There are a few memories I have of my many visits to Hosmer’s
over the years. Both Jack and Inie were always there and willing to
cheerfully help with any request any customer had no matter what it
was. I also remember many of the employees they had throughout the
years. Helen Watkins Nelson was a long time employee as well as Evelyn
Landsverk Pladson and none other than my classmate Paulette LaCroix
Chisholm. I think Joanne Kester Boucher worked there at one time to.
One thing at Hosmer’s that always fascinated me was how quickly Don
Hosmer could lace a pair of shoes. He had a lot of practice as he was
the one who was the main shoe man and sold lots of shoes over the
years. I remember in the early years (for me that was in the ’50s) they
had a huge ornate brass cash register that looked like it weighed a
ton. The check out counter was close to the center of the store at that
time and was moved to an area near the door in later years. When this
move happened, they also got a new cash register and retired the one I
liked so well. Jack had a little office on a very small upstairs area
in the back overlooking the store. In the summer on hot days, Jack
would go out on the sidewalk and crank down the big canvas awning that
shielded the big front windows from the sun and kept the store cooler.
In later years, they had a permanent louvered awning that stayed out
year around. Another thing you never see anymore was that Hosmer’s also
had a screen door on the front that allowed air to travel to keep things
cooler.
One story that is cute is that a guy who stayed at Egbert’s
Northern Hotel, just north of our house, went to a funeral and then
stopped uptown and got loaded. He was wearing an old suit that was
probably the only suit he had and he stumbled home past our house
singing loudly as he walked. He decided to cut across our yard and my
dog didn’t like it so he went over and ripped the seat out of the guys
suit pants. He came to the door and told my dad what the dog did so Dad
took him up to Hosmer’s to buy him another pair of pants. Dad said Jack
had all he could do not to just bust out laughing as he helped the old
duffer pick out some pants. They finally found a pair and they were on
their way.
Hosmer’s Dry Goods was a unique piece of Dunseith history and will
always be remembered, by those of us who do remember, as being our own
big department store where a shopper could find nearly anything that was
needed. I keep these memories and try not to think about the empty lot
where Hosmer’s once stood. Time changes things but it can’t erase the
wonderful memories of days gone by. Thanks Gary!
Dick
Gary,
I urge those who want to help the people of the Philippines affected by the typhoon to contact the Red Cross. That will be my next step. It is such a tragedy and so heartbreaking to read the daily account in the newspaper. We feel so helpless especially when we see the devastation and know that there are thousands of people without food or water wondering where their loved ones are. I can’t imagine. Our prayers go out to them.”
On a happier note, as I was reading Dick Johnson’s response to Larry’s memories, it brought back a couple of memories to me. I remember being in Mrs. Conroy’s fourth grade class and playing jacks during recess. I got pretty good and would challenge anyone. I think Crystal Fassett beat me. In fact I remember wanting to win the reading contest so bad and read and read and read until I couldn’t read anymore. Thought I had it made…nope. Crystal wiped me out. I aspired to be like her but never did beat her. Haha Also remember one day at recess when it was so cold. One of the kids said his brother licked a metal pole and his tongue stuck to it. We found it hard to believe so to prove a point, being the smart 2nd grader that I was, I licked the metal handrail….and guess what? My tongue stuck. They had to go and get the teacher who poured a glass of water on my tongue to unstick it…but not before I ripped part of the skin off it. I know, not the brightest bulb in the pack. We played dodge ball and as a chubby kid and bigger target, I never did care for that game. J Kick ball was a favorite. We had some great times at the big white school house in Dunseith.
Diane
Dear Family and Friends,
As you have all read and seen on TV, we have experienced two major disasters in the central part of the Philippines (Visayas) with the Earthquake on October 15 in Bohol/Cebu and Typhoon Yolanda in the Visayas on November 8.
Earthquake relief efforts are still ongoing, but as could be expected a lot of the efforts are now focused on helping the victims of the typhoon.
