features

If you're putting on a porch, you
don't know how much it will really
cost until the job's finished.
When you're building a house
your mortgage money may only
come from the bank as you complete
each stage of the building.
High inventory costs and high
carrying costs have always
been a problem in this business."
Incorporating a liquor store into
the building appears to have
been an astute move.
"Yes, it's a nice business
because it's a cash business,"
says Sam. "I suppose 60to 70per
cent of our hard liquor sales are
rye whiskey, although rum seems
to be making a comeback. More
people are buying wine, too,
especially white wine."
Getting into the hardware
business is an expensive proposition.
Except for a small quantity
of local lumber, all supplies must
South Brook
be brought from the mainland,
and because of transport delays,
Sam has to keep a fairly large inventory.
On the other hand, his
market is quite large. He trucks
materials as far north as St.
Barbe and as far south as Ramea
and Burgee. The hours are also
long.
"We open at 8 o'clock in the
morning and close 9 o'clock at
night. I don't have much spare
time. I'd like to build a few
houses and sell them but there's
no market for them right now."
Sam is not short of ideas,
though. He sees the area as ripe
for tourism.
"With our skiing, Gros Morne
Park, and the lake here, we
should be able to get a lot more
people to stay in the area. We've
been a bit slack on it and I think
we should try to accommodate
tourists better by doing things to
keep them here instead of having
South Brook's loss, Pasadena's gain
outh Brook, population en,
S lies immediately west of
Pasadena and extends from the
hillside above the TCH down to
the shores of Deer Lake. Approximately
112homes connected by
broad, meandering unpaved
roads constitute the community
which is served by Holy Rosary
church and school (Grade K-9)
two stores, two garages, two airtransport
companies, a park and
a community hall.
Local history has it that South
Brook was named by its first settler,
Ron Fisher, who made his
way from Humbermouth with a
horse and a load of hay around
1920. He named the community
after a brook that emptied into
the lake south of the settlement of
Deer Lake. But in January 1986,
South Brook will be no more. A
recent plebiscite voted to
amalgamate the community with
Pasadena.
"Yes, it's sad. Here, take this
Melvina Tracey
in remembrance," says town
clerk Melvina Tracey, 25,as she
hands us a pin bearing the com-
OEiCKS AWASH - 53
them just drive through. Wehave
a strawberry festival now which
is one good thing, but there must
be other goodthings we can do to
keep them entertained: boat
rides, tours, things like that. One
thing we don't have is any really
good restaurant in the valley. No
question, there's an opportunity
there."
"Although it is late, the Major
family are all busy helping
customers in the hardware section
of the store. It is quite a time
before we can get sam, Craig,
and Kirk together briefly for a
photo. We get only a glimpse of
sam's wife Lorna who resolutely
refuses to be photographed. A
pity.
"Lorna works in the office and
does all the accounting," explains
sam. "I think in her own mind
she thinks she's the boss-and
she probably is." I!
munity's name. "The older pea.
pIe here are not too happy with
the change."
"Itwill always be South Brook
to me," says municipal employee
Ron Bennett, 62."I've lived here
60years and we were OK on our
own and we didn't owe any
money. A lot of peopledidn't even
vote for this."
"There were 123 said yes, 90
said no, and another 90 or more
who did not vote," adds Melvina.
We are sitting in Melvina's office
in the community hall. She
has a bubbly personality and a
ready wit.
"This is a good job but it's bad.
You get to take a lot of abuse. I
take all the complaints then pass
them on to the council. Whenpeople
won't pay their taxes or water
bills, I represent the community
in court." She pulls a face. "I've
been called a lot worse than town
clerk."
Melvina has been town clerk