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Are you in the market for a bundle ,of corset laces, or for wick for oil lamps by the yard? How about some brand new canvas for your grain binder or even a couple of those three-foot wide wooden forks, "barley forks", as you sometimes find in ' antique shops? ' You can get all that and much more at the Neilson General Store in Stella, on 'Amherst Island. And it is not classed as antiques there, but simply as stock that has not sold too well in the last few decades. The Neilson store changed hands last Week, ending a 108 year career of the Neilson family as caterers to the needs of the 400 some islanders. That career started in 1865, when James Silman Neilson came over from SandburSt to go in partnership with a Mr. Polly, who operated a \store on the island already. In 1873 Mr. Neilson started running his own store and in 1883 he moved into the large id roomy building where the store is still located. Frederick Neilson, nearly 72, but easily mistaken for 20 years younger, decided to sell the store when he had some health . problems a couple of years ago. His only son, Jim, tried working in the store for a year when he was a teenager, but he did not like it. He is now an island dairy farmer. Mr. Neilson is closing a personal career of 55 years, which began when he entered the store as a helper in 1918. His father had died a couple of years earlier, and his older brother Rodney had taken over management of the store in the employ of the boys"'mother, who was the official owner. In those early years the Neilsons did not only handle household goods. They handled large quantities of malting barley, for which the island was famous, and later, when the farmers had mostly switched to livestock farmingj'they'set up a try". mill, grinding and selling up 00 tons of feed P91 year, "They had their own warf and docking facilities, right. on the property. To keep the. lSlandel-S in fuel during the Winter, the Neilsons bought, stored and Sold , up' to 600 tons of coal per year as well. And for 95 years the By HANK REININK the general store. To make his spare time useful, Fred Neilson went out to see farmers and buy their finished hogs, calves and poultry, which he would sell again on the mainland. ,But most of that is memories now, The dock and warf have not been used in years, the -chopping mill has been sold some 15 years ago, and the postofflce moved out after Rodney Neilson died. The business has been concentrating on household goods in the last few years. ' Like most small general stores the Neilson business carried a wide variety of goods in addition to the strange old items still in. stock from years past. There is a good assortment of veterinary supplies for farmers and there is a walk in cooler for meat and a good choice of just about anything you might 'need in a normal household; Near the well-Worn carving block where Mr. Neilson cuts the meat is , a display table containing an array of articles without any visible attempt at catagorizing. There are hammers, packages of pizza mix, toilet paper, fence pliers, breakfast cereals, light bulbs, dried mashed potatoes, toilet bowl cleaner, a tool designed to hold a cow by the nostrils, bananas and disposable diapers. , And ' business appears surprisingly good for a country general store. Not only Mr. Neilson works there, Maurice Hogeboom has been in Neilsons' employ for a full 43 years. Mrs. Wemp, there since 1967, completes the staff. ' Fred Neilson used to play a lot of hockey. During parts of 1918 and 1919 he attended the Kingston Collegiate, but he'say's' - ' it was more for the hockey than for the education" that he travelled to 'Kingston. He gave up serious hockey in 1945, but .last winter his grandson coaxed Mr. Neilson into a game on the ' ice in the harbor. For grandfather it was a . disappointment; he could not keep up any more. He has watched the recent games on television closely, and 1 Will enter into a lively discussion on why Montreal should not ,have won the Stanely Cup any 7 time you give him an opening. .éhopes that Boston would win ;the Cup", and he feels that the Montreal team is too packed with f talented players to give the other iteams a decent chance in the [play-offs. In addition to all the work in the business Mr. Neilson found time for a second career. He has '3' ,been involved in township and {other politics ever since he. first worked in the campaign for the elections of 1923. He has not imissed an election since. ' He does not leave much ,doubt about where his party affiliation is. He readily informs ipeople who discuS the bubble [surplus hot air 'from the ' Progressive . Conservatives ' iToronto. He considers Flora * i (MacDonald MP) as phoney as a $3 bill and he says the present reeve of Amherst Island is a . "blankety-blank dirty Tory". In 1935 he was chosen as- :- ,township councillor and in 1938 he fell heir to the position of ireeve' of the township, when the Jincumbent reeve suddenly died." _| 'Mr. Neilson held on to the post. '1 {Island representative on :sthei' :schoolboard as .well. In the early; '1" iposition': --.--A_.--LJ-------. 7 r - i ' " 950's he took v iof township treasurer, when his jbrother Rodney retired from that job. Mr. .Neilson remained treasurer until two years ago. He is still active at election times. During the most recent election day he travelled around armed with a 40 ounce bottle of rum, which he "guardedly" on some of the . voters. He did not use quite as much care in his own consumption of the persuador, resulting in two minor accidents involving bumpers of other peoples' cars. Mr. Neilson thinks imayhe that was his last election las an active vote getter. ' l' screams"! island's postoffice was loeatedjn %1He.jadmit5 to-have had "dismal: : lsy-Sgém Whigh'ikeeps'ran ice-free; ; in ., until 1945, acting as'Amherst, i, _ r'iorrto thef. ,. .,...._w...., ,. .E1930s the riding of Kingston and "the Islands would always return , Progressive Conservative to iParliament. "For years any collie idog could get elected in 1 Kingston, as long as he used the 'Esame hydrant as ~John A. 'MacDonald's dog," he claims. ' All that changed when from the thirties on only Liberals were, elected in the riding, right up until the victory of Flora MacDonald. " Now that Fred Neilson is . $33.31;: magma; he has ,He . would like to do some travelling,but apart from going 1 to seesome relatives in the West, 1 ) enhe fthere is no part' g'would rather go than Amherst :glsland. 1 "They say I will be going .1 crazy when I retire," he says. L But I am planning to have some lfun going that way." would use '