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After a century and a half as the place to pick up groceries, mail and any news neighbours are willing to part with, the Ashton General Store is closing its doors.
The lease is up and won’t be renewed, says Sylvie Pignal, who owns the business, but not the building.
“I was supposed to be in the black this year,” she says. “I have to get another job in May.”
It’s not unusual to find a walker, a brace of bicycles or a couple of horses parked in front of the store. (The hitching post is still there.)
Inside, there’s a friendly cat named General, afghans and assorted handcrafts, vintage screws and nails, a shelf of second-hand books for trade, local honey and eggs, and jams and pickles made by Pignal’s mother, Dorothea Bendall, who sometimes runs the post office counter, although Sylvie retains the title of “postmistress.”
After 150 years, the Ashton General Store is closing and owner Sylvie Pignal, left, is devastated by the recent turn of events. She and her husband bought the business five years ago. It’s a post office, a small grocery store, coffee shop and community centre, “the heart of this village,” as regular, David Thorsell, centre, puts it. Julie Oliver/Ottawa Citizen
Earlier this week, Pignal informed Canada Post that she will have to close the post office. The store closes on April 22.
The closing of the store will be a real loss to the community, said David Thorsell, a retired elementary school principal. “People will come by and hear about a neighbour who is sick, or a birthday or a new baby.”
Originally settled in 1815, Ashton is a village of a few hundred people between Stittsville and Carleton Place on the westernmost edge of Ottawa. Cross the street and you’re in Beckwith township.
First, there was a log post office on the site, which burned down. Its replacement was a building with a rather elaborate gallery balcony. The second storey of that building was eventually also destroyed in a fire, but the main floor with its high ceilings and scuffed wooden floors is original. The building has an Ontario heritage designation.
The store itself has changed hands numerous times, most recently when it was sold to Sylvie and her husband, Jean. The Pignals bought the business, but the building itself was owned by Bill Patterson, a friend of 30-plus years who lived in an apartment upstairs. The Pignals planned to eventually buy the building, but Patterson was diagnosed with cancer and died last fall. His heirs decided to terminate the lease once its five-year term was up in April.
Sylvie’s business plan five years ago was to build a “community space,” and she’s managed to do that, say patrons.
A table at the store features photos of patrons and events.
The congregations of both the Anglican and the United churches gather there to sing Christmas carols. Gov. Gen. David Johnston and has wife, Sharon, have shown up at the annual Christmas Eve party, where the patrons pack the store and spill out onto the porch. Birthday, anniversary parties and funeral receptions have been held at the store. There is an ice cream counter, coffee and the sandwiches that Pignal wakes up at 2 a.m. to make before opening at 5 a.m.
“It’s like Cheers without the alcohol,” says patron Dan Nelson.
The post office remains in the store —the original wooden “money orders” wicket is still there — and people in the area collect their mail and, as patron Jack Taylor puts it, “listen to the gossip. Not to spread it. There’s a lot of news spread. You don’t get that at a community mailbox.”
Brian Hull, a historian who often stops by for a chat and a sandwich, points to developmental psychologist Susan Pinker’s book The Village Effect, which argues that face-to-face contact makes people healthier and happier. The store achieved that in Ashton, Hull says.
The store is a heritage building under the Ontario Heritage Act.
“What I like about this place is that it’s the centre of the community.”
Thorsell has lived in the area for 48 years and recalls that the store has had several owners.
“But I have to say, Sylvie made this place more of a community centre,” he says. “She wears her heart on her sleeve.”
查看原文...
The lease is up and won’t be renewed, says Sylvie Pignal, who owns the business, but not the building.
“I was supposed to be in the black this year,” she says. “I have to get another job in May.”
It’s not unusual to find a walker, a brace of bicycles or a couple of horses parked in front of the store. (The hitching post is still there.)
Inside, there’s a friendly cat named General, afghans and assorted handcrafts, vintage screws and nails, a shelf of second-hand books for trade, local honey and eggs, and jams and pickles made by Pignal’s mother, Dorothea Bendall, who sometimes runs the post office counter, although Sylvie retains the title of “postmistress.”
After 150 years, the Ashton General Store is closing and owner Sylvie Pignal, left, is devastated by the recent turn of events. She and her husband bought the business five years ago. It’s a post office, a small grocery store, coffee shop and community centre, “the heart of this village,” as regular, David Thorsell, centre, puts it. Julie Oliver/Ottawa Citizen
Earlier this week, Pignal informed Canada Post that she will have to close the post office. The store closes on April 22.
The closing of the store will be a real loss to the community, said David Thorsell, a retired elementary school principal. “People will come by and hear about a neighbour who is sick, or a birthday or a new baby.”
Originally settled in 1815, Ashton is a village of a few hundred people between Stittsville and Carleton Place on the westernmost edge of Ottawa. Cross the street and you’re in Beckwith township.
First, there was a log post office on the site, which burned down. Its replacement was a building with a rather elaborate gallery balcony. The second storey of that building was eventually also destroyed in a fire, but the main floor with its high ceilings and scuffed wooden floors is original. The building has an Ontario heritage designation.
The store itself has changed hands numerous times, most recently when it was sold to Sylvie and her husband, Jean. The Pignals bought the business, but the building itself was owned by Bill Patterson, a friend of 30-plus years who lived in an apartment upstairs. The Pignals planned to eventually buy the building, but Patterson was diagnosed with cancer and died last fall. His heirs decided to terminate the lease once its five-year term was up in April.
Sylvie’s business plan five years ago was to build a “community space,” and she’s managed to do that, say patrons.
A table at the store features photos of patrons and events.
The congregations of both the Anglican and the United churches gather there to sing Christmas carols. Gov. Gen. David Johnston and has wife, Sharon, have shown up at the annual Christmas Eve party, where the patrons pack the store and spill out onto the porch. Birthday, anniversary parties and funeral receptions have been held at the store. There is an ice cream counter, coffee and the sandwiches that Pignal wakes up at 2 a.m. to make before opening at 5 a.m.
“It’s like Cheers without the alcohol,” says patron Dan Nelson.
The post office remains in the store —the original wooden “money orders” wicket is still there — and people in the area collect their mail and, as patron Jack Taylor puts it, “listen to the gossip. Not to spread it. There’s a lot of news spread. You don’t get that at a community mailbox.”
Brian Hull, a historian who often stops by for a chat and a sandwich, points to developmental psychologist Susan Pinker’s book The Village Effect, which argues that face-to-face contact makes people healthier and happier. The store achieved that in Ashton, Hull says.
The store is a heritage building under the Ontario Heritage Act.
“What I like about this place is that it’s the centre of the community.”
Thorsell has lived in the area for 48 years and recalls that the store has had several owners.
“But I have to say, Sylvie made this place more of a community centre,” he says. “She wears her heart on her sleeve.”
查看原文...
