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Gem Lake News Page 3 of 6 her father would load up his truck the night before with various crates of vegetables. He would start the trek downtown at 3:00 a.m., sometimes assisted by the older children in the family. (Mildred was too young to tag along at the time.) On the way back home down Arcade Avenue, they often picked up teens on summer break who wanted to work on the farm for the day and earn some spending money. For a whole day's hard work they could make as much as a dollar. Mildred spent many summers working at the market until she got married during World War II to Bill LaBathe, who was in the Navy at the time. She remembers the shop also sold ice cream, fresh bread and other items. Although there was some degree of competition with the nearby Hoffman's Market, the rivalry was a friendly one. Mildred and her family were good friends with Shirley and Dick Arcand, who ran Hoffman's Market starting in 1950. Hoffman's was located in the still existing strip mall across the street from White Bear Floral. "As a child, I remember going with my mother to buy fresh fruit and vegetables at Great Uncle Augie's," said Tom Hansen of Gem Lake. Augie's sister Clara, who married into the Hansen family, was Tom's grandmother. "Scheuneman's Market was always full of fresh, local produce, grown in the area. As I remember, the market was seasonal, and once the harvest was done, the doors closed for the year. It is another wonderful memory of my life growing up in a small town in the country." The market continued on for decades until it was sold to Clarence Wild following Charley's illness and eventual death. By this time, the emergence of the "supermarket" and major changes in the main roadway had already led to changes in the business. Until the mid 1950's, Highway 61 ran right in front of White Bear Floral, skirting close to Scheuneman's Market, curving around the area of the current day Stadium Bar and Grill and running down what is now Hoffman Road near the White Bear Rental Center. The major shift in the road was done to straighten out the then very curvy Highway 61, but it shifted traffic slightly away from Hoffman's Corner businesses and had an effect on their sales. When Charley died in 1955, his widow Anna sold the family farm to Robert Hansen, who owned Summit Dairy at the time and was Tom Hansen's grandfather. Scheuneman's Market: Hoffman's Corner "Hot-Spot" Pictured above are Charley and Anna Scheuneman, who were part owners of the market. Charley was the son of Albert Scheueman, after whom the road is named. Pictured below, the Scheuneman family home in Gem Lake. This included the family homestead, which was located near the most northern building on the grounds of Barnett Chrysler. The farm had been originally established by Charley's father Albert Scheuneman, after whom the Road is named. The idea of locally grown produce has now come full circle, with the establishment of urban gardens on Hansen land on County Road E. Local gardeners tend the land, growing a huge variety of vegetables for local consumption and for sale at local farmers markets.