t Trail family business ventures. span a period of over 67 years kami Expanding and growing is an essential part of almost every business, and the Le- Rose family, who began with 8 small butcher shop in Trail at the turn of the century, are intent on following that philosophy. The family business began in Trail in 1918 when Bruno LeRose opened a small meat market on Rossland Avenue. From there, the business has diversified and advanced to become one of the largest furniture outlets in B.C. : according to Ernest LeRos Bruno's son, “My father died when I. was 16, and I like to think of him as the founder of our business," said Ernest, “He came to Canada as an immi- grant from Italy to work with * the CPR in 1907, and at that time, North America was considered the ‘promised land’ by most Europeans.” “My father was elect mayor of Trail in 1982, and I ,am told he was the first ‘ Italian-born mayor in Can- : ada," LeRose said proudly. :Yhe business originally ‘ started by his father pro- i vided the base for several + different ventures, which for ; the most part have been sit- i uated on Rossland Avenue } spanning a period of over 50 years. : Ernest and brother Geno } became involved to some ox- j tent with furniture when { they purchased Webster's ! Hardware in Trail, In addi- tion to dealing with hard- _ ware, the LeRoses also sold At appliances. That interest led to the establishment of the first homegoods furniture store in 1963. Originally the store had only 2,000 square feet, by 1962 there were 2,000 square feet, by 1954 10,000 swaure feet. A warehouse addition in 1974 brought the floor space up tp 17,000 square feet which reached 35,000 square feet with the opening in the fall of 1979 of the furniture outlet at China Creek. After over 20 years of serving people from the Homegoods location on Ross- land Avenue, LeRose said he felt it-waa time for a change. - “We sold the property on Rossland Avenue because we needed larger facilities and our three warehouses located in different sections of Trail made the operation awk- ward.” As a result, the LeRoses leased property on the form- er site of the Carefree travel trailer factory at China Creek, because as Ernest put it, “the building was large and immedistely available.” The structure - provides 96,000 square feet, all of which is filled with a variety of furniture, major appli- ances and carpets. The huge “warehouse” is filled witha selection of open stock bedroom furni- ture and beds, dining room suites, kitchen dinettes, dec- orator lamps, chesterfield suites, occasional secent love seats, sofa beds, sectionals, mattress and box spring sets, bunk beds, and literally hundreds of other items ranging from refrig- eraters to washer and dryer sets. “The size here gives us the opportunity to reduce our warehouse needs and at the same time increase our dis- play space, which we are still developing.” tne Although born and raised in Trail, LeRose said he had no qualms about moving his business to its new location. “T always felt close to other communities, SI : land, Kaslo, | :Fruitvale, Castlegar... I related to the area as an individual and asa Che aN oa chhte Ms ae sis . China Creek facility is largest furniture outlet in British Columbia Local funeral chapel.dedicated to more personalized service Castlegar Funeral Chapel isa full service funeral chapel with a wide range of services available. Castlegar Funeral Home Ltd. began its operation in 1949 at its present location on Ninth Avenue. Frank In- gham was associated with the original owner of the funeral home and, when Donald and Jean Wickett purchased the business in 1963, Ingham continued in partnership with them for six years — from 1965 to 1971. In 1972 the funeral home was remodelled and, in July of 1980, it was purchased by . Mike and Therese O'Connor, : who changed the name to Castlegar Funeral Chapel. 5 Michael O'Connor was Born Aug. 20, 1944 in Mos- cow, Idaho, U.S.A. and grew up in that city. He graduated , from Moscow High School Trade union _ creating jobs for 35 years Kootenay District, Council : of Carpenters is a construc- tion trade union which con- sists of three local construc- tion firms and one sawmill and has been active for 35 i years in this community. Tt has been involved in all i major construction in the } area, ‘including the Hugh Keenleyside dam, the Wan- eta Dam, Kootenay Canal and Seven Mile Project. The union has created jobs for approximately 160-200 peo- The existence-of an carpetners' union provides an unlimited supply of qualified tradesmen for all types of construction in our area, The : wages generated and spent { in the community by these ; union