhausted and couldn\u2019t move, the
\nwily Frenchmen would convince the street car conductor to push the sleigh the length of the
\nbridge and up the hill. The end results were rested horses and good-humored drivers, satisfied
\nat a \u201cjob\u201d well done.<\/p>\n
\nacre farm just southeast of Beaumont in 1921 for $4,500. He did mixed farming and raised
\ncattle, chickens and hogs.<\/p>\n
\n$25 per thousand board feet at the time. By 1937, the price of lumber dropped to $13 per
\nthousand board feet, delivered.<\/p>\n
\nunique abilities and all<\/p>\n
\nGaborit who saw to the building of the grotto in front of the church in 1935. He was buried at the
\nfoot of the cross in the middle of the Beaumont cemetery.<\/p>\n
\nwith the help of the almost 200 families in the Beaumont area, he organized festivities to
\ncelebrate the 50th anniversary of the parish.<\/p>\n
\nsongs at the school and prayers by the grotto in front of the church.<\/p>\n
\nchurch and community for 11 years before his retirement in 1956.<\/p>\n
\nnow known as Club Beaumont. He was instrumental in the opening of the Caisse Populaire
\n(Credit Union) in Beaumont in 1945. Father Lapointe retired to Bonnyville until his death a few
\nyears later.<\/p>\n
\nFather Robert became the new parish priest in November, 1957.<\/p>\n
\nand the renovations so complete that the parish felt the church looked brand new. The finishing
\ntouch was the addition of the cross with lights put up by Maurice Gobeil.<\/p>\n
\nin a suite of rooms in the church basement.<\/p>\n
\norganization accomplished a lot in a short period of time.<\/p>\n
\nPlace in Edmonton. He has served in St. Vital parish for 15 years and remains [1978] active
\ntoday.<\/p>\n
\nand academic education for the children of Beaumont. They took charge of the school in the
\nvillage upon their arrival. Mrs. Lachappelle\u2019s house was purchased as a temporary residence
\nuntil 1936 when a new convent was constructed. This building, located across 50th Avenue
\nfrom the school was sold in 1972 to Mr. and Mrs. Gerry Patsula, who reside there now* with
\ntheir family. The nuns left Beaumont after the sale of the convent.<\/p>\n
\nbuild several small houses. In 1956, an addition to the south side of the school was built, in
\n1959 the administration and gym areas added and in 1963 the lab, library and classroom areas
\nbuilt on.<\/p>\n
\nused the village businesses for exchange, sales, purchases and recreation is of little doubt. The
\nlong trip into Edmonton was reserved for large sales of produce or hay. Transactions on every
\nscale were carried out in the many stores that once flourished in Beaumont.<\/p>\n
\nblacksmiths, garages, pool halls, cafes, a butcher, egg-grading stations, a barber shop,
\nshoemaker and the credit union.<\/p>\n
\ncommerce in the village. The first store on that corner was built by Wilfrid Magnan. In the late
\n1940\u2019s the store was sold to Maurice Magnan who operated the business until 1968 when it was
\nsold to Mr. Fraser.<\/p>\n
\n1920\u2019s, Pat Demers had a store on the site. Paul Magnan took over the store and had pool
\ntables for public use. The legal age to play pool then was 18 and the law was very likely to be
\nenforced by proprietors protecting their licenses.<\/p>\n
\nfor an egg grading station. In the early 1950\u2019s, with the Charest family renting living quarters
\nupstairs and egg-grading station still downstairs, the building burned to the ground.<\/p>\n
\nconstructed west of the church by Alcide B\u00e9rub\u00e9 almost 30 years before. The store changed
\nownership several times until finally going to Mr. Magnan.<\/p>\n
\nstore.<\/p>\n
\nin the late 1930\u2019s and demolished the building.<\/p>\n
\nbusiness until his sons, Charlie and Gerry returned from the war in \u201945 and \u201946. The brothers
\nthen went into partnership for a few years. Gerry took over until 1970 when, for family health
\nreasons, he was forced to close the business.<\/p>\n
\nregularly congregated to talk and play cards. Women kept in touch with village news through
\nmeetings in and around the general stores.<\/p>\n
\nbusiness, located immediately south of the \u201cMagnan\u201d store was owned and operated by Mrs.
\nMarie Vaugeois for almost 15 years.<\/p>\n
\nwas in operations, about 1935. The Chatel store looked like a barn and, in fact, was half of a
\nlong barn originally built west of the village. The building was too big to move, so it was cut in
\nhalf and one of the halves, when moved, served as the store.<\/p>\n
\nsold to Mr. Caouette who moved the building down the west hill about 1943. Maurice Goudreau
\nthen bought the business.<\/p>\n
\nto name a few.<\/p>\n
\ngarage in 1933 and it has remained a family business to this* day.<\/p>\n
\nin her home, for 30 years. After her retirement, Mrs. L. Magnan took over in her home for the
\nnext 14 years of postal service. The Credit Union handled the post office, after Mrs. Magnan, for
\none year under its manager Mr. G. Goudreau. On January 15, 1972, Beaumont\u2019s present*
\npostmistress, Mrs. F. Gobeil, took charge of the post office, working from an addition built onto
\nher home on 50th Street.<\/p>\n
\ninjuries or deaths in combat filtered through the community and school constantly. The use of
\nration coupons for sugar, tea, coffee, meat, gas, tires, etc. was an accepted wartime practice.<\/p>\n
\nexpand their farms and seed in wheat.<\/p>\n
\nstrike in Beaumont just after the war. Prices for produce were still so low that they felt they had
\nnothing to lose in striking, and perhaps everything to gain by publicizing their plight. The strike
\ndidn\u2019t last long and apparently nothing was gained. Life returned to normal.<\/p>\n
\nchurch basement. Horse races and baseball games in summer, and long bobsleds whizzing
\ndown the south side of the village winter evenings, were familiar sights when leisure time was
\navailable.<\/p>\n
\nanyone trying to get a team of horses up in the winter. Cars were retired for winter months as
\nroads were not cleared for their use.<\/p>\n
\ntelephone service, installed at the turn of the century.<\/p>\n
\nelectrical power to Beaumont. At that time, Calgary Power purchased the distribution system
\nfrom the Beaumont Electrical Co-op. For two years previous to this transaction, Beaumont was
\nsupplied with 110 volt electrical power generated by two engines and two generators located
\nbehind the Gobeil garage.<\/p>\n
\nEdmonton was started.<\/p>\n
\nBeaumont\u2019s history.<\/p>\n