The Stansfield family operated a successful family business for thirty years from 1929 to 1960. But more importantly the family should be commended for their unostentatious and kind support of Dryden men stationed overseas during the Second World War.
In 1929, Elbert (Bert) Stansfield, along with his wife Kate (Burgess) Stansfield and son Claude, purchased the Gough family bakery that was located between the present day Kupper's restaurant and the Royal Canadian Legion on Queen Street. To reflect the new ownership the name of the business was changed to Stansfield's Bakery or Stans as it was commonly known at the time.
The new bakery became well known for their home baked goods, dairy products, chocolates, fruits and other confectionary items.
Tom Leach ( graduate of DHS in 1938) has shared fond memories of Stan's Bakery. It was a common place where teenagers spent their time during the 1930s. According to Tom, an ice cream cone cost a nickel, a soda or sundae cost ten or fifteen cents, and the favourite among young people was a banana split which cost a quarter. A banana split consisted of the following: a banana, three scoops of ice cream covered with chocolate or butterscotch sauce.
During the 1930s and the 1940s, many of the town merchants were open very late in the evening to accommodate the families who came to town to do their shopping. It was not uncommon for a family business like Stans to be open past eleven pm. Even if the front door to Stans was closed, the back door was always open. Many young people would drop by and taste the hot cinnamon buns and butter tarts that had just come out of the oven.
Marjorie (Elliot) Reid was employed by Stans when she first moved to Dryden at the young age of fifteen. She rented a room in the bakery, was given a number of home cooked meals every week, and was paid eight dollars a month while she worked in the store. Marjorie remembers the many young men who frequented the Bakery. During the Depression, work was not easy to come by and many spent long hours at the store. The young people were always respectful of the owners and called Kate Stansfield "Auntie Kate". Though at times when the boys were boisterous, Kate would quietly approach the young men and calmly say to them "now you cant do that here". The young men always listened and were very considerate of her requests.
Bert and Kate's son Claude was very active in the Dryden community. He coached a teen softball team, and coached and played football with the teenagers who attended the high school. Claude was also involved with music and he played the saxophone at many of the country and square dances held in rural schools and halls. Margaret (Wilson) MacKinnon remembers Claude as having a real sense of humour and that made working at Stans so much fun.
It must be noted that during the Second World War, Stansfield's Bakery sent care packages containing non-perishable baked goods and knitted socks to Dryden soldiers stationed overseas. Kate Stansfield knitted the socks herself. During the war, the bakery received a quota of imported goods such as chocolates and a good portion of these goods went into the care packages sent overseas. What is more remarkable is the fact that many in the community were not aware of those gifts until the soldiers returned home and told others about the packages they had received. Finally, this kind-hearted generosity is recalled by many here in Dryden and it stands out as one of the fondest memories affiliated with Stansfield's Bakery.
Endnote: After Kate's Stansfield's passing in 1959, the bakery was sold to Vernon Pronger. Shortly afterwards, he sold it to George Kupper
Trudy (Hutchison) Hotson remembers Claude Stansfield coaching a teen's softball team during the 1930s. Scenes such as this with large piles of wood were common in Dryden during that era