members form an ‘integral part of the local : economy. and- attended Spokane Com- munity College and the Uni- versity of Idaho, graduating from ‘San Francisco College of Mortuary Science. O'Connor presently holds funeral director and embal- mer's licences in the State of Washington and a mortician’s license in the State of Idaho, receiving the last funeral director's licence to be issued in that state. He is also California certified, He has attended several funeral service seminars and has been active in both the state association, while in the U.S.A., and the provincial association in Canada. He isa member of the British Col- umbia Funeral Service Asso- ciation, Funeral Service As- sociation of Canada and the, National Funeral Directors Association of the United States. as In 1978, O'Connor immi- grated to Canada and began working at the Penticton Fu- neral Chapel. Two years later, he became a share- holder of Penticton Funeral Chapel (1976) Ltd. which purchased funeral homes in Summerland and Oliver, B.C. It was the desire to return to a smaller community in order to be able to give a more personal service which prompted the O'Connors to sell their interest in Pen- ticton and come to Castlegar, Besides offering the tradi- tional funeral Castlegar Fu- neral Chapel hopes to be able to provide a service for everyone. Its owners believe that the funeral should re- flect the life of the individual and should express his life- style, as well as the religious purpose of the funeral. The funeral home is ex- perienced in shipping re- mains around the world or returning remains from wherever a death might occur, with the least possible expense. The Castlegar Funeral Chapel employs Donald Turner, Lawrence Chernoff, George Cheveldave and Berb Lamb. Therese O'Connor works in the office of the funeral okkpe! and assists with funerals, The O'Connors have two daughters; Tami, aged 12 and Meagan, age 7. Family hobbies include hunting, fish- Ask About Our new ing, camping, swimming and community work. Michaél O'Connor is pres- ently a member of the Castlegar Selkirk Lions Club, Downtown Businessmen's Association and is vice-presi- dent of the Castlegar Cham- ber of Commerce. Cash and Carry Purchasing aD it unions and the federal government, aimed at en- couraging investment in Can- adian ‘energy companies, sounds appealing to the man- ager of Castlegars Credit inion. ‘The idoa .“is kind of exciting,” according to Ha- rold Webber, who attended the Feb. 19 meeting in Van- couver, during which the proposal was discussed by provincial credit union lea- ders,. “ If the, proposal is ac- cepted, the government and the co-operatives will each invest $100 million in a co- ‘operative resources holding company, Another company would be created to raise funds from credit union mem- bers to be used to buy shares in existing energy companies, and a third company, an _ exploration and development company, would be created to raise funds from people who want to invest risk capital and benefit from available tax breaks, ‘After the companies are established, the government would be expected to grad- ually withdraw, leaving the companies with the co-opera- tive movement, Webber is impressed by the proposal. Credit union mombers would be able to buy mutual funds over the counter at the ~« (CSCU looks at-new venture . credit unlon they sre mem- recognizes there are few things more Canadian than the co-opera- tive movement, Webber add- ed, He sald the proposal will ba put before the credit union members for their input, and they will have the- final decision about entering into the venture, The movement has until May to decide if it will become involved. : Castlegar Chamber of Commerce * ‘Voluntary action for a better tomorrow * We're involved in our community and region, working together in our community growth. ; Business Information Centre: New City Map: Dental Plan: me, Elest View Chaleman Tourist & thon ss President City Promos s Meet your chamber Directors... AR, ROCK DETNAK Retail Chairman charge to you. Your chamber offers a full range of information and counselling on management techniques and gover- Ament assistance programs at no We are producing a new city map that - will be in color on glossy paper, We can now offer our members: a comprehensive employee benefits program, * Going ona Holiday? Call in to our of. fice for maps & brochures. / Window & Door ‘Purchasers ‘WINDOW WORLD 250 Slater Road, Cranbrook — - 489-4727. Phone Building??? Inquire Today Write for one of our . FREE home catalogues toda Window Wor! 250 Slater Rood Cranbrook NAME ADDRESS. $$$ PHONE. ae Furniture. Carpeting... Major Appliances pore