Page 21 - Sports Energy News, Cornwall, Issue No 156
P. 21
Jim Riddell’s Sports Talk
Presents with Area Senior
Serving You Since 1937 Gilles Plourde
them,” Gilles recalled. In the mid
1940’s some of the machines at
the Cornwall Cotton mill were in
need of maintenance and repair,
and Moise was transferred to
By Jim Riddell
Cornwall to ensure that they
illes Plourde was born and were operating efficiently. Gilles
Graised in Cornwall, the father, Richard, also worked at
third of five brothers. Michel and the Cotton mills and in 1950 when
Daniel were older, Claude and Moise foresaw the end of the
Yvon being the younger siblings. industry in Cornwall they decided
His grandfather, Moise Plourde, to open a shoe repair business.
had been a machine operator in The small cement block building
one of the Montreal cotton mills was constructed in 1951, and in
and he had a second job working 1952 M Plourde Shoe Repair
as a cobbler. “He would work opened at 431 Water St. East.
his shift at the mill and then go “There was a lot of competition In
to the shoe repair shop. It was those days,” Gilles stated. “There
owned by two deaf mutes, and were seven cobblers in Cornwall had one, Lancaster, Avonmore, and every town up towards
he learned the cobbler trade from alone, every surrounding village Alexandria, had two, Morrisburg Continued on page 22
