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This is a memory I have of the Borculo CRC's education program and some related activities. It was called catechism. The catechism program was good. It was an educational experience and a time to see and interact with the other kids of the church. In catechism student participation was good. Both the Elders of the church and the parents worked to make it a success because visitation by the Pastor and Elders made a cooperative effort to get the kids to the church for the catechism sessions. We studied the Compendium of the Heidelberg Catechism. It served to open up the Biblical truths of Sin, Salvation, and Service (gratitude) for the Lord's Grace and Mercy. I have good memories of those classes. Rev. Andrew De Vries was my favorite teacher. He gave some graphic illustrations of biblical events. He did the best pantomime of John the Baptist eating locusts and wild honey that I have ever heard or seen The Elders were good teachers too and fulfilled their teaching responsibilities with devotion and love for the Lord. I remember their work. Catechism was good and so were the social interactions with the kids of the church. Two stand out in my memory. First,our gathering in Vollink's store before and after the catechism classes. We usually had a little money in our pockets. Five or ten cents for the offering and two to five cents for candy or soda at Vollink's store. I think it was a brisk business opportunity for Lew Vollink (the brother who usually ran the store while his brother Sime ran the peddle wagon). Lew was a nice guy, friendly and good natured. But, one thing aggravated him. The kids would buy their candy and soda and then hop up and sit on the counter. This was a "no-no" for Lew. He was busy and wanted to help his customers and kids hopping up on the counter were in his way. He would say "off the counter guys" but his words were ineffective So! - he had an ingenious idea. He strung a wire just under the edge of the counter; the place where the counter-hoppers gripped their hands when they sat on the counter. Lew cleverly connected the wire to a couple of telephone batteries with a switch that sent an electrical charge through the wire when the counter hoppers were up on the counter. The "jolt" really worked! It cleared the counter with a flip of the switch and the kids got the message. Lew was not only a good shop-keeper but also a telephone technician who knew all about telephone batteries and their electrical charge. And he knew how to interact with the kids of the church. A second social event I remember is a "happening" that developed after Catechism class. Across the road to the west was a hatchery. During the hatching season a trash heap was made outside the hatchery. It was the place where the unhatched eggs were dumped. That trash heap with the unhatched eggs caught the attention of some of the boys leaving the church after catechism class. They walked over to check it out. One idea led to another and soon there was an egg throwing contest. It went from bad to worse and got out of hand and was a bad experience for everyone. It happened just once and everyone was convinced I think, that once was enough. To my knowledge the hatchery closed its operation after a very short business venture in Borculo. It must have closed because business slowed; it couldn't have been because of the catechumens. All in all, catechism was a blessing for me and the social activities associated with it were good for us farm kids who needed the interactions with the other kids of the community. Life was simple but good in the 1930's. Nelson Gebben Vollinks Store was on the northeast corner of the intersection of Port Sheldon Dr. and 96th Ave., and the Borculo Garage was on the southeast corner of that intersection. As Henry Ford began putting America on wheels with his Modet T, the need arose for garages and service stations to repair and fuel them. When my grandfather purchased his first 1913 Model T, he had to drive to Zeeland for service and repairs. In my grandfather Essenburg’s 1920 Farm account book, I found that he was getting his auto and milk truck repaired at Poskey’s Garage in Borculo. He was also buying his gasoline there. Poskey’s Garage was founded some years earlier by Henry Poskey from the South Blendon area. The Borculo Garage was located on the Southeast corner of the Borculo crossing and has remained at this location over the years. In the year 1921 Henry Poskey sold his garage to Henry Vollink who then operated it for eight years. In February of 1929, Henry Vollink sold the Borculo to Gerrit and Herman Bussis. In 1933, the Bussis Brothers signed a contract with Standard Oil Co. to sell their products at their service station. Arlene Bussis Barton , a daughter of Gerrit Bussis, remembers how her dad and uncle Herm would work late into the evening as a milk truck had to be back on the road in the morning. When Bussis Brothers built a new implement building next door to the East, they sold the Borculo Garage in 1946 to Elmer Nienhuis and Jerry Por. They also sold the now vacant old implement building across the street to Nienhuis and Por. (That is the building in which Herb Schout started his auto body shop and later Jerry Por started the Borculo Restaurant.) Insert by VandenBosch In 1951, Elmer Nienhuis and Jerry Por sold the Borculo Garage to Henry Geerts and Chester Grassmid. They owned the garage for the next 50 years, making many improvements to the building and lot over the years. On Jan. 4, 1962, a fire that started in the office of the building at 4 AM, destroyed much of the building and the business records On Jan. 4, 1962, a fire that started in the office of the building at 4 AM, destroyed much of the building and the business records This set of eight pictures was contributed by Daniel Geerts, grandson of one of the owners of the Borculo Garage, Henry Geerts. They document the fire of 1962. One of my family members took the following picture of the newly rebuilt Borculo Garage in the Fall of 1962. In the next picture we see more improvements , more gas pumps, and more parking spaces. The slideshow which follows are pictures taken October 27, 2015 as the cement work was being don at the new Borculo Gas Station. This buggy shop must have stood very close to the building which for many years was the garage for the fire engine. I wouldn't be surprised if it were the same building. The sign says "P. DeGroot Blacksmithing." The owner must have been Paul DeGroot 1874-1929. A picture of his headstone in the Borculo Cemetery is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/ottawa/photos/tombstones/borculo/degroot84680nph.jpg To me it appears that the part of the building on the right is the old buggy shop (De Groot Blacksmith) in the picture above this, and the a newer and bigger building was built and connected to the old buggy shop. The sign on top the larger building reads "Horse Shoeing" and the sign above the door says "Moore Plows". This picture appears to have been taken from the porch of Vollink's Grocery Store. I will also conjecture that the Moore Plows building was later remodeled to become the Bussis Implement Building, which after the new Bussis Implement Building was built, this became Herb Schout's Auto Body Shop and then became the Borculo Restaurant....which no longer exists. Approximately 1945 Trying to date this by the age of the vehicles. The brown Ford station wagon is a 1965 model and the Chevy Blazer is 1964 or 1965 I think. As I took this picture through a now removed west window I see the far corner where around the year 1956 the community did a play which drew most of the community. If you can imagine a stage in that corner and the rest of the building filled with the Borculo community, that was a great Borculo moment. Perhaps someone with a better memory than mine can fill in some of details. Email me at [email protected] Even now in 2015 I am impressed by the size of the steel trusses in a building built in the 1940's. |
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