August 16, 2015 I finally decided to take a look at the Rocky Rapids General Store which is now in a sort of outdoor museum in Drayton Valley, Alberta. This is the original General Store that was in Rocky Rapids, Alberta which is just a little north of Drayton Valley. It was moved here a little over ten years ago. My grandmother on my father's side worked for years in this store. My grandfather died before I was born. There was a post office inside it and I can remember her looking after the post office as one of her duties. Going here as a kid I remember this place being crammed with everything from groceries to clothes to hardware. They even had gas pumps out front. My uncle who had a farm north and west of there was a loyal customer for years, even when it made more sense to buy his stuff in Drayton Valley which was a much bigger place with far more amenities.
I took a look through the windows as the building was locked. Nothing was the way I remembered it. They are turning the inside into a museum which is fine. It does nothing for my memories though. There is a post office sign inside but the sign I could see is the post office sign for Berrymoor, not Rocky Rapids. As an aside, there is nothing at Berrymoor anymore. The layout inside is not the same. Seeing it evoked no memories or past thoughts. It no longer means anything. The signs outside note that the buildings are no longer open and there are cameras due to repeated vandalism.
You cannot go home again because home changes once you leave. The present rarely matches memories of the past. Some of the places I used to live I would have trouble recognizing anymore. One place no longer exists as a town, the town itself is gone. Memories are just that. I rarely long for things that belong to another place and time.
No, you can never go home again to a physical place; that changes once you walk out the door for the last time. But a sound or a certain scent will whisk you back through the years.
ReplyDeleteI long for old Alberta and the people that ran it.
ReplyDeleteWhen that store was in operation my grandmother was young and alive. She always smelled like fine leather and perfume and never had a hair out of place. I would give a million dollars just to talk to her one last time. There are any number of others I would love to visit with too.
They say the measure of a man (or woman) isn't money and if that's true - then maybe the memories you leave with others are. A store like that in a museum is a fine legacy to leave behind and be proud of. I love your blog that reminds us every day of better times and better people.
Reading this really made my day. The present rarely matches the past. I am with you though, I as well would like to revisit places in their proper time and place. There are people that I miss and would love to see again. Thank you for commenting.
DeleteThe pleasure's all mine BW - I became an instant fan when I first discovered your blog a couple months back.
DeleteMy grandparents were intrepid and dauntless explorers just like you. Many's the time they took me into stores like that for a licorice cigar or pipe. Remember those? Often they were petrified, and sometimes the clerk would reach down and scratch his bum before digging them out of the jar for us - and we could have cared less! Usually there was a jar of pickled eggs on the counter and Grampa gobbled those things the way I gobbled the cigars.
Drive safe - maybe we'll see you on the road.
Pickled eggs and pickled Ukrainian sausage. The candy was different then, pop in glass bottles, among other things. I have a fondness for general stores with the hardwood floors where the owner lived in the back. You will never see these things again and it is near impossible to find an authentic one anymore.
DeleteBW, you ought to offer your memories to the museum people, maybe an oral interview, copies of some pictures of your grandmother. They should value the words of someone who saw the place in it's glory days.
ReplyDeleteThere are better people to do this. Lots of other people have photos and such. There is a new store at the original site of the original general store owned and run by the original owner's family. It is just not the same.
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