There are major relief operations ongoing but the area to be covered is so large that we hear often that today people have not yet received any help. There are also some concerns that for whatever reason help is not reaching the people that need it.
This is my neighbor, we call her Lola. Where she sits was her house where she lived with the two grandchildren ( back of the picture).
Lola is sifting through her belongings and drying the clothes that are still usable.
During the tropical storm that followed a few days after the typhoon all her belongings were soaking wet again.
This was left of the house of my worker Gaspar Bulibuli, who helps us in Cebu.
We gave him the materials to build this small house in Luyang vicinity in the last few months. When he returned to his place on Sunday Nov 10, this is what he found back.
He was crying and I assured him that we will help him recover from this.
With my family and some friends, we started on Sunday to support relief in the devastated area of San Remigio. With the mayor, Mariano Martinez, we agreed that I would concentrate our efforts to a small Barangay (village) called Luyang in the North West of the Island of Cebu where we have a small house on the coast. The village has approx. 570 families and most (about 450) have either lost their homes or have major damage such as the roof blown off. (our house is OK)
On top of that there is not yet fresh drinking water and no electricity. Food is scares because many small stores were blown away.
Our goal for the village is twofold:
<!–[if !supportLists]–>1. <!–[endif]–>Give basic sustainable food supply for at least a few weeks until the men of the families are back to work mostly in the city of Cebu and be able to support their families and buy their own food.
<!–[if !supportLists]–>2. <!–[endif]–>Make an effort to help rebuild people’s homes. Very simple with mostly coconut wood, corrugated steel roofing and amakan woven bamboo matting for the sides of the house. In the first week or so we will provide some families with tarpaulins to provide shelter.
There will be some relief goods coming from the available calamity budgets, but mostly the needed funds to be able to do this rebuild will have to come from private donations.
For goal #1 we want to provide 2 food packages per family per week (One pack is 2 kgs rice, 2 tins of sardines and 2 packs of noodles) Total cost per pack about Php 120 or US$2.75. For 570 families for three weeks this adds up to approx. 570 families x 2 packages x 3 weeks x Php 120 = Php 410,400.00 which is approx US$ 9,500.00
For goal #2 we want to rebuild about 100 destroyed houses. Very basic, each house will cost ~ Php 10,000 (US$240). We want to repair about 360 houses cost ~Php 4,000 (US$ 95). Total needed to give all people in the village basic shelter ~PhP 2.5M or US$ 56K. We tried to get tarpaulins today but they were sold out. Didn’t want to buy the cheap roles of material.
It would be fantastic if we could make this happen. Can you please ask your family or friends to help the Philippines and specifically Luyang to rebuild and repair.
If you want to help and donate there are a few options:
1. If you want an official receipt from a recognized organization which in some countries can be used for tax purposes. Please make your donations to
Cebu Kiwanis Foundation, Inc.
167-026801-9. Chinabank, Banilad Branch
Cebu City.
Philippines
Swift code: CHBKPHMM
Please mention “Relief Northern Cebu Island”.
Please let me know when the amount was deposited and also how much, so we can ask our treasurer to verify transfer and issue an OR.
-[if !supportLists]–>2. <!–[endif]–>In the Netherlands, if you do not need an official receipt for tax purposes, you can make the donation to:
L.H.A. Tacke
NL80RABO0140426388
BIC code: RABONNL 2U
Please mention “Relief Northern Cebu Island”.
<!–[if !supportLists]–>3. <!–[endif]–>In the Philippines without an official receipt for tax purposes, you can make the donation to:
Leonardus Tacke
Union Bank, Cebu City
Accnt#: 00-026-002530-6
BIC code: UBPHPHMM
Please mention “Relief Northern Cebu Island”.
<!–[if !supportLists]–>4. <!–[endif]–>In the USA without an official receipt for tax purposes, you can make the donation to:
Leonardus H. Tacke
53rd Bank, Hamburg Place, Lexington Kentucky
Accnt#: 32910391
Routing nr: 042101190
Thank you so much, I will keep you informed about our project and report on a regular basis.
Kind Regards,
Leo